Mayor Mamdani and the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) began installing the first residential Empire Bins in Brooklyn Community District 2 on the 29th. More than 700 will go up in Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights and other neighborhoods, with completion expected this fall.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and DSNY Commissioner Gregory Anderson on Thursday, the 29th, began installing Brooklyn's first residential "Empire Bins." The large fixed containers are meant to replace the piles of trash bags left on the curb, and more than 700 are being installed in Brooklyn Community District 2. Installation in the district is scheduled to be completed this fall.
Brooklyn Community District 2 includes Downtown Brooklyn, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Fulton Ferry, DUMBO, Vinegar Hill, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Last summer, DSNY installed about 1,100 bins in Manhattan Community District 9 (Hamilton Heights, West Harlem and Morningside Heights), and the department said they held up without problems through last winter's harsh weather.
DSNY installs Empire Bins in front of buildings with more than 30 units. Buildings with 10 to 30 units get them only if they opt in; mid-size buildings that do not participate must use wheeled bins. Lower-density buildings such as stores and single-family homes are already required to use wheeled bins. Building superintendents open the containers with a key card or a smartphone app, and sanitation workers collect from them using the first automated side-loading trucks in North America.
In 2027, DSNY plans to install more than 6,500 containers at more than 3,500 buildings in the next six districts. They are Bronx 2 (Hunts Point and Longwood), Bronx 5 (University Heights, Mount Hope, Morris Heights and Fordham Heights), Queens 2 (Sunnyside, Hunters Point and Woodside), Manhattan 2 (West Village, SoHo, Little Italy, Greenwich Village and Nolita), Brooklyn 8 (Prospect Heights, Crown Heights and Weeksville) and Staten Island 1 (North Shore). The city aims to complete trash containerization citywide by the end of 2031.
The program is possible because of the "RAT Act," introduced by City Council Member Crystal Hudson and passed last year, which requires DSNY to install fixed curbside containers. Mayor Mamdani said piles of bags feed rats and create odors, and that containerization also makes sanitation workers' jobs easier and safer.