Ban on trash bag mountains goes into effect for vast majority of NYC buildings

If you live in a New York City building with nine or fewer units, it’s time to pack your bags — into garbage bins.

Starting on Tuesday, all residential trash from such buildings will have to be set out for collection in bins with secure lids. It’s the largest step forward to date in Mayor Eric Adams’ "trash revolution," and if New Yorkers follow the rules, it'll be a big change for many neighborhoods that for decades have lined the curbs with mounds of black trash bags that attract rats.

The new rules apply to the vast majority of the city’s buildings. About 88% of the roughly 1.1 million buildings across the five boroughs are residential properties with nine or fewer units, according to the city buildings department.

The sanitation department has required businesses to put their trash in containers since March. The agency is also moving ahead with plans to containerize garbage from larger residential buildings — including by installing large bins on streets in parking spaces.

For now, the sanitation department’s new bin mandate for smaller buildings will only be enforced with written warnings. But on Jan. 2, landlords who flout the rules will face fines of $50 that can rise to $200 for repeat violators. Recycling can still be set out on the curb in clear plastic bags, according to the rules.

If everyone follows the new mandate, 70% of the city's trash will be containerized, the sanitation department has said. Plans to deal with the other 30%, which includes buildings with more than 10 units, are getting underway: The first larger shared bins hitting the street in Upper Manhattan next spring.

Sanitation officials are encouraging New Yorkers to go a step further and order standardized bins through the city online. While property owners are currently allowed to put out their trash in their own containers, the official “NYC Bins” will be mandatory in 2026.

New Yorkers ordered more than 215,000 NYC Bins by Oct. 1, meaning they should have received them ahead of Tuesday’s deadline to comply with the new rules, said sanitation department spokesperson Vincent Gragnani.

“Residents can remind their owner or manager of the bin requirement, and any resident who sees a violation of containerization rules can call 311,” he said.

The implementation of the new rules comes a week after New York City voters approved a ballot proposal that codifies into the City Charter the sanitation department’s ability to mandate the containerization of trash. The measure alarmed advocates who have said it gives the agency more power to crack down on immigrant street vendors.