NYC supers say new trash rules are ruining their lives

A group of New York City building supers protested outside City Hall on Monday, saying Mayor Eric Adams’ “trash revolution” is coming at the cost of their personal lives.

Supers say the later set-out time for trash has extended their workday, forcing them to wait until 8 p.m. to put out the trash. The rule went into effect in April of last year. But some supers want it pushed back to the previous 4 p.m. set-out time.

The sanitation department responded that the new rule has been effective in reducing the rat population and piles of trash on the sidewalk.

“Our lives have been uprooted by this ordinance,” Dominick Romeo, 47, who oversees a building in Chelsea, said. “We are missing out with family dinners. And it has been 597 days since this regulation has affected our lives.”

There were around 15 super-protesters at the demonstration, demanding an in-person meeting with Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch. They also said the city should move to daily trash collection across the city, instead of the current thrice-a-week pickup schedule in place for much of the city.

For decades, supers could set out trash as early as 4 p.m. for collection the following morning. In April 2023, that time changed to 8 p.m., cutting into the personal time of building managers like Romeo, who promoted the rally using fliers imitating sanitation violations slapped on the doors of buildings that don’t follow the rules.

Supers who use containers with secured lids instead of garbage bags have the privilege of putting the trash out two hours earlier, at 6 p.m. But Romeo argues that’s not a solution for many buildings.

“We simply don’t have the room in our small New York City building basements to store dozens upon dozens of containers,” he said.

The group also wants the city to triple collections of compost and recycling to three days a week.

“They ruined our life. I can't spend time with my kid,” Greenwich Village super Jesmond Portelli said.

Portelli said he’d recently accepted a $50 ticket in order to get more time with his family.

“I took [the trash] out early cause I want to go home and make some dinner,” he said. “I'm a single father of a teenager, so it's tough.”

The city has been stepping up efforts to get trash out of bags, off sidewalks and into containers, cutting down the food supply for the city’s rat population. The containerization efforts have produced promising results in targeted “rat mitigation zones.”

Sanitation department spokesperson Vincent Gragnani said the city also offers the option of setting out trash between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m., and that owners of 2,500 buildings across the five boroughs have already opted for the earlier window.

“The 4 p.m. set-out time was among the earliest set-out times in the country, and it meant mountains of trash bags just as people were leaving the office for their evening commutes,” Gragnani said. “The later set-out time not only cuts off the rat buffet, but it also means people are not forced to play hopscotch with garbage in the late afternoon hours.”

There will be some relief for supers who are upset about the change in set out times next spring in parts of Manhattan. Any building with more than 30 units will receive a large bin installed on the street that can be accessed with a key card at any time of the day to dispose of trash.