Mayor Adams’ NYC anti-rat garbage collection plan flops with building supers: ‘It’s not gonna make a difference’
Mayor Adams rolled out a new set of garbage collection rules Monday that he vowed will deliver death to New York City’s rat population — but local building superintendents argued the effort is a weak response to the city’s ballooning rodent crisis.
Under the new regulations, trash from residential and commercial buildings can’t be placed on curbs for pickup until 8 p.m., pushed back from the current 4 p.m. start time, Adams said in a news conference at City Hall.
In addition, the Sanitation Department will continue collecting 25% of the city’s trash on overnight shifts while most New Yorkers are asleep — all with an aim to shave the number of hours garbage sits on the sidewalks for rats to feast on, Adams said.
“We’re going to kill rats. Rats have no place in this city,” Adams told reporters, adding that trash lingering on sidewalks for hours on end is one of “many rivers that are feeding the sea of rodents in our city.”
New York City Mayor Adams (podium), his sanitation commissioner Jessica Tisch (to the right of podium), and other officials outside City Hall in lower Manhattan, New York on Monday, October 17, 2022, to announce the new regulations. (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office/)
Isiah Crespo, 25, a super in the Bronx’s Mott Haven neighborhood, said Adams is overly optimistic in thinking rats will starve to death due to the curb rule change.
“It’s not gonna make a difference,” Crespo said. “(The trash) is going out just the same. If the rats are gonna get it, they’re gonna get it.”
Another Bronx super, who spoke on condition of anonymity since his boss prohibits him from speaking speak with the press, agreed with Crespo and told the Daily News the rat problem at his building has gotten so bad that he and a coworker have started killing the vermin with illegal airsoft guns.
“We’ve taken it upon ourselves to start shooting them with airsoft rifles ... We’ve shot a lot. I’m talking big ones,” said the super, holding his palms about 10 inches apart. He said he tries to take out the vile creatures in one shot, but sometimes needs a few more.
A rat inside a trash container in New York City.
The new curb restrictions, which won’t take effect until April 1 after a public comment period, come as trash and rat complaints are piling up in the city as part of a stinky trend that started during the coronavirus pandemic.
With New Yorkers producing more trash due to work-from-home policies and other practices, reports of garbage mountains lining the streets have exploded, and the Sanitation Department logged 21,600 rat complaints in the first nine months of this year, a tally about 71% higher than the count reported at the same point in 2020.