Rat complaints in New York City are so high that that there are new rules about when you can take your trash out

The city will change the time households and businesses are allowed to take out the trash to the street for collection to 8 pm from 4 pm, Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference on Monday along with New York City Department of Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Residents will be allowed to take out their garbage by 6 pm if they can place the bags in sealed containers, they said. The new rules will be implemented April 1. 

“This will reduce the amount of time trash is out before collections,” Adams said. “No more watching these bags litter our sidewalks.”

Adams has pledged to solve the city’s sanitation issues and said in June that part of the more than $100 billion budget this year will be allocated to clean up public spaces. In the first six months of 2022, complaints about trash on sidewalks jumped to 17,749 from 13,026, Politico reported in August. Rat sightings increased 71% since 2020, New York City Council member Shaun Abreu said at the press conference.

“New Yorkers will not have to fear as many rats hiding in late night shadows,” Tisch said. 

There’s 24 million pounds of trash and recycling that sit in the city every day and a quarter of that will be collected on the midnight shift, she said. New York is catching up to other cities in the US that have delayed the time people are taking out their trash, Tisch said.

“We’re asking New Yorkers to set out their trash later in the day, and going to collect it earlier,” she said. It “should significantly impact New Yorkers experience of city streets.”