Starting April 1, New Yorkers in all five boroughs will have to take out their trash around 8 p.m.
The purpose is to decrease the amount of time the debris spends outside, to give rodents less of an opportunity to sniff it out and chase it.
Jaime Sisa, a janitor at a building he also lives in in Ridgewood, Queens, says he is confident this change will bring good results.
“As you saw recently, I was doing a cleaning for what happened, because we took the covers off yesterday afternoon and the rats come and tear off the covers and Hopefully, with this new initiative, it would be that there are no such problems, because I do think that there will be some changes, says Sisa.
So far, garbage can be put on the curb at 4 pm, the day before it is collected.
This new rule has its exceptions. People who live in residential buildings or houses can take out the garbage at about 6 pm, only if the waste is in a container with a secure lid.
Cecilia Quiñones, a Ridgewood resident, believes the initiative is positive:
“Yes, I like it because of the rats, because there are many rats in the building and that is very badYou know, if you have children, you bring diseases, bacteria and so many things. It is very important what they are doing, ”he adds.
But not everyone is happy with the changes.
For commercial establishments, such as Tasty Dinner, that close in the early afternoon, the sanitation department requires them to take out their trash one hour before closing time in containers with lids.
Something that Louis Núñez, the manager of this business says, will create inconvenience.
“The biggest thing here is the cost of buying new containers and the place to put them, which we normally don’t have,” he says. I hope they don’t fine us, but if they do, we’ll have to hire someone just to come and take out the trash,” adds Núñez.
The fines for those who do not comply with this new rule are $50 for the first offense, $100 for the second, and $200 for the third.
But there is a notice period, so the agency will only issue written warnings until May 1st.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the cleaning department told us that they launched a big publicity campaign to announce this change in the press, in the stations of the subway and on social networks.
