If you’ve ever walked the streets of New York City you’ve probably marvelled at the architectural wonders of the Free World. We’re not talking about the Guggenheim or the Flatiron, no, we’re talking about the teetering towers of black garbage bags stacked high creating solid walls of trash and buffets for rats.

But soon, this world-famous phenomenon could be a thing of the past, as NYC has finally, in the year 2024, introduced wheelie bins to the city.

The brainchild of mayor Eric Adams, who is waging a “Trash Revolution” in his city, the new bins were announced in an entirely serious press conference. In a video posted on Twitter, Adams can be seen rolling a bin toward a podium and demonstrating how to place garbage inside it, to the tune of Jay Z’s Empire State of Mind.

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“Welcome to our trash revolution.” Mayor Adams introduces the new bin that buildings with 1-9 units will be required to use instead of loose bags of garbage pic.twitter.com/nMiAZiXMVz

— Liam Quigley (@_elkue) July 8, 2024

What a time to be alive.

The wheelie bins can be purchased privately for around $50, and the proposed rule states all buildings with one to nine residential units and all special use buildings that receive Department of Sanitation New York (DSNY) collection put their garbage in containers from November.

This is Adams’ second trash intervention in recent months after the elected official introduced sideloading garbage trucks to NYC “four years ahead of schedule” and about 20 years after everyone else. Adams has also announced he will be hosting a National Urban Rats Summit starting next year, saying of the rodents, “The best way to defeat our enemy is to know our enemy.”

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All jokes aside, Adams’ oddly specific war on trash and rats is actually a pretty big deal for the city, especially its restaurants. In NYC and many other US cities, restaurants are required to display a sanitation grade on their windows, an inspection score of 0 to 13 is an A, 14 to 27 points is a B, and 28 or more points is a C.

In one of the most densely populated cities in the world with plenty of access to food AKA street buffets, rats in New York have gained a reputation for their audacity and size – they simply have no qualms wandering into even the cleanest kitchen to grab a snack or find a warm spot to set up camp.

A bad sanitation grade from the health inspector can make or break a restaurant and less time spent chasing away rats and more time perfecting dishes can only be a good thing for the New York’s finest (chefs).

Someone tell Oscar the Grouch he’s moving up in the world!

Where does New York City garbage go?

New York’s newly binned garbage is transported by barge to Staten Island, where it is then disbanded by train to landfill and incineration sites outside the city.

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