BY KEVIN DUGGAN
After more than a yearlong
hiatus, the city’s Department
of Sanitation restarted
its curbside organics pickup
starting in a handful of Brooklyn
neighborhoods where the
most people signed up for the
program.
New York’s Strongest began
picking up food and yard
scraps from people’s brown
bins on Oct. 4, in Brooklyn’s
Community District 6,
which includes Carroll Gardens,
Cobble Hill, Columbia
Waterfront, Gowanus, Red
Hook, and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s
own backyard in Park
Slope.
Brooklyn CB6 had 2,643
addresses sign up for curbside
composting since DSNY
launched its online portal in
August, or 19.3 percent of that
area, compared to an average
of just 2.9 percent across all
eligible community boards,
according to data provided by
the agency.
The board’s district manager,
Michael Racioppo, said
he was not surprised about
the enthusiastic response,
saying many eco-friendly locals
COURIER L 14 IFE, OCTOBER 8-14, 2021
were disappointed when
the city temporarily dumped
the program last year.
“When it was initially suspended,
there was a big outcry
about it and hope that it would
be resurrected as soon as possible,”
Racioppo said.
De Blasio, a self-described
“obsessive composter,”
paused the old organics
program for almost a year in
May of 2020 as part of a $106
million pandemic-induced
cut to the agency and initially
didn’t plan to restart
it until mid-2022, six months
after he leaves office.
After pressure from politicians,
including his own
former Sanitation Commissioner
and mayoral candidate
Kathryn Garcia, de Blasio announced
in April that the program
would start resuming
this fall in a memorable press
briefi ng where he was joined
by a brown bin.
The Big Apple’s compost
comeback is on a voluntary
basis, meaning DSNY will
start to pick up your organics
if enough people in your
local community district sign
up online or through 311, and
if your neighborhood was
already part of the old program.
Sanitation will add more
neighborhoods every month
based on demand, according
to the agency.
The top four areas for sign
ups are all in Brooklyn, with
Downtown Brooklyn’s CB2
at number two (14.8 percent),
followed by CB7 in Sunset
Park (9.6 percent), and north
Brooklyn’s CB1 (7.9 percent),
as of Sept. 1.
Some areas of the South
Bronx and southern Brooklyn
had very low rates in comparison,
the data show.
Garcia pushed de Blasio
back in spring to make the
program universal, warning
that launching it as an opt-in
program would reinforce existing
racial and economic inequalities
in the city.
Mayor Bill de Blasio addresses a brown compost bin at an April 22 press
briefi ng. Ed Reed/Mayor’s Offi ce
“It is going to turn composting
into a ‘luxury’ that is
available for New Yorkers that
have the resources to organize
community support and submit
bureaucratic paperwork.
Curbside organics should be
universal – plain and simple,”
Garcia said at the time.
The former politico, who
was recently appointed to Director
of State Operations by
Governor Kathy Hochul, did
not respond to requests for
comment.
A Sanitation spokesman
said the agency sent out 18,555
mailers in Bronx CB2 and is
working with local organizations
to further spread the
word.
“We have conducted extensive
outreach in recent
months, encouraging New
Yorkers from all neighborhoods
to express their interest
in curbside composting service,”
said Vincent Gragnani.
“As part of our longstanding
commitment to environmental
justice, we continue to
seek community partners to
help us spread the word. We
also continue to promote and
expand the number of foodscrap
drop-off sites across the
fi ve boroughs.”
To sign up for curbside composting
visit nyc.gov/curbsidecomposting
or call 311.
Picking up the trash!
Curbside organics pickup returns to north BK
Join us at our outdoor events with the
country’s most celebrated chefs, food
personalities and winemakers.
TITLE PRESENTED BY AND
OFFICIAL BANK AND CREDIT CARD
EXCLUSIVE PROVIDER
OF WINE AND SPIRITS
Must be 21 or older with valid ID to consume alcohol. The Festival promotes responsible drinking. 100% of the net proceeds benefit God’s Love We Deliver and Food Bank For New York City. | Sponsors confirmed as of 9.24.21
HOSTED BY AND BENEFITING
OFFICIAL
AUTOMOTIVE PARTNER
BEER AND WATER PREMIER
DISTRIBUTOR
OFFICIAL AIRLINE
PARTNER
HEADQUARTER
HOTEL
OFFICIAL MUSIC
EXPERIENCE PARTNER
PLATINUM
®
TICKETS ON SALE!
NYCWFF.ORG
/NYCWFF.ORG