WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES OCTOBER 24, 2019 11
R’wood councilman reaches deal with city
to restructure commercial waste cleanup
BY MAX PARROTT
MPARROTT@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Councilman Antonio Reynoso is at
the center of a deal that City Council
reached with organized labor and
Department of Sanitation on Oct. 10
about how to restructure the way commercial
waste cleanup is parceled out
around the city.
The amended version of the bill,
which Reynoso sponsored, will create
a system that divides the city into fi ve
zones, and designates a limited number
of trash haulers to serve each area.
The bill would end the prevailing
open market waste system, where up
to dozens of diff erent waste companies
can serve the same neighborhood. It
was aimed at cutting down on redundant
truck routes to reduce carbon
emissions and improve work conditions
for drivers who now sometimes
work up 12-hour shift s.
Until the recent breakthrough, the
legislation had stalled over the issue
of whether to split up the city into
exclusive or nonexclusive waste zones.
Originally Reynoso, who chairs the
Council’s Committee on Sanitation and
Solid Waste Management, had been
pushing for exclusive zones, where the
city would designate a single sanitation
company to pick up all trash in a given
area.
In May, Reynoso introduced a bill
under where the city would be split
up into 20 zones, which would each
be served by a single waste company.
Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn
Garcia, who has been pushing for the
nonexclusive zones, had been negotiating
for weeks with Reynoso. Their
agreement caps the number of private
carters in any zone at three.
The solution represents a
compromise on the issues that has
pitted diff erent factions of organized
labor against one another. City & State
reported that while Teamsters Local
813 and Laborers Local 108 disagreed
over whether an exclusionary plan
would be best for their workers.
The Teamsters argued that it would
lead to result in better pay and working
conditions for their members, while
the Laborers argued that allowing for
competition within zones would cost
the fewest workers their jobs.
At a Crain’s Business Breakfast
on Oct. 15, Garcia admitted that the
compromise might leader to some
sanitation companies going out of
business, but she claimed that the total
number of workers would remain the
same and that the department would
work with any sacked workers to get
rehired.
The next step is for the bill to pass
through the Sanitation Committee,
which hasn’t scheduled a hearing yet,
but Politico reported that Reynoso is
aiming to have the bill passed at the Oct.
30 meeting.
Reynoso did not respond to multiple
requests for comment before press
time.
Councilman Antonio Reynoso chairs a Sanitation and Solid Waste
Management Committee hearing. John McCarten/NYC Council Flickr
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