It may be ‘rat boy summer,’ a marked period in which it has become a popular online trend for Gen Z social media users to point out the vaguely rat-like features of the mates of several celebrities who currently have ‘hot rodent boyfriends.’ Still, New York City is not looking to celebrate its rats. Over the past several decades, rat infestations have been a waxing and waning problem for the city that never sleeps, and now, NYC officials are taking extreme measures to stop their hot rodent summer once and for all.
With over 14 billion pounds of trash produced by its 8.3 million residents yearly, New York City is boldly committed to cleanliness. The days of unsightly garbage bags on the streets are numbered, as all residential buildings with 1-9 units will be required to use containers for their trash by November 12, 2024.
With the new rule, New York City is set to containerize 70% of its trash for the first time in history. This innovative approach is supported by the production of NYC’s first-ever official trash, recycling, and compost bins, designed to work seamlessly with the city’s sanitation vehicles for safe, clean, and efficient disposal.
According to Mayor Adams, “The public space has been hijacked. We all see it: Mounds and mounds and mounds of plastic bags. By November 12, we will have containerized 70% of our city’s 14 billion pounds of annual trash.”
DSNY Commissioner Jessica Tisch said, “Many property owners already use bins for their trash — and pay over $100 retail in order to keep the streets clean. Well, we’ve got great news: at the same time that we’re moving to require containerization of trash for all buildings with one to nine residential units, we’re unveiling the official NYC Bin’ — beautiful, durable, and less than $50 for the most common size.”
Putting the trash in containers will also help combat the city’s ever-present rat problem. “We all have a unified dislike, and those are those pesky New York City rats,” Adams said in a statement. “People wonder why we have a rat problem in this city. Well, duh. Maybe because historically, we’ve left 16 billion pounds out for them to eat every year,” Tisch said.
Even Rat Czar Kathleen Corradi got in on the ‘rat boy summer’ action, saying, “With this next step in the Department of Sanitation’s ‘Trash Revolution,’ New York City continues its efforts to systematically deny rats a curbside buffet and get black bags off our streets.”
This is the city’s most recent effort to fight rats and clean the streets. In 2023, the town changed garbage set-out times from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. this year, and containerization took effect for businesses in the city, acting as a trial run before this wide-scale implementation. Thus far, change is coming slowly to NYC’s rat population.
