The Sanitation Department has doled out nearly 2,500 tickets to properties that have ignored the city’s new composting mandate in the past ten days — a punishment property managers are slamming as “blackmail.”
At least 2,462 fines for “failing to recycle organic waste” have been issued since April 1, when new laws ordered apartment buildings to sort their food scraps from the regular trash or be slapped with a monetary fine.
The added pressure led to 2.5 million pounds of food scraps, food-soiled paper and yard waste being collected in the first week alone.
That’s a 240% increase from the 737,000 pounds of compostable material that was collected a year prior when organic recycling was encouraged in the five boroughs, but not mandated.
“This works. New Yorkers have been clamoring for years for a curbside composting program that’s NORMAL. No special rules, no off-days, no starts and stops — not a niche program where we act like they’re doing us a favor by participating, but a regular, easy-to-use Sanitation service. Past administrations talked a big game about composting, but none of them had the guts to get it done,” Vincent Gragnani, a spokesperson for the Sanitation Department, told The Post.
“These numbers prove that just making this a normal service, with normal rules and – yes – normal enforcement actually gets RESULTS to get the rat food out of landfills and put to beneficial use. Who would’ve thought?”
The Sanitation Department had flaunted the program as simple, saying it follows the same process as recycling glass and paper.
The fines reflect the same punishments for failing to comply — lower-density buildings can expect a $25 fine, while high-density buildings face $100 for a first offense. The price respectively caps at $100 and $300 after the third offense.
Landlords and property managers, however, have pushed back, claiming the new laws and subsequent punishments have done little more than make life harder for staff — and lead to dumpster diving.
“Everyone likes composting. The reality is, the way this is constructed, it can’t serve any positive purpose in a real way,” said John Crotty, the co-owner of the East 147th Street Housing Development Fund Corp.
Several of the buildings he manages were hit with fines in the last few days, despite his staff’s best efforts to ensure the trash was properly sorted, he continued.
Crotty pointed toward the city’s own data suggesting that New Yorkers throw out over 10,000 tons of garbage per day, a tremendous load he claims makes continuous composting impossible.
“How many people is required to go through that to segment it out?” Crotty said.
“This fad will end and it will fall on its own weight eventually because it’s not set up for success.It’s an idealistic program where everyone agrees with the outcomes, but the process to getting there is not achievable.”
Similarly, one super of a Brooklyn complex, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Post he was ordered to flat-out ignore the new composting laws.
“Do you know what I do all day? I’m already folding and sorting boxes. I can’t be sorting through the garbage, too,” the super of the 50-plus unit building said. “It’s disgusting.”
For BrickWork Management CEO Ralph Westeroff, another issue with the new mandates comes with the bins that property managers are forced to use.
All buildings with at least nine dwellings are required to use the city-issued brown bins, which run for $43 and are allegedly on a delivery backlog, he said.
“The city is basically blackmailing everybody into buying their city bins now. That’s the way it is — that’s the way we feel about it. We’re doing everything we can to make sure properties comply with the law,” said Westeroff, who saw one of his buildings be slapped with a fine for improper disposal this week.
Councilmember Kristy Marmorato, a Republican who represents the Bronx, slammed the overwhelming fines as an attack on “working-class families.”
“This isn’t about the environment. It’s a cash grab, period. New Yorkers want a cleaner city, but this? Just another tax for working class under the guise of sustainability,” she said on X.