Amid increase in rat sightings, New York will limit amount of time trash is allowed on the street

New York has announced new rules to combat increased rat sightings.

Beginning in April, 2023, New Yorkers will no longer be allowed to put their trash out on the curb before 8 p.m.

“We are about to do something that no one has had the political will or political capital to pull off over the past 50 years,” explained New York’s Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “And I want to be clear: The rats are absolutely going to hate this announcement.”

“But the rats don’t run the city. We do,” Tisch said.

New York’s night shift bin men currently collect about 5 million pounds of trash per night, and this number makes up only 25% of the round-the-clock trash collection service in New York. Rats only require about 28 grams of food each day to survive.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams spoke of the city’s rat problem earlier this week, saying: “Everyone that knows me — they know one thing. I hate rats. When we started killing them in Borough Hall, some of the same folks were criticizing us and called me a murderer because I was killing rats.”

He continued, “Well, you know what? We’re going to kill rats.”

New York City Councilmember Shaun Abreu, who sponsored the bill, said he was confident the new rules would be successful.

“New Yorkers will not have to fear as many rats hide in late-night shadows or rampage through our subway system and sidewalks,” he said. “Like the fax machine, typewriter, and Blackberry, our current collection schedule will soon be seen as comically archaic.”