Monday, March 16, 2026, 10:30 a.m. (New York City time), 250 Broadway - 8th Floor - Hearing Room 2
Committee: Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management
The Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management held its FY2027 preliminary budget hearing for the Department of Sanitation (DSNY), whose budget totals approximately $3.1 billion. Acting Commissioner Javier Lo Han testified on the department's three core functions—collection, cleaning, and snow removal—covering containerization, citywide curbside composting, commercial waste zones, litter basket service, illegal dumping enforcement, and a roughly $100 million snow budget adjustment. Council members questioned the commissioner and staff for over three hours on overtime and headcount, budget transparency and pooled vs. borough allocations, street vending enforcement, Staten Island snow response, composting, capital equipment, waste export costs, and planning for the World Cup and 250th anniversary events. The hearing concluded with public testimony, largely urging continued council funding for community composting and waste-diversion programs. No votes were taken.
0:19 Thank you good morning and
0:19 welcome to today's New York
0:21 City Council hearing for the
0:23 committee on sanitation and
0:24 solid waste management at this
0:25 time I would like to remin
0:27 deveryone to silence all
0:29 electronic devices also at
0:29 this point going forward
0:30 forward no one is approach to
0:32 theirs chair we're ready t
0:37 obegin.
0:37 Good morning everyone and
0:40 welcome to this beautiful
0:43 sunny day Monday morning in
0:45 the City of New York um and
0:48 welcome to the fiscal 20 27
0:51 preliminary budget hearing for
0:52 the committee on sanitation
0:53 and solid waste management.
0:55 My name is Justin Sanchez
0:56 and I am the chair of the
0:58 sanitation and solid waste
0:59 management committee today we
1:00 will review the department of
1:02 sanitation fiscal 20 27 7 to
1:05 understand how it addresses
1:06 the sanitation needs of all
1:07 New yorkers
1:08 . I would like to begin by
1:10 thanking the men and women of
1:11 the department of sanitation
1:13 for their hard work keeping
1:14 our City clean and livable
1:17 when collecting refuse in the
1:18 morning early morning hours
1:19 clearing snow from our streets s
1:23 year ah or managing the city's
1:25 growing waist export needs the
1:27 work of workforce is essential
1:29 to the daily life of every New
1:31 yorker
1:31 . The department of sanitationy
1:36 budget totals approximately
1:38 $3.1 billion the preliminary
1:39 plan includes a number of New
1:41 needs and adjustments and the
1:42 committee looks forward t
1:42 odiscussing how these resources
1:45 are being deployed to address
1:46 the city's most pressing
1:47 sanitation challenges during
1:48 our hearing today the
1:49 committee would like to focus
1:51 on several key
1:53 . Areas including the
1:55 department's chronic overtime
1:56 reliance and whether the
1:56 structural reform the
2:01 expansion of container ization
2:02 across the City including its
2:04 cost and implementation
2:05 timeline waste export costs
2:07 and the city's long term
2:09 strategy for managing exported
2:10 waste as the 20 26 solid waste
2:12 management plan is implemented
2:14 and lot cleaning operations
2:15 and how the department is
2:17 allocating resources t
2:18 oaddress vacant lot conditions
2:19 across the five boroughs over
2:21 the past year the committee
2:24 has conducted
2:24 . Active oversight of
2:26 sanitation operations
2:27 including a hearing on the
2:28 city's engagement around the
2:30 20 26 solid waste management
2:31 plan we also anticipate
2:32 holding a hearing on street
2:34 cleanliness in the coming
2:36 months as maintaining street
2:37 clean streets remains a top
2:39 priority for our constituents
2:41 and this committee I would
2:42 like to thank our committee
2:43 staff for their hard work our
2:45 senior financial financial
2:46 analyst hand singh our policy
2:49 analyst riki chala and dirk
2:50 spencer are committee counsel
2:53 morgan barrett and samia shell d
2:57 welcome acting commissioner lo
2:58 han and the men and women of
3:00 the department of sanitation
3:01 for the essential work they do
3:02 every day and I'm looking
3:03 forward to today's cushion and
3:05 the committee now swear you in.
3:07 Good morning my name is
3:10 morgan barrett will you please
3:11 raise your right hands thank
3:13 you do you affirm to tell the
3:15 truth the whole truth and
3:16 nothing but the truth before
3:18 this committee and to respond
3:19 honestly to Council Member
3:22 questions thank you you begin
3:23 when ready I'd like to also
3:26 recognize my colleagues who
3:26 are joining us here today we
3:30 start with councilmember
3:33 Morano councilmember huang
3:34 member huang Council Member
3:35 han e tthe Council Member De
3:36 La Rosa and council members
3:37 kar do you have anyone for me
3:41 anyone wanted and we have
3:44 councilmember loni joining us
3:46 via issue
3:47 . Commissioner please begin
3:47 when you're ready great thank
3:49 you good morning chair Sanchez
3:51 and members of the committee
3:53 on sanitation and solid waste
3:54 I I am javier lo han the
3:56 acting commissioner of the New
3:57 York City department of
3:58 sanitation and I am joined
4:00 today by Joseph antonelli
4:02 deputy commissioner of
4:03 management and budget and by
4:04 joshua goodman deputy
4:05 commissioner of public affairs
4:06 and customer experience I've
4:08 worked at the department of
4:09 sanitation for 27 years and
4:11 even with that level of
4:12 experience it can still be a
4:14 challenge to grasp the
4:14 enormity of our work the 10000
4:17 members of service at the s
4:18 and y are responsible for
4:20 three primary areas which I
4:21 will list and then explain as
4:23 as much detail as time allows
4:25 with an emphasis on New
4:27 innovations and strategic
4:30 initiatives broadly speak in
4:30 our three core functions break
4:32 down to collection cleaning
4:35 and snow removal beginning
4:36 with collection New yorkers
4:37 set out 24 million pounds of
4:40 residential trash recycling
4:41 and compostable material each
4:43 day that's 24 million pounds
4:45 today 24 million pounds
4:47 tomorrow 24 million pounds the
4:49 next day and so on it is a job
4:52 that by its nature can never
4:54 become a completed at the end
4:55 of our third shift of the day
4:57 the next day's material is
4:58 already waiting at the curb we
5:00 want a massive house to house
5:03 operation traversing every
5:04 part of the City each day t
5:05 oget this waste off the
5:08 sidewalks while collection
5:09 operations have been at the
5:10 core of our work for over 140
5:12 years there have been
5:14 remarkable innovations in just
5:15 the last few years we bring
5:16 trash to the to a network of
5:18 transfer stations and
5:20 processing facilities where
5:21 increasing shares are put t
5:23 obeneficial reuse in the form
5:24 of recycling compost and
5:26 composting and anaerobic
5:28 digestion the export of waste
5:29 out of the City accounts for
5:32 roughly one quarter of the
5:33 department's budget and this
5:34 is a fixed cost that is
5:36 extremely difficult to adjust
5:38 we are making long term
5:40 changes though by reducing the
5:41 amount of waste that cannot be
5:44 reclaimed most notably with
5:45 our City wide curbside
5:47 composting the largest and
5:48 easiest composting program in
5:50 the country this was long
5:52 derided by both inside and
5:54 outside the department as
5:56 impossible we got it done by
5:57 making it simple no sign ups
5:59 no opt ins no special rules or
6:02 ban restrictions and this
6:04 universal universalist
6:05 approach has worked with
6:06 record setting tonnage
6:08 diverted from landfill
6:08 multiple times last year while
6:10 outreach and education around
6:11 this program will continue for
6:13 years to come it is now
6:15 formally normalized in keeping
6:16 with local law 89 of 20 23 and
6:20 failure to properly separate
6:21 this material from trash can
6:22 result in a fine just like
6:24 with traditional recycling we
6:27 have knocked on close t
6:29 o800000 doors to increase
6:30 awareness about the program
6:31 and we are giving more of the
6:33 finished compost back to New
6:34 York er's than ever before
6:36 with millions of pounds
6:37 provided free to the public
6:39 and compost give back set t
6:41 ostart in early
6:42 . Much earlier than in past
6:43 years there is one gap
6:45 remaining in this program and
6:48 that is a universal
6:49 requirement for commercial
6:51 organic separation the s and y
6:52 does not collect waste from
6:53 businesses but we do regulate
6:55 this industry the expansion of
6:57 commercial waste zone reform
6:58 which I would speak about in
7:00 more detail later incentivizes
7:02 businesses to compost by
7:03 saving the money but very few
7:05 businesses are actually
7:06 required to compost unlike all
7:09 residences local law hundred
7:10 46 of 2013 which regulates
7:12 compostable material from
7:14 businesses is badly out of
7:15 date and not aligned with the
7:16 goals of the administration or
7:17 its council we strongly urge
7:19 you to set a single standard
7:21 for both residential and
7:22 commercial diversion by
7:24 updating this law
7:25 . The other core collection
7:26 innovation of recent years is
7:28 of course container ization
7:30 for 50 years New York was the
7:31 only major City in the
7:33 developed world where trash
7:35 wasn't just allowed to be
7:36 placed directly on the
7:38 sidewalk it was in fact
7:38 required to be placed there
7:41 visitors would come here from
7:42 all over the world to walk at
7:44 our piles of trash and New
7:46 yorkers were asked to defend
7:47 this disgusting and outdated
7:50 practice in October 2022 we
7:52 began incentivizing container
7:53 ization through New rules
7:54 around waste set out times
7:55 preparing this with major
7:57 changes to y operations and
7:58 picking up more of the trash
8:01 far earlier in the spring of
8:03 20 24 container rules went
8:03 into effect for all businesses
8:05 of every type in New York City e
8:08 trash off the streets and into
8:09 a secure bin we wrote 70000
8:13 warnings to businesses as this
8:13 rule went into effect and we
8:15 have written over a hundred
8:18 thousand summonses since
8:18 gaining broad compliance and
8:20 bringing bins to restaurants
8:22 delis bodegas drugstores
8:23 boutiques and everywhere else
8:24 on our commercial corridors
8:26 the first container is
8:27 requirement for residential
8:28 buildings in more than 5
8:30 0years went into effect on
8:34 November 12 2024 requiring all
8:35 buildings with 1 2 9
8:36 residential units to use these
8:37 bins this could either be
8:39 their own or the official New
8:40 York City bin which is the
8:42 cheapest high quality bin
8:43 available starting in June
8:46 2026 the New York City bin
8:47 will be the only been that 1 2
8:49 9 unit properties are
8:50 permitted to use for trash t
8:52 ofacilitate safer cleaner
8:55 mechanized collection this
8:56 program was designed
8:57 thoughtfully so that these
8:58 ethe market around $50 a
9:04 reasonable responsibility for
9:05 most New York City property
9:07 owners and New York er's have
9:07 purchased around 1 million o
9:09 fthese bins at www dot bins dot
9:13 or New York York City home
9:15 depot locations still in order
9:17 to meet the needs of certain
9:19 property owners with the City
9:21 council created a been
9:23 reimbursement program for
9:24 owners of 1 and 2 family homes
9:26 who qualify for the state star
9:29 or start tax inception to date t
9:34 on these reimbursements the
9:36 bins have fundamentally
9:37 altered the look and feel of
9:38 our streets replacing piles of
9:40 black trash bags that
9:42 attracted rats impeded
9:43 pedestrians and generally made
9:44 New York er's feel that no one
9:45 cared about the neighborhoods
9:47 these bins look like simple
9:49 pieces of plastic but they
9:50 have lead to 15 straight
9:52 months of declining rats
9:53 hitting City wide siding and
9:55 City excuse me about 10 10
9:56 months ago we a giant leap
9:59 forward in waste collection
10:00 strategies with the start of
10:01 the empire been stationary on
10:03 container program in manhattan
10:05 community district line
10:07 service by New automated side
10:09 loading trucks this is the
10:11 first european style entry
10:13 container program in north
10:14 america taking those huge
10:16 piles of trash bags that are
10:17 generated by the largest
10:18 buildings off the streets and
10:20 instead storing them in secure
10:22 containers west harlem is home
10:24 to approximately 1100 empire
10:25 bins covering more than 80% of
10:28 their apartment
10:29 . Units unlike in other parts
10:30 of the world the bins are not
10:31 shared by the entire block
10:34 bins are assigned to a single
10:35 large building using our
10:36 density which had long been
10:37 thought of the achilles heel
10:39 of container ization to our
10:41 advantage by allowing for
10:43 greater oversight property
10:44 owners and residents have
10:45 responded extremely well t
10:47 othis program and the secon
10:48 ddistrict has already been
10:51 announced with planning on the
10:51 way to have brooklyn community
10:53 board district to fully
10:55 containerized later this year
10:56 funding to continue this
10:58 program appeared on last
10:59 year's plan and we are
11:00 currently working to estimate
11:02 cost and timelines for
11:03 citywide expansion plan
11:04 collection seem like a solve
11:07 problem particularly
11:08 considering how much of it
11:09 happens outside of public view e
11:12 refining and reinventing each
11:16 day turning to our second core
11:18 function cleaning public
11:19 spaces we are also
11:21 continuously expanding our
11:23 approach when I began my
11:24 career no one was sure which
11:26 agency was responsible for
11:28 cleaning median step streets
11:29 underpasses and other areas of
11:31 public property and a
11:32 sustained and ongoing way a
11:34 result of a catch error
11:36 interagency memo that has long
11:38 created confusion about agency
11:39 rolls around cleaning as a
11:42 result the assam y was not
11:43 then resourced to clean these
11:45 areas that began to change few
11:47 years ago with the formal
11:48 recognition of the uae as the
11:50 only agency with a dedicated
11:51 competency around cleaning and
11:52 program design and funding t
11:54 omatch that skill set since the
11:56 creation of the first ever
11:58 reason highway unit in 20 23
12:00 we have added specialist
12:02 highway cleaning equipment and
12:03 implemented important highway
12:05 safety trainings we now clean
12:06 every single highway the areas
12:08 that visitors to our City
12:09 often see first on a regular
12:12 basis another unit unit are
12:14 targeted neighborhood task
12:15 force provides regular
12:16 cleaning to over 0000 areas
12:18 that had been left out of
12:19 prior plans there are more
12:22 certainly several in every one
12:22 of your districts
12:23 . Areas where you're
12:24 constituents are finally
12:25 seeing results from snake road
12:27 to west 2030 street steps t
12:29 othe conduit boulevard we
12:32 additionally took management
12:33 of the city's graffiti removal
12:35 program increasing the number
12:36 of 301 service requests closed
12:38 by 80% we are also also using
12:41 New technology and tactics t
12:43 ostreamline public space
12:44 cleaning while this has always
12:46 been a data driven agency for
12:50 decades cleaning condition
12:50 logs were maintained manually
12:51 and locally we have removed
12:53 barriers between districts and
12:54 created one single digital log
12:57 is a crude used the agency