Good morning. It’s Friday. We’ll find out why today is another milestone in the effort to make the city less desirable to rats. We’ll also get details on F.B.I. searches of two houses owned by a close aide to Mayor Eric Adams.
Credit…Sebastian Mejias for The New York Times
Today, city businesses that have not already taken up arms in the battle against trash must do so.
The required weapon is a bin with a secure lid. All businesses must put their trash in such containers from now on. No longer can they leave their trash out in the open in plastic bags.
Food-related businesses — restaurants, bars, delis, bodegas, grocery stores, wholesalers and catering companies — have had to use containers since last August. The Department of Sanitation said those groups accounted for 20 percent of city businesses but by far the largest portion of the trash that attracts rats.
Chain stores with five or more locations became subject to a similar trash containerization rule in September. That took in two of the most ubiquitous components of New York’s streetscape, pharmacies and banks.
Today, all other commercial establishments must follow suit. The sanitation commissioner, Jessica Tisch, said it was a monumental step because 50 percent of the trash in New York City would now go into containers. (The other 50 percent is residential garbage.)
