MORE TRASH OFF THE STREET: Registration Begins for Use of Empire Bins by Residential Buildings in Brooklyn Community District 2

July 1, 2026

Downtown Brooklyn and surrounding areas will have all trash fully containerized this fall, delivering cleaner public spaces and fewer rats

Registration period open from July 1st to 31st for all 10+ unit buildings in Brooklyn Community District

The Department of Sanitation today kicked off a month-long signup period for medium and large residential buildings to receive Empire Bins in Brooklyn Community District 2, which will soon be the second district in the city to have its trash fully containerized. Mayor Mamdani has committed the funds necessary to bring Empire Bins – and full containerization of trash – to six additional districts next year, and to every neighborhood of the city by 2031, delivering cleaner public spaces and fewer rats.

“Starting today, DSNY teams will be knocking on doors in Brooklyn Community District 2 to begin the process of siting and installing these Empire Bins,” said Sanitation Commissioner Gregory Anderson. “Residents and building managers in West Harlem have found Empire Bins to be clean and convenient, allowing building supers to take trash out at any hour, any day, while freeing up space once occupied by trash inside the building and on the sidewalk. We are thrilled to be bringing Empire Bins and cleaner streets to Brooklyn, and we expect them to be just as popular here and across the city.”

Brooklyn Community District 2 encompasses Downtown Brooklyn, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Fulton Ferry, DUMBO, Vinegar Hill, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Following the same model that is working in West Harlem, DSNY will assign Empire Bins to all buildings with more than 30 units, and Empire Bins will be accessible to property managers with a key card. Buildings with 10 to 30 units will be given an option — after extensive one-to-one outreach — to either have an Empire Bin assigned to them or to use smaller “wheelie bins” as all properties with one to nine units are already required to do citywide. All buildings with 10 or more units must register by July 31st at nyc.gov/EmpireBins.

Trash from businesses and small residential buildings with 9 or fewer units is already required to be containerized. Learn more about trash containerization requirements at nyc.gov/usebins.

In Brooklyn, DSNY will also pilot shared Empire Bins for the first time, allowing multiple smaller properties on the same block to share a single container, subject to certain conditions. Homeowners and building staff interested in sharing bins should email customerservice@dsny.nyc.gov for more information and to enroll in the pilot.

Roughly 1,100 Empire Bins have been deployed in Manhattan Community District 9 (Hamilton Heights, West Harlem and Morningside Heights) for the past year, performing well even during a particularly cold and snowy winter. DSNY expects to install approximately 1,700 bins in Brooklyn Community District 2.

Empire Bins are serviced by North America’s first European-style automated side-loading trucks, built through a first-of-its-kind Transatlantic partnership between American and Italian firms. These trucks have been running on the streets of West Harlem since April.

After completing Brooklyn Community District 2, DSNY will begin planning for the 2027 expansion, which will include the following districts:

• Bronx Community District 2(Hunts Point, Longwood)
• Bronx Community District 5 (University Heights, Mount Hope, Morris Heights, Fordham Heights)
• Queens Community District 2 (Sunnyside, Hunters Point, Woodside)
• Manhattan Community District 2 (West Village, SoHo, Little Italy, Greenwich Village, Nolita)
• Brooklyn Community District 8 (Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, Weeksville)
• Staten Island Community District 1 (North Shore)

Full implementation will realize a vision long thought impossible by cynics, rat lovers, and supporters of the status quo: a New York City where trash bags are kept off the streets once and for all.

Press Release #26-31