Stressing that many residents, including seniors, have difficulty taking out their garbage and recycling after dark, Assemblyman William Colton (D—Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights) is calling on New York City officials to revise their current trash set-out times.

Currently, the city allows trash and recycling in containers with secure lids to be put out at 6 p.m. on the evening prior to pick-up. As of November, city ordinances also require that all garbage except recycling be in lidded receptacles, with kitchen waste, which is attractive to rats, in its own lidded trash receptacle. Recycling may still be put out at the curb in clear plastic bags; however, if disposed of that way, it may not be put out until after 8 p.m., year-round.

“I applaud the city’s efforts to combat rodents,” said Assemblyman Colton. “However, current rules that do not permit any trash to be taken out before 6 p.m., with recycling in bags not allowed to be put curbside till after 8 p.m., do not take into account the difficulties that many residents have with the policy. In the summer, it’s doable, because it’s still light enough at 8 p.m. However, numerous constituents, including many seniors, have complained to my office that, when it gets dark early, it’s difficult for them to lug their trash and recycling out to the curb. It’s cold much of the time, it may be icy, and, in the dark, it can be difficult to see if there are patches of ice or other obstructions that could cause them to fall.”

In addition, Assemblyman Colton noted, taking trash out after sundown may be impossible for religious reasons. Observant Jews, for example, cannot do so on the Sabbath or on most religious holidays, so if their pickup day is Saturday, for example -- meaning they would have to take their trash out Friday night after sundown -- they must skip pickup, even if they have trash to take out.

For these reasons, Assemblyman Colton is asking the mayor and the Department of Sanitation to walk back its policy. One possibility, he suggests, would be to have a flexible trash set-out time coordinated with sunset.

“If residents were permitted to put out trash half an hour prior to sunset, this would enable them to do so while it’s still light out, which has the key benefit of enhancing safety, and also potentially allow observant individuals to avoid coming up against a religious prohibition,” Assemblyman Colton said.