Don't Place Garbage Out Too Early

According to New York City Sanitation Rules and Regulations, residential units may place receptacles out for collection on the sidewalk, right by the curb, no earlier than 5 p.m. the day before their scheduled collection, and no earlier than 4 p.m. from Oct. 1 to April 1. Residential units must remove receptacles from their collection place by 9 p.m. on their collection day. If collection occurs after 9 p.m., receptacles must be removed by 9 a.m. the next day [RCNY §16-120(c)].

In one recent case, an owner was fined for placing garbage out before 5 p.m. on the day before the collection was scheduled. The Department of Sanitation (DOS) issued a violation notice to the owner for having a garbage can out for collection on a noncollection day. The owner claimed that she had simply placed the can out on the day before the morning of the scheduled pickup. The Administrative Law Judge ruled against the owner and fined her $100. The owner appealed and lost.

The DOS inspector noted that the garbage can was on the curb at 2:37 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon. The scheduled collection day was Wednesday. And 2:37 p.m. wasn’t a proper “time for removal” [Mendolia: ECB App. No. 1201071 (1/31/13)].