NYC installs pizza box bins at city parks
Images courtesy of NYC Parks
Ahead of pizza parties and picnics this holiday weekend, New York City has installed trash cans designed to fit pizza boxes at six city parks. The city’s Parks Department on Friday unveiled the new rectangular trash bins, which feature a classic red-and-white checkered design reminiscent of tablecloths in pizzerias. As first seen in Central Park earlier this summer, the receptacles help avoid trash pileups that often attract rats.
Six bins have been installed at five parks throughout the city, including Father Demo Square in Manhattan, Saratoga Park in Brooklyn, Sobelsohn Playground in Queens, Loreto Playground in the Bronx, and Jennifer’s Playground on Staten Island.
Designed in-house by NYC Parks, the bins pay tribute to the signature red-and-white checkered tablecloths of pizzerias. The trash bins are meant to catch the eye of New Yorkers and remind them to empty their boxes before disposal.
“Pizza Rat will find no quarter in city parks soon enough, thanks to these pizza-ready trash cans,” Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi said. “This is yet another creative way the Adams administration is improving the quality of life for people, not pests.”
The initiative takes inspiration from a similar effort by the Central Park Conservancy to manage the pileup of pizza boxes. In May, the Conservancy piloted a recycling bin designed specifically to fit pizza boxes and installed it in the busy East Pinetum section of the park.
“This summer, the Central Park Conservancy piloted the first pizza box recycling bin in Central Park, and the early results show less jammed trash bins and surrounding litter, plus more recycled cardboard,” Margaret Asaro, vice president for Park Maintenance and Facilities at the Central Park Conservancy, said.
“As we work to expand the pilot program to more locations in Central Park, we applaud our partners in NYC Parks who are deploying these pizza bins to parks throughout the city. We will continue to work together to share knowledge and findings to keep New York’s public parks clean.”
The bins retail for about $950 each, Mark Focht, deputy commissioner and chief operating officer at NYC Parks, told Gothamist.
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