NYC debuts new pizza box-friendly trash cans in the latest salvo in war on rats
Rats with a preference for pizza might be out of luck.
NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue announced the city has installed pizza-friendly disposal bins to accommodate the bulky boxes that are a hassle to cram into traditional garbage cans, often leading to leftovers for rodents.
The first of six new square bins was installed in Father Demo Square in Greenwich Village earlier this month, and the rest were reportedly rolled out Friday in various city parks — the latest salvo in the city’s war on rats.
“We all know that you shouldn’t try to fit a square peg into a round hole, which is why we’re deploying special trash cans just for pizza boxes to parks throughout the five boroughs,” Donoghue said.
Mayor Eric Adams hopes the new tan containers marked up in red and white that say “empty pizza boxes only,” will keep the streets tidy and fend off rats, a scourge the rodent-hating mayor has tried to address with a “rat czar” and “anti-rat activists.”
Each bin retails for about $950 each, Gothamist reported.
The new boxes can be found stationed next to traditional garbage and recycling receptacles.
The Central Park Conservancy set up a similar recycling bin in May near the Great Lawn.
The green-colored bin is part of a pilot program there, NBC News reported.
“On a warm busy day, the conservancy can remove more than 100 boxes in this area of the park alone,” conservancy spokeswoman Kat Brady told the outlet.
The Central Park bin debuted just one day after the mayor announced the first “National Urban Rat Summit,” scheduled for September to address “best practices on rodent mitigation.”
