John Jefferson
The mayor of New York City has been trolled mercilessly online after hailing the new “revolution” in waste disposal – a wheelie trash can.
Social media users were quick to poke fun at Eric Adams, whose dislike of trash and rats is well-documented, unveiling a black plastic wheelie bin at a press conference on Monday and declaring the city was taking “the next step forward in our ‘Trash Revolution’.”
“It’s some kind of wheeled bin, American ingenuity knows no bounds,” one user wrote in response to the clip, which showed Adams wheeling out the bin with Jay-Z’s Empire State of Mind blasting in the background – a familiar feature of his press conferences.
Others were similarly unimpressed by the introduction of the “first official NYC bin” which is equipped with wheels and a secure latching lid. “New York learning about trash cans in 2024 is an insane flex,” wrote one user.
“New York lives on the white hot cutting edge of new technology,” added another.
British social media users were quick to poke fun from across the pond. “In my head, America is a land of advanced technology. In reality, they need press conferences to explain bins,” wrote one user.
“Wheelie bins have finally made it across the Atlantic. A proud moment for our deprived American friends,” stated another.
Monday’s announcement by Adams and the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) Commissioner Jessica Tisch is the latest step by the city in the ongoing war against excess waste.
The announcement marks “the next step in relegating New York City’s once-omnipresent mountains of black trash bags to the dustbin of history,” the Mayor’s office said in a statement.
The wheelie bins are available for below $50 for the most common size.
Mayor Adams also announced on Monday that DSNY had put forth a proposed rule requiring that all buildings with one to nine residential units and all special use buildings that receive DSNY collection put their trash in containers, effective November 12.
It is Adams’ second trash-related gaffe this year. Back in February, the introduction of side-loading garbage trucks in the city – touted by officials as a “historic win in the war on trash” – was decried as old news even to small cities in America.
Adams credited the new truck for New York’s bright future in the trash collection department. “The new garbage truck we’re unveiling today — four years ahead of schedule — represents the future of New York City garbage collection,” he said in a statement at the time.
“It means we’ll be able to containerize trash from our large residential buildings, something people didn’t believe would be possible in our dense city.”
Other steps taken by Adams in his war on waste include appointing the city’s first “rat czar” and announcing the first “National Urban Rats Summit,” which is set to be held in NYC in September.
The summit is meant to bring experts on rats — “from researchers at academic institutions to municipal pest control managers” — to share “best practices” and discuss “rodent mitigation, and advance the science of urban rat management”.
Experts from across the nation are reportedly attending the summit.
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