Implementation Dates for the Brooklyn North and Upper Manhattan Commercial Waste Zones
Rule status: Proposed
Agency: DSNY
Comment by date: May 8, 2026
Printable Version of Proposed Rule Text
DSNY-Proposed-Implementation-Dates-for-the-Brooklyn-North-and-Upper-Manhattan-Commercial-Waste-Zones.pdf
In 2019, New York City enacted Local Law 199 requiring the establishment of a new program for the collection of commercial waste. The program, known as the Commercial Waste Zones (CWZ) program, is a safe, efficient, and competitive collection system designed to provide high-quality service to New York City businesses while advancing the City’s waste diversion and sustainability goals. Pursuant to Local Law 199, codified in Title 16-B of the New York City Administrative Code, the geographic area of New York City has been divided into 20 CWZs. Pursuant to a request for proposals process, three private carters providing commercial waste collection services were selected by the Department to serve businesses within each CWZ, and five carters were selected to provide citywide containerized commercial waste collection services to businesses that use dumpsters and compactors. The selected carters are referred to as “awardees.” The resulting contracts with the awardees include standards for pricing, customer service, safety, environmental health, and requirements to promote the City’s commitment to recycling and sustainability. Local Law 199 requires the Department to issue rules setting forth an implementation start date and a final implementation date for each CWZ established. See Ad. Code § 16-1002(e)(3). Different implementation start and end dates may be established for different CWZs. The Department previously set the implementation start and end dates for the first eight CWZs: Queens Central, Bronx East, Bronx West, Queens Northeast, Brooklyn South, Lower Manhattan, Midtown South, and Staten Island. This rule sets the implementation start date and final implementation date for the next two zones: Brooklyn North and Upper Manhattan. Subsequent rules will set the implementation dates for the remaining ten zones. DSNY’s authority for these rules is found in Section 753 and Section 1043(g) of the New York City Charter and Title 16-B of the New York City Administrative Code.
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Date
May 8, 2026
10:00am - 11:00am EDT
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Comments are now closed.
Online comments: 1
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Jessica Walker, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce
Comment added May 8, 2026 11:43amMay 8, 2026
Bureau of Legal Affairs
New York City Department of Sanitation
125 Worth Street, Room 710
New York, NY 10013Re: Proposed Rule — Implementation Dates for the Brooklyn North and Upper Manhattan Commercial Waste Zones
To Whom It May Concern:
The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce represents 125,000 Manhattan businesses, including thousands operating within the boundaries of the proposed Upper Manhattan Commercial Waste Zone. We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the Department’s proposed implementation schedule.
The Chamber takes no position on the proposed October 1, 2026 implementation start date or November 30, 2026 final implementation date for Upper Manhattan. The 60-day transition window is consistent with the schedules DSNY adopted for prior zones, and we recognize that Local Law 199 vests implementation timing in the Department’s discretion. Our comments focus instead on what Upper Manhattan businesses will need during that window — and on what DSNY can do between now and October 1 to make the transition as orderly as possible.
1. Apply lessons from Lower Manhattan before Upper Manhattan begins. Lower Manhattan reaches final implementation on May 31, 2026. By October 1, the Department will have approximately four months of post-rollout operational data from the zone most directly comparable to Upper Manhattan. We urge DSNY to publish a public after-action assessment of the Lower Manhattan transition before the Upper Manhattan implementation start date, covering at minimum: the share of businesses successfully migrated to awardee service; categories and volume of complaints received; pricing and service-level performance relative to RFP commitments; and operational issues identified by awardees, businesses, or the Department. This information is essential not only for Upper Manhattan but for the ten remaining zones still to be scheduled.
2. Strengthen business-facing communications and education during the transition. The clearest predictor of a smooth rollout is whether businesses understand what is changing, when, and what they must do. We ask the Department to commit to: a multilingual outreach campaign in the Upper Manhattan zone beginning no later than July 2026; clear awardee identification materials so businesses can verify legitimate carter outreach and avoid misrepresentation by non-awardees; and a dedicated DSNY contact channel — staffed in real time throughout the transition window — for businesses experiencing service disruptions, billing disputes, or carter assignment questions.
3. Pricing transparency for businesses moving to awardee service. The CWZ contracts include pricing standards intended to protect businesses. We ask that the Department make Upper Manhattan businesses’ applicable contracted rates and protections readily accessible during the transition, so members can confirm they are being billed consistently with awardee obligations. Businesses moving from longstanding carter relationships to new awardees need a straightforward way to verify they are paying what the contract requires.
The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce stands ready to partner with DSNY on member education and outreach in advance of the Upper Manhattan rollout. We can convene members through our regular programming, distribute Department-developed materials through our communications channels, and host briefings with awardees and DSNY staff throughout the summer. We welcome the opportunity to discuss this work further.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.Sincerely,
Jessica Walker
President & CEO
Manhattan Chamber of Commerce