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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

NYC Sanitation Committee Approves Organic Waste and Parking Sticker Bills on June 30, 2026

City Council — Tuesday, June 30, 2026

BodyNew York City, New York

SessionCity Council

DateTuesday, June 30, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 8:10

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

Is Gail coming?

0:03

Excuse me, no.

0:13

Yeah.

0:25

Good morning.

0:26

Welcome to New York City.

0:27

Council vote for the coming on sanitation and solid waste management.

0:31

Please sign all self-electronic devices.

0:33

Moving forward, no one is to approach the days.

0:35

Chair Sanchez, we are ready to begin.

0:42

Good morning, everyone.

0:44

Happy budget day.

0:45

Oh.

0:49

That's why I needed more water.

0:53

Alrighty, let's uh start that again.

0:55

Good morning, everyone, and happy budget day.

0:59

Morning.

1:02

Yay.

1:02

Um welcome to today's hearing by the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management.

1:08

The purpose of this hearing is to hold a vote on introduction 31A, sponsored by Majority Leader Shauna Brayou, and Introduction 92A by Councilmember Gail Brewer.

1:19

The committee previously heard these bills at a hearing on May 19, 2026, where it received testimonies from representatives of the Department of Sanitation and interested members of the public.

1:30

If you weren't there, you missed out on some riveting action.

1:34

Intro number 31A would require DSNY to by December 1st, 2026, designate additional covered establishment to be subject to requirements regarding separation and disposal of organic waste.

1:47

Any establishment so designated would be required to comply with such requirements on the ladder of June 1st, 2027, or when the establishment's commercial waste zone goes into effect.

1:59

The bill would also require commercial waste zone awardee carters to provide information on the donation of excess edible food to any establishment receiving organic waste collection.

2:10

I will now read a statement on behalf of council member majority leader Abreu.

2:17

Thank you, Chair Sanchez.

2:19

You're welcome for allowing me to speak on my bill.

2:23

You have a lovely vase.

2:25

Um Intro 31A would require the Department of Sanitation to review and designate additional categories of businesses that may be subject to organic waste separation and disposal requirements.

2:35

This will help ensure more establishments participate in our organic collections recycling system and practice responsible waste management.

2:43

This bill builds on the growing success of our city's organic waste system, helping reduce strain on landfill and in support our environmental goals.

2:53

Households are now required to separate the organic waste and businesses should be held to the same standard.

2:58

This bill is not just good for the environment, it's great, but also good for businesses bottom lines by reducing waste disposal costs under the city's current commercial waste zone rules, carters that collect commercial waste must charge less for organic waste collection than general refuse collection, requiring new types of establishments to separate organics will help save their businesses money as more of their waste is collected at the mandated lower rates.

3:24

Ultimately, it will cost businesses less to do the right thing for our environment.

3:29

Intro 31A will help foster a more sustainable and environmental friendly commercial waste system in our city, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to move this bill forward.

3:40

I don't know why there's a pause there, but there is, so I'll say it out loud.

3:43

Pause.

3:46

Alright, uh, I want to say uh thank you to Councilmember Gail Brewer for joining us.

3:51

Um, and that brings us to intro 92A, which would permit the Department of Transportation, DSNY, and any department designated by DSNY to place a sticker no larger than eight and a half by eleven inches on the window of any motor vehicle as a method of enforcing alternate side parking rules.

4:09

It will be sticky, you will hate it, it will suck.

4:12

Move your cars.

4:14

I will now turn it over to Councilmember Brewer to provide a statement on her bill.

4:24

Councilmember Bernikoff is very nice to switch for a minute.

4:28

So I can even though she hates the stickers.

4:32

So thank you very much, uh, Mr.

4:34

Chair.

4:34

I have to say, '87.

4:36

Sanitation started placing day glow green stickers on vehicles.

4:40

Those who had repeated alternate side violations.

4:45

That was because things were not being cleaned on the street.

4:48

These stickers are credited as one of the city's single most effective tools for helping keep our streets clean for all New Yorkers.

4:56

Then after the council, and I must admit, I think I probably voted for it, banned the stickers in 2012.

5:02

Too many people make the following calculation.

5:25

Preventing the cleaning of more than 3,000 miles of streets.

5:30

Street cleaning works when cars move, it doesn't work otherwise.

5:34

The sanitation sweepers cannot clean the kerbling.

5:37

They weave in and out of park cars while litter, debris, and grime build up.

5:42

So I believe it's time to restore this tool to improve compliance and help keep streets clean for all New Yorkers.

5:48

I have to say it would have been great if the state passed the cameras on the sanitation sweepers.

5:54

Norman Steisel, a former member of the commissioner of sanitation, wrote in the Daily News yesterday that's what he would prefer, but it did not happen.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Sanitation and Solid Waste Management█████████████████████████████████████████████47%

Procedural███████████████████████████████32%

Environmental Protection████████████████████21%

Summary of Proceedings

NYC Sanitation Committee Approves Organic Waste and Parking Sticker Bills on June 30, 2026

The New York City Council Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management, chaired by Justin Sanchez, met on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, at 10:00 AM. The committee voted on two proposed bills—Intro 31-A and Intro 92-A—both of which had been previously heard on May 19, 2026. After brief statements from sponsors, the committee approved both measures by a vote of 10–1, with Councilmember Inna Vernikov casting the sole dissenting vote.

Discussion Items

Intro 31-A: Expanding Commercial Organic Waste Requirements
- Sponsored by Majority Leader Shauna Abreu (statement read by Chair Sanchez), the bill requires the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) to designate additional categories of establishments subject to organic waste separation and disposal by December 1, 2026. Those establishments must comply by June 1, 2027, or when their commercial waste zone takes effect.
- The bill also mandates that commercial waste zone awardees provide information on donating excess edible food to establishments receiving organic waste collection.
- Councilmember Abreu argued that the bill reduces environmental strain, supports the city's composting goals, and lowers business costs because commercial waste carters must charge less for organic collection than general refuse.
Intro 92-A: Restoring Adhesive Stickers for Alternate Side Parking Enforcement
- Sponsored by Councilmember Gail Brewer, the bill allows DSNY, the Department of Transportation, or any department designated by DSNY to place a sticker (no larger than 8.5 x 11 inches) on the window of vehicles violating alternate side parking rules.
- Councilmember Brewer noted that similar stickers were used effectively from 1987 until a 2012 council ban, and that street sweeping requires car movement. She stated that the sticker program is a proven, low-cost tool to improve compliance, and could be replaced later by cameras if Albany approves that technology.

Key Outcomes

Both bills were adopted by the committee:
- Affirmative (10): Sanchez, Hanif, Hankerson, Louis, Maloney, Santosuosso, Thomas-Henry, Ung, Wilson, Zhuang.
- Negative (1): Vernikov.
- No abstentions.
The approved versions of the bills (marked as Int. No. 31-A and Int. No. 92-A) will now proceed to the full City Council for a vote at a stated meeting.
Committee Chair Sanchez noted that the next sanitation committee hearing would occur on the following day, July 1, 2026.

Meeting Transcript

Is Gail coming? Excuse me, no. Yeah. Good morning. Welcome to New York City. Council vote for the coming on sanitation and solid waste management. Please sign all self-electronic devices. Moving forward, no one is to approach the days. Chair Sanchez, we are ready to begin. Good morning, everyone. Happy budget day. Oh. That's why I needed more water. Alrighty, let's uh start that again. Good morning, everyone, and happy budget day. Morning. Yay. Um welcome to today's hearing by the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management. The purpose of this hearing is to hold a vote on introduction 31A, sponsored by Majority Leader Shauna Brayou, and Introduction 92A by Councilmember Gail Brewer. The committee previously heard these bills at a hearing on May 19, 2026, where it received testimonies from representatives of the Department of Sanitation and interested members of the public. If you weren't there, you missed out on some riveting action. Intro number 31A would require DSNY to by December 1st, 2026, designate additional covered establishment to be subject to requirements regarding separation and disposal of organic waste. Any establishment so designated would be required to comply with such requirements on the ladder of June 1st, 2027, or when the establishment's commercial waste zone goes into effect. The bill would also require commercial waste zone awardee carters to provide information on the donation of excess edible food to any establishment receiving organic waste collection. I will now read a statement on behalf of council member majority leader Abreu. Thank you, Chair Sanchez. You're welcome for allowing me to speak on my bill. You have a lovely vase. Um Intro 31A would require the Department of Sanitation to review and designate additional categories of businesses that may be subject to organic waste separation and disposal requirements. This will help ensure more establishments participate in our organic collections recycling system and practice responsible waste management. This bill builds on the growing success of our city's organic waste system, helping reduce strain on landfill and in support our environmental goals. Households are now required to separate the organic waste and businesses should be held to the same standard. This bill is not just good for the environment, it's great, but also good for businesses bottom lines by reducing waste disposal costs under the city's current commercial waste zone rules, carters that collect commercial waste must charge less for organic waste collection than general refuse collection, requiring new types of establishments to separate organics will help save their businesses money as more of their waste is collected at the mandated lower rates. Ultimately, it will cost businesses less to do the right thing for our environment. Intro 31A will help foster a more sustainable and environmental friendly commercial waste system in our city, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to move this bill forward. I don't know why there's a pause there, but there is, so I'll say it out loud. Pause. Alright, uh, I want to say uh thank you to Councilmember Gail Brewer for joining us. Um, and that brings us to intro 92A, which would permit the Department of Transportation, DSNY, and any department designated by DSNY to place a sticker no larger than eight and a half by eleven inches on the window of any motor vehicle as a method of enforcing alternate side parking rules. It will be sticky, you will hate it, it will suck. Move your cars. I will now turn it over to Councilmember Brewer to provide a statement on her bill. Councilmember Bernikoff is very nice to switch for a minute. So I can even though she hates the stickers. So thank you very much, uh, Mr. Chair. I have to say, '87. Sanitation started placing day glow green stickers on vehicles. Those who had repeated alternate side violations. That was because things were not being cleaned on the street.

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