Mayor Adams wants chain businesses to fight rats by sealing trash

Chain businesses with five or more locations will have to put their trash in secure containers under a new anti-rat rule Mayor Adams and Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch plan to put into effect in the coming months.

The proposed rule is intended to cut down on garbage being left out in plastic bags — which are relatively easy for rats to access — and builds on a similar separate rule Adams announced in May that applies only to food-related businesses like restaurants, bodegas and grocery stores.

The proposal unveiled Wednesday will apply to chain businesses such as banks, gyms and movie theaters, among others.

“Rats love garbage bags,” Adams said. He added that the plan “will have a transformative effect on our city and will eliminate the mountains of food waste piled up on bags and piled up on our sidewalks.”

The rule Adams proposed Wednesday is the second of two aimed at getting rat-attracting trash bags off city sidewalks.

All food-related establishments are required to put their trash in secure containers by Aug. 1 under the rule Adams announced in May.

The second rule announced Wednesday extending the secure container requirement to all businesses with five or more locations in the city will undergo a public review by the end of July. It’s still not entirely clear when the rule will become a reality, but city officials expect it will be active by September.

Another aspect of the rule announced Wednesday that is not entirely clear is how exactly the city defines chain businesses, or whether the rule would apply to businesses held by separate companies that are ultimately controlled by the same individual.

Adams has made reducing the city’s rat population a priority and often talks about how much he loathes vermin, to the point of it becoming akin to a shtick.

Wednesday’s announcement followed that same general rhetorical arc, but it also included other, more substantive developments.

In general, the city’s efforts to get trash bags off streets more quickly through changing set-out-time requirements are starting to pay dividends, said Tisch, citing the decline in rat complaints in recent months.

Reported rat sightings dropped 15% in May and 26% in June when compared with 2022 numbers, Tisch said.

“That’s because we paired the new rules with meaningful enforcement of them — 45,000 summonses or warnings issued by the Department of Sanitation related [to] set-out times since April 1,” she said. “The numbers don’t lie. Less access to food means fewer rats.”

She also noted that eventually she intends to expand the requirement to set trash out in containers to all businesses that operate within the five boroughs.