Council Member Joann Ariola has welcomed news that Mayor Eric Adams will now fund a City Council law that would provide free garbage cans to eligible one and two-family homes throughout New York City but insisted that the mayor had “no other choice” but to change course and fund the law.
The law, introduced by Manhattan Council Member Yusef Salaam, was passed unanimously by the City Council in February with a veto-proof majority and would provide hundreds of thousands of specially-secure bins to New Yorkers.
Adams had initially revealed that he would not sign off on the law even after it passed with a veto-proof majority, according to a report in the New York Post. The Mayor had previously described the law as “fiscally irresponsible.”
However, he reversed course on Aug. 6 and stated that City Hall would now provide the $14.5 million required to fund the program.
Ariola welcomed the news but accused Mayor Adams of having no other choice and bending to public pressure.
The law, which was due to come into effect on Friday, Aug. 1, aims to financially assist New Yorkers with obtaining the city’s new official trashcan, NYC Bin, which will be required for all residential buildings with between one and nine units starting June 2026.
The bins cost $53.01 for the largest 45-gallon size and are part of the Mayor’s “War on Rats.”
The Council unanimously voted in February that the city should pick up the tab for one and two-family homes that are enrolled in New York State’s School Tax Relief (STAR) program. The veto-proof bill additionally mandates that the city refunds eligible households that have already purchased the bins, provided they are in the STAR or Enhanced STAR program.
However, Adams initially refused to sign off on the law and informed the Council to come up with $14.5 million to fund the program by itself. Ariola insisted that the Mayor has incorrectly inflated the cost of the program by $3.8 million from the Council’s $10.7 million estimation.
City Hall officials also told the New York Post last week that the Council should have fought for the legislation to be included in the recently-approved $115.9 billion budget for FY26.
City Hall reversed course on Wednesday, signaling that it would provide the $14.5 million necessary to fund the law.
Sources close to the Mayor said the Adams Administration only became aware that the law was not funded last week, adding that City Hall was additionally not aware that the law was a funding priority for the City Council.
In a statement, City Hall representatives confirmed that the Administration is now committed to funding the law.
“We will be investing $14 million toward providing free bins to qualifying New Yorkers in one- and two-unit properties, which will help push our containerization efforts even further and continue to drive down rat populations,” a City Hall spokesperson said.
“While the City Council chose not to fund their own law, the Adams administration will always invest in working-class New Yorkers, and we look forward to continuing to win the war on rats.”
Ariola pushed back strongly, stating that Adams was required by law to fund the program out of the Mayor’s Office and Management Budget (OMB) after the Council voted unanimously in favor of the law.
Ariola described it as an “outright untruth” that the law was not a funding priority for the Council, while a Council source also noted that the Council included the law in its budget plan in January.
She also hit out at the Mayor for suggesting that the Council should have funded the law, accusing Adams of attempting to “backpedal from the position he put himself in.”
Ariola additionally insisted that the Council believed funding for the legislation was part of $32 million worth of funding for the Department of Sanitation included in the FY26 budget. Ariola added that the Council only discovered that the law was not funded when representatives reached out to the Department of Sanitation to inquire about what mechanisms were in place to distribute free bins across New York.
A City Council spokesperson previously described Adams as a “disgrace” for not implementing the law.
“The mayor’s office is claiming it doesn’t know the laws of the city they are responsible for running, so they’re either lying or admitting incompetence. Either way, it is a disgrace to all New Yorkers,” a City Council spokesperson said.
Ariola previously accused Adams of “thumbing his nose” at the City Council by refusing to sign the law. She later added that the Mayor only reversed course on the issue after “bending to public pressure.”
She said she is “extremely concerned” that City Hall’s communications have not confirmed whether the funding covers refunds for eligible households who have already purchased bins.
“This is not a pick and choose law. It’s a law that has to be followed,” Ariola said.
Ariola added that the Council’s legislation would make a “world of difference” to the residents in her district living in one or two-family homes, including residents living in Howard Beach, Woodhaven, Ozone Park and the Rockaways.
The 32nd Council District, represented by Ariola, boasts a total of 38,553 one and two-family homes, with a number of homes qualifying for free bins.
“It makes a world of difference in terms of them being able to comply with a mandate and or not complying and be at risk for being fined because they don’t have the money to purchase the bins,” she said.
She said every council office in the city has heard concerns from constituents about not being able to afford the official city bins and the possibility of facing penalties or fines starting next summer.
“It was the genesis of this particular legislation. It’s why we put it forth, and it’s why it passed unanimously,” Ariola said.
