Sanitation tickets are the most avoidable fines a NYC landlord pays. Know your pickup days, your set-out times, and the new bin rules, and they mostly go away.
Every NYC building has its own garbage schedule. Trash might go out Monday and Thursday, recycling and compost only Thursday, and large items on a different day. Put bags out too early, skip the bin, or mix up recycling, and the Department of Sanitation can write you a ticket that lands on your building's record at OATH. Here's how to find your schedule, the rules that changed in 2025 and 2026, and how to stop thinking about it.
How to Find Your Collection Days
DSNY publishes a schedule for every address: trash, recycling, compost (curbside organics) and large items, each on its own days. You can look it up on DSNY's collection schedule page, or search any address on NYC Violation Search. Every building page now shows a week-at-a-glance grid with your pickup days and street-cleaning times, pulled from the same DSNY data.
- Trash: usually two or three days a week, depending on the neighborhood.
- Recycling: once a week. Metal, glass, plastic and cartons go together, and paper and cardboard go separately.
- Compost: once a week, usually on your recycling day. Food scraps and yard waste go in a labeled bin with a lid.
- Large items: put them out on the large-item days on your schedule. Mattresses and box springs must be sealed in a plastic bag, and appliances with Freon need a 311 appointment.
Set-Out Times and the NYC Bin Rules
Most sanitation tickets aren't about what you throw out. They're about when and how. The rules depend on how many units your building has.
| Building | When to set out | How |
|---|---|---|
| 1–9 units | After 6 PM the night before pickup. Everything out by midnight. | Trash in an official NYC Bin with a lid. Fines for skipping it began Sept. 8, 2026. |
| 10+ units | After 6 PM in lidded containers, or after 8 PM if bags go straight on the curb | Containers keep you at the earlier time and keep rats out of the bags |
| Every building | Bring empty bins back in after pickup | Keep recycling and compost separate from trash |
Buildings with one to nine units have had to put trash in lidded bins since November 2024. In 2026 the city went further: these buildings now need the official NYC Bin, and DSNY started writing $50 tickets on September 8, 2026 to those that don't use one. If you own small buildings, this is the rule most likely to catch your tenants.
Composting Is Mandatory Now
Curbside composting is required citywide, and the warning period ended in April 2025. Food scraps, food-soiled paper and yard waste have to be separated from trash. NYC311 lists these fines for not separating:
| Building size | 1st offense | 2nd offense | 3rd+ offense |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–8 units | $25 | $50 | $100 |
| 9+ units | $100 | $200 | $300 |
Sidewalks and "Enforcement Routing Times"
Owners are responsible for keeping the sidewalk in front of the building, and the 18 inches of gutter next to the curb, free of litter. DSNY's schedule lookup also lists enforcement routing times for each address. For many residential buildings that's 8–9 AM and 6–7 PM. Those are the windows when sanitation agents check your block, so make sure the sidewalk is swept and nothing is out early during them.
The DSNY Tickets Landlords Get Most
- Putting trash or recycling out too early, before 6 PM, or before 8 PM for bags at larger buildings
- Trash not in a lidded bin, or not in an official NYC Bin at a 1–9 unit building
- Recycling or compost mixed into the trash
- Dirty sidewalk or gutter during routing times
- Bins left at the curb long after pickup
DSNY tickets are heard at OATH, the same tribunal as DOB and FDNY tickets. Ignore one and you can lose by default, and the judgment stays on record against the owner. NYC Violation Search pulls OATH records for every address, so DSNY tickets show up with your HPD and DOB violations, in one search and in your 8 AM email.
Let the Reminder Do the Work
Add your buildings to a free NYC Violation Search account and every morning at 8 AM you'll get one email per building: "Pickup day today" when it's collection day, "Tonight: put out trash and recycling" the evening before, plus any new violations, 311 calls or tickets. Forward it to your super, or set up an account for them.
Rules and fines change. Check nyc.gov/dsny for the current requirements for your building, especially around holidays, when DSNY sometimes changes collection.