Updated on May 14, 2024
(with additional statement from NYC Council Member Lincoln Restler)
In 1993, New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) in partnership with area botanical gardens introduced the idea of community composting to NYC.
As interest grew and non-profits began to partner, food scraps could be brought to places such as farmers markets, community gardens, schools, and parks, to be used as fertilizer for green spaces throughout the city.
Last year, curbside composting began, allowing food scraps to be picked up weekly at their homes from DSNY, mostly to be converted into fuel. Currently it is serving residential areas in Brooklyn, Queens, and some community districts in other boroughs on a volunteer basis. Curbside compost pick up had planned to go borough-wide by October 2024, however in Mayor Eric Adams’s executive budget proposal he released on April 24 this goal has been delayed to October 2025.
Community composting was first notified its funding would be cut in November of 2023, when Adams announced his financial plan update due to extra costs and loss of Federal funding. In Adams’s preliminary budget for fiscal year 2025 released in January, community composting lacked support through 2028, but funding was included to maintain curbside composting.
Due to the cuts, GrowNYC’s 47 compost drop-off sites throughout the city will be terminated by May 19. The McCarren Park Greenmarket’s last day for drop-offs is May 18. These sites were to be closed last December, shortly after the cuts were announced. An anonymous donation provided funding to keep certain sites open until June. Transmitter Park and McGolorick Park were two of the sites that ended last December.
According to GrowNYC’s website, they serve “7 thousand regular weekly participants, diverting over 25 tons of food scraps from landfills each week.” Community composting involves many volunteers, botanical gardens, non-profit organizations (GrowNYC, Big Reuse, and Earth Matter), in addition to the privately-owned public space: Domino Park.
Community composting will continue at Domino Park as they are self-funded. Locals may continue to drop their food scraps at 15 River Street on Mondays from 10 a.m.–12 p.m. and on Thursdays from 6 p.m.–8 p.m.
NYC Council Member Lincoln Restler, explained community composting is essential to the community, “At the beginning of the pandemic, amazing volunteers from the North Brooklyn Compost Project created a program for thousands of neighbors to have their food scraps processed and turned into compost — diverting more than 300,000 pounds of food waste. I loved volunteering with them over the years at McGolrick Park and their locations at Cooper Park and WNYC Transmitter along with GrowNYC’s presence at McCarren Park made composting convenient for the whole North Brooklyn community,” Restler stated.
In Restler’s May 14 newsletter he stated, “I’m incredibly grateful to the team at GrowNYC and other community compost initiatives. I am laser focused on making sure that these community composting drop off sites reopen as soon as possible. I expect the City Council to provide funding for them in the FY25 budget, which begins July 1.”
GrowNYC’s positive outlook is bolstered by the work they’ve done, “Knowing [community compost’s] importance, we hope to rebuild in the future and ensure our zero waste efforts continue … We’re deeply saddened by the loss of our beloved zero waste programs, which diverted 24 million pounds of food waste into compost and increased recycling rates in the largest school system in the United States. We’re immensely grateful to the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who supported and advocated for these programs,” stated Marcel Van Ooyen, president & CEO of GrowNYC, in a press release.
GrowNYC released a petition requesting Adams and DSNY Commissioner Jessica Tisch renew community composting. They are almost at their goal of 52,000 signatures. In addition, 29 council members and four borough presidents sent letters to the mayor and the commissioner to advocate for its renewal.
Restler said he has introduced legislation for the expansion of Smart Composting Bins. These allow people to discard food scraps 24-hours-a-day by unlocking the bins with an app. At present there are no smart bins in Williamsburg or Greenpoint.
“The Mayor’s unnecessary, harmful budget cuts to community composting has eliminated this vital work, but I am committed to helping restore funding to ensure we reinstate community composting,” Restler said.
According to the United Nations, “Producing, transporting, and letting that food rot contribute more than 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. If food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest emitting country in the world.”
The Greenline 