“New York is tired,” said Barbara Prisco. “We’re all working full time. Everybody’s got so much on their plate.”
A nutrition educator who lives in Queens, Prisco was explaining the problem with New York City’s brand-new eco-policy—an edict that adds yet another chore to New Yorkers’ to-do lists. A chore that might, by the way, be completely pointless.
As of April 1, city residents are required to set aside all food scraps that previously went into the trash and drop them off once a week into brown bins outside their houses and apartment buildings.
This will be news to some New Yorkers. Prisco, a homeowner in a Queens co-op, told me she had no idea the program was in effect in her building—there were no visible bins, no signs, no email from management—until she received a threatening mailer from the city.
It read: “Composting Is Mandatory—Avoid a Fine!”