Missed Trash, Recycling, or Compost Collection

You can report that your trash or recycling was not picked up starting at 8 AM the day after your collection day.

You can’t report missed collection if:

Collections were suspended on that day due to a City holiday, winter snowstorm operation, or another event
You didn’t follow trash, recycling, compost collection, or bulk disposal rules
You put your items out on the wrong day
Your items weren’t placed curbside between 4 PM and midnight the day before

Report missed trash or recycling collection.

What Happens Next

If you placed your items out correctly, but they have not been collected, please leave them on the curb until they are picked up.

The Department of Sanitation (DSNY) will collect your items within 5 days after receiving your report.

If you participate in the Curbside Composting program, you can report missed collection starting at 8 AM the day after your collection day.

Please note that you can’t make a complaint if you didn’t follow disposal rules:

Food or food-soiled paper must be put out in your brown compost bin
Yard waste, grass, or leaves must be put out in your brown compost bin, paper bags, or rigid plastic containers.
Branches or limbs must be put out in bundles no more than 2 feet by 4 feet or broken down to fit in your brown compost bin, paper bags, or other rigid plastic containers.

Report missed compost collection.

What Happens Next

If you placed your items out correctly, but they have not been collected, please leave them on the curb until they are picked up.

The Department of Sanitation (DSNY) will collect your items within 5 days after receiving your report.

In general, there is no collection on sanitation holidays, but that is subject to change. You can check back near the date of the holiday to confirm the collection schedule.

Usually:

If a holiday occurs on your trash or compost collection day, put your items out after 4 PM that day for collection beginning the next day.
If a holiday occurs on your recycling collection day, put your items out after 4 PM the day before your next scheduled recycling collection day.

2022 Sanitation Holidays

Date	Holiday
January 1 (Saturday)	New Year's Day
January 17 (Monday)	Martin Luther King Jr. Day
February 12 (Saturday)	Lincoln's Birthday
February 21 (Monday)	Washington's Birthday (Presidents' Day)
May 30 (Monday)	Memorial Day
June 20 (Monday)	Juneteenth (Observed)
July 4 (Monday)	Independence Day
September 5 (Monday)	Labor Day
October 10 (Monday)	Italian Heritage Day/Indigenous Peoples' Day
November 8 (Tuesday)	Election Day
November 11 (Friday)	Veterans Day
November 24 (Thursday)	Thanksgiving
December 26 (Monday)	Christmas (Observed)

City Property

City-owned properties that normally receive pickup from a City garbage truck can report uncollected trash.

Only a building official at the site may make a complaint. The official must provide a name and contact number.

Call 311 for assistance.

Public Schools

Missed collections can only be reported by school officials.

To report a missed collection, or for information on school schedules, you must contact the DOE Division of School Facilities in Long Island City. Contact information for School Facilities is available through the school.

If you put items out the evening before a non-collection day, you could be given a ticket, also known as a Notice of Violation.

DSNY ticketing agents know when an area has a trash and recycling collection backlog. A reported backlog reduces the chance that you will get a ticket when your items were put curbside during the correct timeframe but haven’t been picked up yet. You still may get a violation.

If you receive a ticket after reporting a missed trash or recycling collection, get a copy of the Service Request you filed. You should also submit evidence for an Environmental Board hearing.

Learn how to pay, dispute, or check the status of a ticket on the City-Issued Violation or Summons page.

Missed Trash, Recycling, or Compost Collection

Report missed trash or recycling collection.

Compost Complaints

Report missed compost collection.

Sanitation Holidays

City Property and Public Schools

Tickets

Was this information helpful? Yes No