As curbside composting has expanded to all five boroughs of New York City, residents may soon find composting sites elsewhere in their neighborhoods: city parks. The City Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of legislation this week that would require a steady increase in the number of parks with composting facilities through July 2028.
The bill, sponsored by Councilmember Gale Brewer, follows the city鈥檚 final expansion of curbside composting, which took effect on Oct. 6 in Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx, following earlier rollouts in Brooklyn and Queens. 鈥淚t will hopefully reduce the amount of organic waste sent to landfills, improve soil health, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, create green jobs in each borough as staff will be needed to operate the composting sites,鈥� Brewer said before the Council vote on the bill Wednesday.
The bill would require the Department of Parks and Recreation to set up composting sites in at least two parks per borough by July 2026, according to the bill language. That minimum would increase to three parks per borough the following year 鈥斅燼nd ultimately increase to five parks per borough by July 2028.