Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Over the past several years, DSNY and the NYC government have prioritized the endeavor of containerizing trash collection across New York City. The city had received much scrutiny from residents, tourists, and media alike over recent years with a rat problem growing out of control due to the iconic piles of black garbage bags that line the sidewalks on every street. Though these monstrous piles are an image that has become engrained in our minds when we think of NYC, they are slowly becoming a thing of the past.
Several new mandatory guidelines for trash setouts began recently, first and foremost requiring all apartments under 10 units to use 55 gal or less sized containers for trash and recyclables. This guideline will expand this summer to require an official DSNY cart to be used. For larger buildings such as those over 10 units, individual containers are not ideal which led the city and DSNY back to the drawing board to come up with a solution. About a year ago, a small piece of Upper Manhattan became subject to a pilot program of “Empire Bins”, which are the large plastic European-style containers you see in this video. As of June 2025, over 1,100 Empire Bins have been delivered and this part of the borough became the first district in the city to have its curbs completely free of bag piles. The Empire Bin Containerization Program continues to expand, now to schools in Brooklyn with more buildings in that area to follow this year.
To service the Empire Bins, DSNY ordered some very unique equipment that is sure to make my European viewers happy. Seen in this video are the two variants of the Italian based and manufactured Farid-Zoeller FMO Plus side loaders, sitting atop the typical spec’d DSNY Macks. I believe these could be the first European produced ASLs to see the streets of America. I’m unsure of how many of each were ordered, or how many total, but the only difference is which side the arm is on. I read somewhere that they have also planned to order an American manufactured “CSL”, but I didn’t see any nor do I know of any developments on the matter. Each truck is staffed with 2 workers, and despite outside controls being mounted on the body, it appears the driver does all the driving and operating from inside the cab on the left side, even with a right hand collection body. The FMO Plus’s even have the handy-dandy Euro style safety bar that comes down to block anyone stupid enough to walk by the truck, so I’m still unclear as to what job the guy standing outside the truck is supposed to do.
I was glad to have been able to document both variants of these trucks and finally share some footage of this major sanitation development in America’s largest metropolis. I’d like to hear everyone’s thoughts on this system. Hope you enjoy and thanks to the drivers!
Over the past several years, DSNY and the NYC government have prioritized the endeavor of containerizing trash collection across New York City. The city had received much scrutiny from residents, tourists, and media alike over recent years with a rat problem growing out of control due to the iconic piles of black garbage bags that line the sidewalks on every street. Though these monstrous piles are an image that has become engrained in our minds when we think of NYC, they are slowly becoming a thing of the past.
Several new mandatory guidelines for trash setouts began recently, first and foremost requiring all apartments under 10 units to use 55 gal or less sized containers for trash and recyclables. This guideline will expand this summer to require an official DSNY cart to be used. For larger buildings such as those over 10 units, individual containers are not ideal which led the city and DSNY back to the drawing board to come up with a solution. About a year ago, a small piece of Upper Manhattan became subject to a pilot program of “Empire Bins”, which are the large plastic European-style containers you see in this video. As of June 2025, over 1,100 Empire Bins have been delivered and this part of the borough became the first district in the city to have its curbs completely free of bag piles. The Empire Bin Containerization Program continues to expand, now to schools in Brooklyn with more buildings in that area to follow this year.
To service the Empire Bins, DSNY ordered some very unique equipment that is sure to make my European viewers happy. Seen in this video are the two variants of the Italian based and manufactured Farid-Zoeller FMO Plus side loaders, sitting atop the typical spec’d DSNY Macks. I believe these could be the first European produced ASLs to see the streets of America. I’m unsure of how many of each were ordered, or how many total, but the only difference is which side the arm is on. I read somewhere that they have also planned to order an American manufactured “CSL”, but I didn’t see any nor do I know of any developments on the matter. Each truck is staffed with 2 workers, and despite outside controls being mounted on the body, it appears the driver does all the driving and operating from inside the cab on the left side, even with a right hand collection body. The FMO Plus’s even have the handy-dandy Euro style safety bar that comes down to block anyone stupid enough to walk by the truck, so I’m still unclear as to what job the guy standing outside the truck is supposed to do.
I was glad to have been able to document both variants of these trucks and finally share some footage of this major sanitation development in America’s largest metropolis. I’d like to hear everyone’s thoughts on this system. Hope you enjoy and thanks to the drivers!
