Talking Trash

To thwart the thriving rat population, the city has shortened the time garbage remains at curbside, which means that co-op and condo workers must now take it out at 8 p.m. instead of 4 p.m. You manage a condo in Brooklyn that is feeling the impact of the law. Can you explain?

This is a 22-unit building located in Fort Greene that uses a maintenance company, which it was paying a base of $1,650 a month for garbage removal,  janitorial services and general cleaning. The going rate to have a maintenance staffer come to the building after hours is $65, and if you multiply that by three times a week, four times a month, that means the condo is facing paying an extra $780 a month due to the change in the law.

That’s nearly a 50% increase. Does the condo have any options besides paying the bill? 

We discussed reducing the number of times the garbage is put on the curb from three to two times a week. But at the moment we’re taking a wait-and-see stance, holding off on the after-hours service until the condo receives tickets and the fines become more expensive than the extra cost to comply. For this condo, the last and least desirable option is to find another maintenance company that has cheaper rates, because the board has had a relationship with this company for over 10 years. Their workers are on a first-name basis with all the unit-owners, and the inclination is to keep them.

Switching the focus a bit, how has the new law affected the maintenance companies that provide temporary workers to buildings? 

We’ve seen a lot of turnover, which has been a challenge. Some maintenance companies have 1099 employees, who may not be entitled to overtime, but a lot of the workers are W2 employees, and overtime would cause a big increase in the companies’ payroll costs.

So in thinking about budgeting for 2024, what kinds of increases should boards expect to see?

If you have a super that lives in the building, then you’re probably fine, since live-in supers don’t have any issues with taking out the trash a little later. If he or she is in a union, then they might be entitled to additional pay, and you would have to review the union contract. If you have a part-time visiting super, these buildings will need to renegotiate the terms. We have seen part-time supers negotiate a 50% increase in their service rates. Some of the visiting supers make many stops, so they’re out all night, and they really do deserve a bump in pay.

Has the new law diminished the rat problem at all? What are you hearing from your clients?

The rat population issues are probably the worst they’ve ever been, at least in my lifetime. Sometimes when the city is backed up, the garbage is left sitting on the curb the next day — we have seen garbage stay out past 8 a.m. all the way to about noon, which doesn’t help anything. It’s hard to ignore the fact that the city, which may be seeking to increase revenue from these fines, needs money. But I believe there are other ways that the city could address the problem instead of making laws that are punitive for co-ops and condos.