Backyard Garbage
I recently bought a two family house in the South Bronx and have a big backyard…. full of junk. I’ve got plans for transforming the 1000 sq ft into an oasis, but am a bit daunted by the state of the land. Construction debris, nails, rocks, glass, trash, etc cover every square inch. It looks like the top few inches of the soil is basically trash and probably full of some nasty chemicals, etc.
I thought the brownstoner community might have some tips. As far as I’ve read, a resident of a two family house can put almost any type of trash on the street for pickup as long as it is under 60 lbs and you are doing the work yourself (eg no contractor).
I imagine I’ll have hundreds of bags worth when it is all said and done and was considering tackling it a few bags a day for the next month or so. I’ve considered hiring it out or renting a dumpster, but haven’t found a good solution yet and would be ok doing the work myself to save the money.
Any thoughts or experience ? Afraid I’ve got a long spring ahead of me before I’ve got a usable blank canvas to work with, but don’t want to get in trouble with the city or get in over my head.
Chad
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in General Discussion 5 years and 3 months ago
31
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31 replies
stevecym | 5 years and 3 months ago
i did not want to admit it earlier as some of you have seen me speak ill of certain practices, but i have to admit it for the benefit of the OP, i threw my bags out in groups greater than the allowed 5 (like 15 at a clip) and handed the sanitation guys a few bucks, like a dollar a bag and they were very eager to take them and more. i’ll admit that now that i see urbandad is being scolded for his suggestion. and in so far as trying that, this is why it is good to work with the neighbors. i have a couple of neighbors who’ve helped me along the way and when they have too much refuse, i have let them put it in my pile.
yudashasom | 5 years and 3 months ago
And most of these supers are old school. They wouldn’t think twice about cracking you in the face or pulling out a knife. They won’t call the cops, they will deal with you right there on the spot.
yudashasom | 5 years and 3 months ago
@urbandad, illegally dumping in front of a large building, in the Bronx of all places, is a terrible idea. These buildings almost always have cameras, a rent controlled tenants sitting at a window, and a super who usually takes pride in the building.
npwebster | 5 years and 3 months ago
Thanks for all of the responses. Great advice all around. I’m happy to spread this over a month or two so getting it done quick isn’t incredibly important as the next phase of landscaping and fencing won’t happen until later in the spring.
I’m leaning towards the few bags a pickup day approach and keeping the weights light. Then getting a dumpster one weekend to dispose of all the concrete, cinder blocks, and other misc heavy items.
Luckily the house is semi-detached so I have a three foot walkway on the side. Should be a huge help as I’m aiming to have renters in the bottom floor once I’ve done the bulk of the cleanup.
Projects like these are never simple in the city. Also, I can hardly believe the things I’m finding out there.
Thanks all!!
hkapstein | 5 years and 3 months ago
I don’t think Cate would be able to stop you from putting a few bags out in front of her house at night before trash day, because I have tried. What do you do with it? The easiest thing once it’s there is just to let them pick it up. If you confront the dumper he’ll just drop the load and walk off. However I do think it would be easier to hire a demo contractor to clear it and haul it for you. If it can be done in a day it might cost around 2500. It’s a low skill low pay job that is not the best money saver for DIY compared to other tasks you can do.
RobertGMarvin
in General Discussion 5 years and 3 months ago
I haven’t had problems getting Sanitation to take debris that I put out a few bags at a time. That being said, I’ve never had the volume that the OP has to deal with –never more than a couple of dozen bags–and don’t know if I’d have the patience to wait many weeks to dispose of everything.
stevecym | 5 years and 3 months ago
some of this will mirror what urbandad says:
when i bought my house in 06, i had a lot of work to do. the crap that went out of here was basically construction debris but it was from my house. this is what they told me, “no permit in the window” (implying that if you have a permit, it becomes the contractor’s responsibility) and up to five bags a day. wood cut to 48″ and bundled and i now put stuff out that is up to 72 and they take it. this mix of stuff there, you do not know the history of it; as far as you are concerned it is residential. i have half empty gallons of paint here from my house: if i dry them out and put them out, they are residential from my house. they don’t care so long as you don’t break their backs (and they will lift more than their stated limit) and don’t put out more than five bags at once. we went through it here and i would put 10 bags out and some days they took it, some days they did not. if i were you, i would get some help and begin bagging this stuff up. double the bags, set them in a trash barrel to fill them and only 1/3 fill them (a little more perhaps, depending on the weight), pull them out, tie them and stage them someplace and carry them out 5 at a time.
what i just stated offers you the way to do this over a period of a few weeks. you can always do what others say and rent a container. but you still have to get the crap out there and now you are under time constraints, perhaps ( i am not sure how long a permit to park a container is good for). if you have access to the yard, you can try “minis” ; my neighbor just busted some concrete up and he had them drop mini containers on wheels; if you can get in and out of there on a hard surface, the minis would be a big help.
cate | 5 years and 3 months ago
Everyone watches their trash here very carefully. I wouldn’t recommend dumping it. FWIW we rented a dumpster and it was $350. Nothing to it.
hkapstein | 5 years and 3 months ago
Well here’s what I’ve learned. There’s absolutely no way to stop people from putting bags of crap in front of your house for trash collection. I’ve tried, nobody cares. Not DOS, not the cops. So if I were you I’d just drop them off in front of a city owned building, or a big apt building, few bags a day. Sanitation will pick it up no questions asked. There’s an accepted system of people doing this in the city and making money off it, so no one will mess with it.
resident2 | 5 years and 3 months ago
The NYC Sanitation Dept will certainly not keep taking heavy bags of questionable (non domestic) garbage. One or two yes, but not 2-3 at every pick up day…. for the next month or so NO!
Plus you will soon realize that dragging all that through your house, when you are trying to make it a home, over a prolonged period gets to you after a while.
Best bet is to bite the bullet; budget for a dumpster over a weekend, make sure it gets picked up early Monday morning once full. Hire the fittest day laborers you can find for the job. Buy shovels, a few plastic barrels or garbage bins that will fit on a hand truck through your door ways & through the house to the dumpster. Make sure to have plenty of fluids (water) on hand. Good luck & look forward to your new Summer Garden.
yudashasom | 5 years and 3 months ago
It sounds like you easily have 15-20 yards of debris. I would say your time and energy should be focused on bagging it up, and then hiring someone to take it out and haul it away. It would take years to move that much through city sanitation. And unless you are out there helping them load the truck, and tipping the sanitation guys, they will get tired of it and just skip your house. Don’t hand them the money, just show them and put it on the seat of the truck.