According to 50 Top Pizza, NYC is the #1 best US city for pizza addicts – I mean, duh. It’s a title we wear with pride. We are, after all, home to the best pizzeria in the US.
But with pizza comes a problem: recycling the boxes. In May, the Central Park Conservancy unveiled new recycling bins that are hilariously designed to hold pizza boxes, in an effort to tackle the stack of boxes that pile up following the many picnics and parties New Yorkers hold in Central Park. Additionally, the bins will help keep the boxes from ending up in the landfill and keep pests at bay. (Speaking of which, NYC’s biggest pest problem might not be what you think it is.)
The pizza box recycling bins, part of a pilot program, were placed at the East Pinetum, north of the Great Lawn, which happens to be a popular spot for picnics and parties. Each bin can hold up to 50 pizza boxes, and Conservancy staff will check each bin two to three times a day.
To follow in Central Park’s footsteps from May, the New York Parks Department revealed that just in time for Labor Day weekend, additional bins will be spread throughout the five boroughs at the locations below. This time, however, they will be red and white checkered-colored, paying homage to the iconic checkered tablecloths in pizzerias throughout the five boroughs.
- Bronx: Loreto Playground
- Brooklyn: Saratoga Park
- Manhattan: Father Demo Square
- Queens: Sobelsohn Playground
- Staten Island: Jennifer’s Playground
“Pizza Rat will find no quarter in city parks soon enough, thanks to these pizza-ready trash cans,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “This is yet another creative way the Adams administration is improving quality of life for people, not pests.”
The correct way to use them: take all the pizza box contents out – whether that be wax paper or leftover slices – throw those contents in the trash, and then place the closed, empty box in the pizza box recycling bins.
On that note, anyone up for a pepperoni pie?