Jessica Tisch
Appearances
Freakonomics Radio
623. Can New York City Win Its War on Rats?
We dump all this trash in our curbs and we sit around and we wonder why we have a rat problem.
Freakonomics Radio
623. Can New York City Win Its War on Rats?
My name is Jessica Tisch. I am the New York City Sanitation Commissioner.
Freakonomics Radio
623. Can New York City Win Its War on Rats?
Sanitation is the essential service in any city, but particularly in New York City. Every day, we leave 44 million pounds of trash out on our curbs. And from my perspective as a lifelong New Yorker, New York City hasn't really changed the way we manage that trash in decades. For the past 50 years, we have been leaving our trash out on our curbs in black trash bags. It looks gross.
Freakonomics Radio
623. Can New York City Win Its War on Rats?
In the summer, it smells gross. One third of the material in those black bags is human food. And unfortunately, human food is also rat food. So we dump all this trash in our curbs and we sit around and we wonder why we have a rat problem. The single biggest swing that you can take at the rat problem in New York City is getting the trash bags off of the streets.
Freakonomics Radio
623. Can New York City Win Its War on Rats?
And that is what we have set out to do. We don't want the bags on the streets. Instead, we want our trash in containers. Most cities around the world have been containerizing their trash for decades. New York City is not going to be the first city to do this. In fact, we are definitely going to be one of the last. This is long overdue, and it works everywhere else.
Freakonomics Radio
623. Can New York City Win Its War on Rats?
We have developed, I would say, a gorgeous, new, standardized New York City official wheelie bin. A lot of people laugh at us because they think we sound like we have discovered the wheelie bin. We acknowledge that we have not. Nonetheless, we have a standardized wheelie bin now in New York City that all one to nine people unit residential buildings will be required to use.
Freakonomics Radio
623. Can New York City Win Its War on Rats?
you would need in those buildings too many of those wheelie bins, it would become unwieldy. So instead, for those large buildings, we are going to put large fixed on-street containers. These containers are about four cubic yards. The bins do take up parking spaces, but because they are being used just for the large buildings of 30 units or more,
Freakonomics Radio
623. Can New York City Win Its War on Rats?
It's not as big a hit to parking citywide as you may otherwise expect. We estimate that it's about 3% citywide.
Freakonomics Radio
623. Can New York City Win Its War on Rats?
Sanitation workers cannot lift these four cubic yard containers. In the United States, we didn't have a large automated side loading truck that worked in cities. And so we developed that truck with some vendors who do work in Europe. And we rolled out the first of these automated side loading trucks that are going to hoist these four cubic yard containers.
Freakonomics Radio
623. Can New York City Win Its War on Rats?
Change is hard. I think generally having worked my whole career in city government, I see that. It's a change that affects all 3.5 million residences in New York City, all 8.3 million New Yorkers, and all 200,000 businesses. Taking out your trash is something you do every day. So now by containerizing it, we're asking everyone in the city to change the way they do something.
Freakonomics Radio
623. Can New York City Win Its War on Rats?
New York City is not going to be the first city to do this. In fact, we are definitely going to be one of the last.
Morning Wire
Manhattan Manhunt & Congressional COVID Report | Afternoon Update | 12.4.24
It appears the suspect was lying in wait for several minutes. And as the victim was walking to the conference hotel, the suspect approached from behind and fired several rounds, striking the victim at least once in the back and at least once in the right calf.
Morning Wire
House Scraps Spending Bill & Mangione’s Extradition | 12.19.24
There is no heroism in what Mangione did. This was a senseless act of violence.
Morning Wire
House Scraps Spending Bill & Mangione’s Extradition | 12.19.24
In the nearly two weeks since Mr. Thompson's killing, we have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of cold-blooded murder. Social media has erupted with praise for this cowardly attack.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2098 - A SHOCKING Assassination…And The Left Celebrates!
I want to be clear. At this time, every indication is that this was a premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2098 - A SHOCKING Assassination…And The Left Celebrates!
This does not appear to be a random act of violence. The victim was in New York City to speak at an investor conference. It appears the suspect was lying in wait for several minutes. And as the victim was walking to the conference hotel, the suspect approached from behind and fired several rounds, striking the victim at least once in the back and at least once in the right calf.
Up First from NPR
Murder As An Act Of Terrorism, Fed's Rate Cut Decision, Female Mass Shooters
in the nearly two weeks since Mr. Thompson's killing, we have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of cold-blooded murder. And any attempt to rationalize this is vile, reckless, and offensive to our deeply held principles of justice.
Up First from NPR
Murder As An Act Of Terrorism, Fed's Rate Cut Decision, Female Mass Shooters
Will you try to replace Jerome Powell?
Up First from NPR
Trump's Defense Pick, United Healthcare CEO Killed, Mass Deportations And Jobs
Every indication is that this was a premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack.