Talking Trash, in a City Overflowing With It

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Emma G. Fitzsimmons, the City Hall bureau chief for The New York Times, discusses a sticky subject that engrosses (and grosses out) New Yorkers: garbage.

By Josh Ocampo

In September 2015, Emma G. Fitzsimmons, then a transit reporter for The New York Times, wrote an article about a surprising internet celebrity: a determined rat that was captured on video dragging a slice of pizza down the stairs of a New York City subway station.

"Pizza Rat," as the incident and its star rodent became known, was likely an elaborately staged hoax. Still, it's not uncommon for New Yorkers to encounter rodents rummaging through the heaps of garbage that pile up on sidewalks the night before collection. Rotting leftovers attract urban wildlife, of both the pizza- and non-pizza-carrying variety.

Things only got worse during the pandemic. More New Yorkers gathered in public parks — and budget cuts meant the city couldn't keep up with the mess they left behind. But Mayor Eric Adams has plans to address the city's trash problem, and Ms. Fitzsimmons, now the City Hall bureau chief, has studied them closely. She has written about a new composting mandate, New York's first "rat czar" and the potential of containerization, a concept that would get trash off the sidewalks and into large, shared containers.

In an interview, Ms. Fitzsimmons explained how she finds scoops and why she loves trash. Writing about it, that is. This conversation has been edited.

Has the subject of trash ever been quite so newsworthy?

Mayor Eric Adams certainly talks about it more than any other New York City mayor has; he has talked about his hatred for rats and making the city streets cleaner.

But other New Yorkers became passionate about trash during the pandemic. I’d go to the park with my kids and see giant piles of trash. It felt like trash was overtaking the city.

Mayor Adams wants to be the mayor who will address the problem. He views it as part of his campaign to reduce disorder and make New York City more livable. Trash is really at the center of that.

In your articles, you use the words "trash" and "garbage." Is there a difference?

I maybe use garbage when referring to garbage bags. But the big word that we’re trying to help our readers understand is containerization. It sounds dry and boring, but it is the solution. You need these big street containers, but they will take the place of 100,000 or more parking spots. That was one reason my article on containerization got so much attention — if people in New York aren't obsessed with trash, they are obsessed with parking.

What feedback have you received about the article?

I hear from a lot of people who went overseas to Barcelona, Buenos Aires or Paris and took pictures of the trash containers there. They say things like, "Why can't we have this in New York, the biggest city in America?"

You interviewed Jessica Tisch, the city's sanitation commissioner, before the announcement of a new composting initiative. How does one obtain scoops about trash?

The first thing is showing an interest in the topic. I check in with city officials and environmental activists, and ask, "What are you hearing? What's the next step?" When I heard that a new study about New York City trash was being published sometime in the spring, I began checking in with city officials constantly.

Part of my job is building relationships and trust. The sanitation officials knew that this was something that I was really interested in, and that I would cover it deeply and fairly.

Were you always interested in trash?

As a journalist, you write so much about problems. When I covered transit, I wrote about the subway's many challenges. As the city comes out of the pandemic, I’m writing about other challenges, like people not returning to the office.

But I love solution stories. When I started hearing about trash and the complaints New Yorkers had about it, I thought, "What's the big solution?" Once I learned more about containerization, I realized that it was one of the major solutions officials were considering; I wanted to understand how New York City could make it work. The pandemic was a moment where you could see how the city's government was not doing its job. It really affected New Yorkers.

How much of your reporting — on trash or other topics related to the city — is on the ground?

This morning I was at City Hall for a news conference with the mayor. Now I’m at the office working on another article. I’m having lunch with an elected official this afternoon. Every day is different.

I worked from home a lot during the pandemic. But nothing compares to meeting the people that you’re talking about. The mayor is really good at showing up in person, too. I remember he said he made the sanitation commissioner meet him on a Saturday to look at some of the trash containers. It's important to see things up close.

You write about many different aspects of life in New York City. Do you find that challenging?

It makes the job interesting. One day I’m learning about trash; the next I’m learning about 3-K preschool. We recently heard about a rezoning proposal in Jamaica, Queens. I’m a generalist, and need to know a lot about different topics. We have beat reporters on the Metro desk who cover specific topics such as housing or education. But every day, I wake up and have no idea what I’m going to cover.

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