‘Give it a try’: NYCHA’s trash terminal goes live, eliminating rats and pests

NEW YORK (PIX11)—For the first time, TV cameras were allowed to see the state-of-the-art trash terminal at NYCHA’s 60-year-old Polo Grounds campus.

Inside is a $31 million vacuum-powered system that is set to be used in just days.

“These 150 horsepower fans will suck an air stream. The garbage will be sucked from 20-inch steel pipes from each of the buildings,” said Kevin Smith, a contractor who oversaw the project.”

Garbage thrown in the chutes in the four 31-story towers will travel up to 60 miles per hour. Each week, 30 tons of trash will go underground and directly into these collection bins.

“The work around the campus was challenging,” Smith added.

Smith’s team has worked since 2021 to retrofit the Upper Manhattan campus with the system designed by Trans-Vac. It is meant to immediately remove all trash from the buildings to reduce rodents and pests.

“By eliminating that, staff will be able to do all the other maintenance tasks,” said NYCHA’s Juliette Sperthus, who helped with the design.

One resident had strong opinions about the project.

“The money they used to build this big building should have been used in the apartments where the walls are falling out, where pipes are falling out,” she said.

Others were more optimistic.

“Let’s give it a try. Try anything to keep down the rodents. Now the people have to do what they have to do,” another resident said.

“We expect to eliminate the rats and send them in a pipe if they’re in the trash,” Sperthus added.

To avoid clogs, throwing large items inside is strictly prohibited. “Lawn chairs and pizza boxes will plug the system up,” Smith warned.

This model has been used for decades on Roosevelt Island and at Disney World. However, the Department of Sanitation told PIX11 News that this model is not universally feasible in New York City due to the intricacies of the underground infrastructure.

NYCHA says this retrofit will not be used at any of its 300 current campuses but could be considered for future construction.

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