Manhattan residents now have more sites where they can drop off their food scraps for composting.
The Hudson River Park Trust restarted its compost program this fall with three new sites, bringing the total number of drop off points to 10 throughout the four-mile park, making it the largest operational compost site in Manhattan. This initiative stems from Hudson River Park’s mission to protect its 400-acre Estuarine Sanctuary and maintain a green open space that provides relaxation, recreation and nature to millions of New Yorkers each year.
The food scraps donated at any of these 10 sites are mixed with horticulture waste to make healthy compost that enriches plant beds and trees throughout the Park.
“Promoting a greener, more sustainable city is a core part of our mission at Hudson River Park and we have worked hard over the years to build out one of the largest, most accessible park-based composting programs,” said Madelyn Wils, President and CEO of the Hudson River Park Trust. “Composting food scraps has become an embedded part of New Yorkers’ routines and we are proud to welcome them back to the Park as the program starts back up again this fall.”
In 2015 the Trust began composting horticulture waste such as grass clippings and pruned tree materials with an automated Earthflow composting vessel. Since then, the Trust has launched the Community Compost Program sites in partnership with NYC’s Department of Sanitation (DSNY) and then Council Member Corey Johnson.
Last year, the Trust collected 86,000 pounds of food scraps from the local community. Combined with horticulture waste, the Trust diverted a total of 450,000 pounds from landfills in 2019, which allowed food and plant waste to nourish plant beds rather than slowly decomposing in landfills.
Drop-off sites are open every day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and accept the following food scraps: fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, rice, pasta, bread, cereal, eggs, nutshells and dried/cut flowers. New Yorkers can find sites at:
- Pier 25 @ N Moore St
- Pier 40 @ Morton St
- Pier 46 @ Charles St (NEW)
- Pier 51@ Horatio St
- 14th Street Park @ W 14th St
- Chelsea Waterside Park @ W 23rd St
- Pier 66 @ W 26th St (NEW)
- HRPK’s Compost Center @ W 34th St
- Pier 84 @ W 44th St
- Pier 96 Boathouse @ W 55th St (NEW)
