Yard Waste Disposal

I did a lot of yard work last weekend and have about 6 garbage bags full of yard waste (weeds, Ivy, leaves) that I need to get rid of. I called 311 and they said I can put it out in black bags and it will be picked up, but today I looked at nyc.info and it doesn't really say that. They keep mentioning that "woody" waste has to have a special pick-up because of beetles. This waste is not from trees but I wonder if it's going to be picked up. I don't have a car so I can't bring it anywhere myself. Just wondering if anyone has dealt with this and can confirm that DSNY will pick this up.

Thanks!

leave it and they will come.

If the wood is less than 1/2 inch in diameter, you can just put it out, I think. If it's branches, you have to bundle it and call 311 for an appointment to have Parks come and chip the wood. I just pruned a tree and had the city come to pick up. Took about five days for the appointment, but you make the appointment, they email or call with a confirmation, then you put the wood out the night before.

If your trash is just leaves and regular yard debris you can just put it out.
There may be some weeks in the fall that there is only leaf pick up on a certain day.
The reason you would call 311 is when you have branches or any woody part of a tree.
Then...you would call 311 and make an appointment. You just break down your branchs, twigs, etc., and tie them in bundles and leave them on the curb. The 311 pick up will happen when it happens...but they will come eventually.

There was an invasion of a certain beetle from China which is devouring our beautiful trees. Once a year or so, the Agriculture Dept. sends someone over to inoculate trees on the sidewalk and the back yard. FYI.

yeah they'll take it with normal trash. talk about weeds and stuff bastards killed off one of my favorite plants. I need to killed those vine climbing ones more often.

Make sure you don't have any twigs sticking through the bags or they might leave them all there.

We're in a similar situation, and have had better luck putting out smaller quantities at a time. Gives them less of an incentive to find something wrong with your trash and leave it there.

Thanks for all the replies. I was thinking the same thing about some twigs sticking out of bags...this crazy weed that's almost like bamboo grows like crazy in my backyard. They picked everything up this AM so happy!

Solution to the twig problem:
I break them up in manageable pieces (also have a good snipper) and put them in either a PAPER bag or a cardboard BOX. I do this fairly neatly.
Set it along side the branches when calling 311 for the wood (or just call with the branches only).
They have the choice of emptying the bag/box into the truck or not...however, they have always taken the twigs this way.
They do give a date of pick up by the way.
And the previous post is correct...if the garbage men see the twigs poking out they may not take your garbage. Rather than do this, I chose to do the above method.

So, good luck!

For what it's worth we set up a wood pickup with the Parks Department online, got a date for the pickup, stacked up 15 bundles of wood outside and they never showed up! Hopefully they're more reliable when you call 311.

Yes, when it is really busy they may not show up on the exact day (this winter was an exceptionally bad one with respect to tree damage). We have left branches out front for a couple of days, it may take even longer sometimes.

I am hoping that the funding won't be cut too drastically, especially for the tree inoculations as the beetles can really be devastating.

I had the same problem. There was a windstorm the night before my branch pickup, so Parks canceled the pickup without telling me. Took three calls to 311 to find this out. Make sure you save your confirmation number so you can have them check.