Stormwater, Catch Basins, and the Path Litter Takes to NYC’s Waters

Written By Angus Jackson

By Angus Jackson

New York City's rivers are picturesque, necessary, and fragile. What most people don't realize is how easily trash on sidewalks, streets, and curbs can journey through the city's stormwater systems to rivers, bays, and harbors. Recognizing this path demonstrates that trash is more than a cosmetic problem—it becomes water pollution and environmental harm.

Each day, NYC sweeps thousands of kilometers of roadway—roughly 6,000 miles (about 9,600 km)—and maintains tens of thousands of litter baskets to catch debris before it enters waterways. The city also inspects and cleans approximately 148,000 catch basins, which are points of filtration and first line defense for waterborne litter. Those cleaning routines help reduce litter at its source in streets.

MyCoast NY monitors trash around the area of storm drains, riverfronts, and coastal areas. Their research demonstrates that even minimal plastic debris, such as cigarette butts, foamy chunks, and throwaway plastic bags, is consistently washed through rain or wind runoff during storms into rivers. Plastic doesn't biodegrade; it disintegrates into microplastics that poison aquatic life as well as human life. That study demonstrates how trash that is found inland remains vitally important to the quality of the waters.

In locations where catch basins are obstructed or bins are overflowing, the risk that litter will get into streams is greater. The city's studies of waste characterization encompass on-street baskets as collections for what winds up in watersheds—so neglect to maintain those baskets clean as well as baskets serviced, is pollution.

During heavy rainfall, water rushes across roads and sidewalks, picking up loose litter, carrying it into street drains. If those drains feed into catch basins without screens or fail themselves, litter gets a free path to rivers. The GreeNYC campaign data showed how litter collected in catch basins and floating debris near sewer outfalls are consistent with this flow.

Those policies that avoid litter prior to it becoming floodborne are most economical. Ongoing upkeep of catch basins, educating the public on the proper disposal of litter, and making baskets and bins durable to withstand the weather (so that they won't overflow or leak) all decrease downstream pollution. The programs that aim to decrease street litter not only improve neighborhoods but also save marine life that confuses plastic with food, as well as prevent poisons from seeping into streams.

Ultimately, NYC trash is not safely stationary; it travels with the weather and with water. To safeguard streams, the city needs to do more than clear streets—it needs to pay as much attention to catch basins, trash baskets, and street-side trash facilities as it does to street sweeping. Otherwise, what becomes a wrapper on the sidewalk becomes a pollutant impacting marine ecosystems as well as public health downstream.

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Angus Jackson
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Where Cleanliness Ends, Neglect Begins: The Inequality of Environmental Care in New York City