10-Second Recap: We explore how NYC Parks are rethinking waste design to beautify public spaces in the face of budget cuts.
In recent years, CITIBIN has had the honor of working with NYC Public Parks on beautification and sanitation initiatives. Quite simply, we containerize the trash that is created when people visit parks.
Parks are valuable for our community and for our health, but sometimes parks fall lower on the totem pole in the city budget. In the past year, New York City has issued two separate budget updates, one in November 2024 and another in July 2025. Neither has delivered the funding that advocates say parks truly need. While the most recent budget included new investments in programs and recreation centers, it didn’t restore the massive amount of Parks Department staffing lost in previous years.
Advocates and City Council members have vocalized their concerns about the shortened funding, pointing out that a city cannot function properly without clean, open public green space.
The impact of these budget cuts is glaring. Trash collection has slowed due to lack of employees, causing litter to pile up. This decline causes more than just an eyesore. Like streets, schools, and sewers, parks and green spaces are a vital part of urban infrastructure.
A growing amount of research, including a widely cited 2021 study from Stanford University, shows that access to green space improves memory, reduces stress, and promotes physical activity. These benefits reduce the risk of chronic illnesses, leading to lower health care costs and an overall improvement in public health.
But those benefits only exist when the parks are clean, welcoming, and cared for. When green spaces are neglected, people will stop using them. And when people stop using them, safety declines and neighborhoods lose an important public health tool.
One effective way to beautify urban parks is trash containerization. Not only does it conceal loose bags and prevent piles of trash from forming, but it also makes trash collection quicker and easier. Containerization also allows for the separation of waste streams.
Besides concealing trash, CITIBIN can be used as a canvas for branding and messaging. The CITIBINs in Brooklyn Parks have grey vinyl wraps with the NYC Parks logo on the door. They blend into the natural environment and feel like part of the space rather than a visually unappealing utility.
Our first NYC Public Park project was the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, a scenic walkway overlooking lower Manhattan. The installation came together in partnership with Councilmember Lincoln Restler, the Brooklyn Heights Association, and NYC Parks.
Pictured: 4-module CitiBin installation at the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.
We’ve continued to work across the borough since. McCarren Park and McGolrick Park, two beloved green spaces in North Brooklyn, also installed CitiBins, aiding the ongoing effort to create a cleaner and more inviting environment.
Pictured: 4-module wrapped CitiBin installed at McGolrick Park.
Other private parks in the city are also taking initiative to beautify their spaces by customizing CitiBins with their own branding. Bryant Park, for example, wraps its CitiBins in the park’s signature forest green. This small design choice helps the bins blend into the landscape.
Pictured: Bryant Park’s 3-module CitiBin, wrapped in their signature colors.
After working primarily with residential customers for 10 years, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to work with NYC Parks.
New Yorkers love their parks. Now it’s time to give them the resources to love them back. As Brooklyn residents that spend a lot of time in parks, it’s especially meaningful to have a way to help with their beautification.
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