Getting rid of an old mattress in New York is one of those small tasks that turns out to be more annoying than it should be. Drag it to the curb the wrong way and you can end up with a sanitation ticket. Here is how it actually works, and the easy way around it.
The rule most people miss
New York City requires mattresses and box springs to be sealed in a plastic bag before you put them out for collection. It is a bed-bug control measure, and it is enforced. An unbagged mattress on the curb can get you a fine, and sanitation can refuse to take it. The bags are sold at hardware stores, but plenty of people don’t find out until after the ticket shows up.
Set out on the right day
Mattresses go out with your regular trash collection, set at the curb the night before your pickup day, bagged. Don’t put it out days early; a giant bagged mattress sitting on the sidewalk for a week is both an eyesore and a target for complaints.
The walk-up problem
Here is the real headache: getting the thing out of your apartment in the first place. A queen mattress down four flights of a Brooklyn walk-up, around tight landings, is a genuinely awful solo job. Box springs are worse because they don’t bend. This is where a lot of “I’ll just do it myself” plans fall apart.
Or skip all of it
This is the part where we are, admittedly, biased. When we take a mattress, we bag it to code, carry it down whatever stairs are in the way, and haul it off on a day that works for you. No bag run, no ticket risk, no wrestling a box spring around a banister at 8am. If you are already getting rid of other stuff, the mattress just rides along.
Either way, now you know the rule. If you would rather not deal with it, get a free quote and we’ll handle the whole thing, furniture and mattresses included.