Mayor Zohran Mamdani is set to name Gregory Anderson as New York City’s next sanitation commissioner, bringing a familiar operations insider back to DSNY after a stint in Albany. Anderson previously spent years overseeing policy and strategic initiatives at DSNY, then moved to the state’s operations office, giving him a mix of on-street logistics experience and interagency crisis response work. City Hall aides say the pick is meant to keep the department’s waste reforms on track during a packed rollout season.
Reporting by THE CITY says Mamdani’s team plans to formally announce Anderson later this week and has described his return as a “well-deserved homecoming.” THE CITY also notes his close working relationship with former sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia and his recent Albany role handling statewide operations work.
Inside the agency, Anderson is a veteran. He logged more than nine years at DSNY, most recently as deputy commissioner for policy and strategic initiatives, and has repeatedly testified before the City Council about setout rules and containerization plans. According to DSNY testimony, Anderson led internal work on setout times and on the department’s containerization evaluation.
He later moved to state government to work under Kathryn Garcia as deputy director of state operations, a connection that helps explain why some insiders refer to him as a Garcia protégé. The governor’s public schedule lists Anderson among Garcia’s senior operations staff while she served as director of state operations and infrastructure. That Albany stretch overlapped with periods when state and city teams coordinated on storm response and large-scale waste logistics.
What he’d be taking on
If confirmed, Anderson would inherit the city’s containerization push, an expanding curbside compost program and a commercial-waste reform package that officials have prioritized since 2023. The Mayor’s Office has framed containerization as a core cleanliness strategy, according to the Mayor's Office. Hundreds of thousands of official NYC Bins have been ordered ahead of a June 1, 2026 enforcement date, according to NYC trash deadline looms. Those programs are logistics heavy and politically sensitive, requiring coordination with building owners, haulers and neighborhood groups.
Politics, costs and next steps
The timing is not exactly gentle. The agency has been stretched by winter storms and high-tempo cleanups, and removal costs, including overtime, jumped sharply in the current fiscal year. Removal costs including overtime increased by around $100 million during the current fiscal year, as THE CITY reported. Union leaders and community advocates will be watching to see whether the new commissioner can curb emergency spending while keeping setout rules and service improvements on schedule.
City Hall officials say a formal announcement is expected this week, and that Anderson’s first priorities will likely be delivering on containerization targets and stabilizing removal costs ahead of the June bin enforcement deadline. How he balances the operations playbook he helped build with budget pressures and labor concerns will shape his first months on the job.
