New York City is now fining residents up to $200 for not using official trash bins, aiming to cut down on rats and make trash collection safer for sanitation workers. But many of the bins the city has already handed out aren't holding up.

"They don't work. It doesn't keep the rats out," said Bernadette Adams, a Harlem resident, according to Eyewitness News (WABC).

Protecting sanitation workers is a real win. Officials say the new bins are designed to be lifted by machine instead of handled by hand, cutting down on injuries and needle-stick risks. That's worth supporting. But it isn't fair to punish people over equipment that doesn't do its job. During WABC's reporting, one bin already in use was found with a chewed hole in the top, big enough to let rats back in.

Residents deserve trash containers that actually work before they're fined for using them. New York City's Department of Sanitation, led by Commissioner Gregory Anderson, should pause the escalating fine schedule until every household has a bin that is genuinely rat-proof and durable, and should offer free repairs or replacements for any bin that fails.

A cleaner city and safer sanitation workers are goals nearly everyone can support. Getting there means giving residents equipment that actually works, not punishing them for the city's own rollout problems.

Sign the petition to demand NYC fix its broken trash bins before fining residents over them.