On Sunday, October 4, 2026, more than 2,000 neighbors sat down together on West 21st Street in Chelsea for the fifth annual Longest Table. CITIBIN was proud to be the compost bin for the day, in a collaboration with The Longest Table, Open Plans, and One Love Community Fridge to make sure that food didn’t go to waste, or to the landfill.
The Longest Table is a free, neighbor-led potluck: one table down an entire block, and everyone invited. Founder Maryam Banikarim started it in Chelsea in 2022 with about 500 people. This year's crowd set a record, and the movement now has tables in cities across the country. Chelsea News covered the day, and you can find the movement at LongestTableCommunity.org.
A bright red bin you couldn't miss
We brought two CITIBIN compost bins to the event, wrapped in vibrant red vinyl with COMPOST in bold white letters and The Longest Table logo. The red bins popped on the block, even through the drizzle. Guests found them easily and used them the right way: for food scraps that were saved from the landfill.
Why our bin had less to do
Our compost bins saw lighter use than we planned for, and that's interestingly the best outcome we could have asked for. One Love Community Fridge, a food recapture organization founded by Asmeret Berhe-Lumax, packed up the leftovers and brought them to community fridges around the city. Only what couldn't be safely shared went into our bins.
Leftovers went to One Love Comminity Kitchen, and food scraps went into the CITIBIN compost bin.
With 2,000 guests at the table, that meant a lot of good food went on to feed neighbors across the city, while our bins took care of the scraps that were left behind.
The Longest Table in Chelsea brought 2000 neighbors together
Neighbors, nametags, and plenty of dogs
Everyone wore a nametag. Volunteers in bright yellow and orange shirts kept things moving, and when the rain picked up, people opened umbrellas and stayed put. Tables ranged from catered spreads to boxed pizzas to handmade pies and freshly brewed ice tea, and everyone shared. Longtime Chelsea residents sat next to first-timers, and a steady stream of dogs stopped by the compost bins to say hello (and, we suspect, to sniff for leftovers).
The Longest Table is also for dogs.
A block that ate together
"We love seeing our compost bins at work in the community," said Liz Picarazzi, founder and CEO of CITIBIN. "Our compost bin was designed for public use, and there's no better test of its abilities than a block of 2,000 people eating together."
Thank you to Maryam Banikarim and The Longest Table, to Eric Parker and Open Plans, and to Asmeret Berhe-Lumax and One Love Community Fridge. CITIBIN has made city streets cleaner and greener from Brooklyn since 2012, and days like this remind us that the best waste system starts with less waste.
