The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New York City Department of Sanitation are collecting and properly disposing of potentially hazardous common household products from flood-damaged homes and residences in New York City. The public is encouraged to put waste products on their curbs for pickup, including: solvents, paints, cleaners, oil, propane tanks, batteries, petroleum products, weed/bug killers, car batteries, bleach and ammonia. The EPA and its contractors will drive the streets of impacted areas to pick up the household hazardous waste on the curb at each residence.
Curbside pickup of household hazardous waste will take place in neighborhoods impacted by the storm surge from Hurricane Sandy.http://www.epa.gov/sandy/hazardouswastepickup.html
The New York City Department of Sanitation will be picking up white goods, such as refrigerators and other appliances, and will remove the refrigerants from refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners. Refrigerants include chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons, which are greenhouse gases. These refrigerants will be removed from appliances by the city using EPA certified recovery systems before the items are crushed or taken apart for recycling.
The New York City’s Department of Sanitation offers updates at: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dsny/html/home/home.shtml
For additional information on dealing with household hazardous waste, see also this US EPA fact sheet.