Know your bin
Mark the white address panel so people can identify your bin. Photograph the serial number and keep it with your records. Here is how to use both.
On the side of the bin there is a recessed white panel. That is the city inviting you to write your address. It is the only identifier that is yours to fill in, and it is the one your neighbors, the Sanitation crew and anyone who finds your bin actually reads. Our guide covers exactly how to mark it - the short version: a printed vinyl label, house number big, street name small.
Molded into the bin is a unique serial number with a barcode. This is the bin's fingerprint, and it is your proof of ownership if the bin ever walks away.
Do this today: photograph the serial number. Thirty seconds, and the photo lives in your phone forever. If the bin disappears, that photo is how you report it - a stolen city bin is a police matter, and the serial is what turns "a black bin" into "MY black bin." Take the photo before you cover or fill the address panel, and keep it somewhere you will actually find it.
The full stolen-bin playbook - report, replace, and how a labeled bin changes the odds - is on cans.nyc.
The label makes your bin visibly yours from the curb - it is the reason a borrowed or blown-away bin comes back instead of becoming anonymous. The serial photo is the backup: proof on paper if the bin ever needs to be claimed.
Number big, street small, on the panel the city gave you. Get your label here - printed vinyl with UV laminate, rated 10+ years outdoors, on in about 60 seconds. Add the small 1x4 labels for the lid - inside and out - and the sides, and the bin reads as yours from every angle.
It is molded into the bin itself with a barcode - check the body and lid area. Photograph it once and you never have to hunt for it again.
Report it - a stolen city bin is a police matter, and your serial number photo is your proof. Then replace the bin and label the new one before it leaves your sight. Details: cans.nyc.