The New York City mayor’s office has paused the Sanitation Department’s controversial compost fines just weeks after the mandate, which fined New Yorkers upwards of $300 for failing to separate food waste from trash, became official.

For now, the city will limit its fines to “the most egregious offenders” — large buildings with 30 units or more that have received over four warnings from the Sanitation Department, after which they will be fined $100. Previously, those fines were automatically upwards of $300 and without warnings. Smaller buildings will be given an extended “grace period” until the end of the year.

Initially, buildings with one to eight units will face fines of $25 for the first offense, $50 for the second, and $100 for all subsequent violations (buildings with nine or more units face steeper penalties, going as high as $300 for repeated violations).

Newly-appointed Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro made the call to pause the program, according to reports.

The administration said it suspended the fines after hearing from residents from all five boroughs, including at town halls, who “still have questions” about the mandated composting program, from how to compost correctly to never receiving the program’s distinctive brown bin.

“There are people who we have heard from who straight up said they have not gotten a composting bin or have confusion about what kind of bins they need to use,” said a City Hall spokesperson.

The city will now focus its efforts on conducting additional outreach and education about composting, including mailing new fliers and hosting more community events.

Critics of the city’s rollout of the composting program pointed to its enforce-first, educate-second strategy that left New Yorkers confused by the new mandates.

Many pointed fingers at the Sanitation Department’s “rushed and insufficient” months-long awareness campaign, including a recent mailer that encouraged New Yorkers to squeal on their neighbors for failing to adhere to the new mandate, despite the department paying $1 million on “substantial outreach.”

“If DSNY’s $1.9 billion budget can’t fund basic education for organics collection, what are we even doing? The Mayor can’t cut corners, botch the rollout, and then turn around and blame New Yorkers for being confused, especially when he never prioritized educating them on the rules in the first place,” said city councilman Shaun Abreau, a Democrat and the chairman of the council’s committee on sanitaiton and solid wase management, in a statement. 

Since April 1, City Sanitation’s sector supervisors have handed out 4,000 fines to property owners who mixed trash with compostable material, said Vincent Gragnani, a Sanitation spokesperson. 

“We will continue to do so for owners of large buildings who consistently break the law,” said Mr. Gragnani. He declined to comment on whether or not the Sanitation Department had any input on the administration’s decision.

The city’s decision comes just days after it reportedly collected a record 3.8 million pounds of compostable materials like food scraps, yard waste, and compostable packaging in the second week of its new mandate. 

Last week, the Sanitation Department opened up its new compost distribution site in Astoria, Queens, where residents can pick up complimentary 40-pound bags of compost.