Even the trash cans are too expensive in NYC

The city is paying nearly $1,000 apiece for trash cans — almost double their initial price — but there’s nothing to be done about it, a fuming Manhattan councilman said.

Ben Kallos of the Upper East Side said he protested the price to the Depart- ment of Citywide Administrative Services, which inked the deal, but was told it can’t be renegotiated.

“There is something wrong with the way we buy things as a city,” he griped. “We never should have to pay more through a contract than if we bought it on the open market.”

Kallos said he had 284 of the domed, green trash cans installed on sidewalks since taking office in 2014. At the time, they cost $545 a pop under a different contract.

The cans were such a hit that Kallos said he planned to order more — until he learned the new cost, $969.

Nearly identical cans are sold online for $849.

But the city can’t get that price because it is bound by a contract for the cans with Petersen Manufacturing.

DCAS rep Carmine Rivetti said, “The city’s pro- curement policy requires a fair and competitive bidding process, and the existing contract we hold reflects the lowest possible price resulting from [it].”

The cost jumped because of the price of steel, Kallos said the city told him.