“The Department of Sanitation is moving quickly to finalize a contract with another vendor,” an agency spokeswoman said.

The $3.3 billion, 30-year contract with Progressive Waste Solutions subsidiary IESI, which was tentatively agreed to in November, would have shipped about 27 million tons of waste by rail to a landfill in Waterloo, NY. The city already sends some waste there by truck. But locals there threatened the landfill owner's ability to keep its dump open, and last week Progressive decided to do without the extra trash and cash being offered.

The Sanitation spokeswoman's response suggests that another vendor is waiting in the wings.

An industry insider predicted the city would turn to "one of the usual suspects—Waste Management, Covanta or Republic Services."