[jfries]

I live in Sweden and have a similar system in my apartment building. It's really the height of convenience.

To throw household trash I just open the door and throw it down the hatch placed in the wall. See https://www.dropbox.com/s/184p0ten0kzjvz9/20170806_150718.jp...

The small metal plate in the door is where the mail comes.

This particular installation is not vacuum based though, so we still need a trash car that comes and empties the trash room in the basement.

[lobster_johnson]

That's very common, though, both in the US and elsewhere. The vacuum system is what makes the NY setup unique.

[lucaspiller]

Here in Lithuania most older buildings have the same, but newer buildings typically just have garbage rooms in the basement. I guess the system reminds them of Soviet buildings, where the shoot is just a big pipe going down the stair well, so stinks up the corridors, is usually too small, and of course never cleaned. Here is a picture of a nicer looking one:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8fRxMujrr3g/T7nbckb40DI/AAAAAAAADt...

I've lived in new buildings in other countries that have the same system as you, and the (mild) smell is a lot nicer than having to walk downstairs to throw out trash.