The reason why NYC apartments do not have garbage disposals is mainly because they have the potential to lead to clogs or damage to plumbing systems, especially in older plumbing systems.
Installation costs and concerns about maintenance for the garbage disposals also factor into why NYC apartments don't have garbage disposals.
However garbage disposals are legally allowed in NYC apartments and buildings but they are not commonly found in older buildings, in which plumbing may not be designed to properly handle the extra load of the food being disposed of in the garbage disposal or where building management is wary of any potential issues that may arise from the use of garbage disposals.
Also the older pipes that serve many of New York City's vertical villages also tend to have so much sludge and scaling in their waste lines which also make it bad to use garbage disposals.
Often it's mainly the older buildings and apartments in NYC that don't have garbage disposals due to the older plumbing and concerns about the garbage disposals.
older plumbing cannot often handle the food waste as good as newer plumbing can.
Newer buildings in NYC and especially the buildings built after 1997 often have garbage disposals in them.