NY Times: "Unreasonable" To Move Transfer Station Away From Residential Neighborhood - Relocate Access Ramp Ok

E. 91st Street & York Avenue.  Current Marine Transfer Station entrance.  For decades the community complained about the putrid smells originating from the sanitation facility and its operation and pedestrian issues especially for children.   After vehement community opposition the station was finally closed in 1999 after nearly 60 years of operation.  The city is currently building a much larger facility at the same location.  (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)

In a recent editorial The New York Times praises former Mayor Bloomberg's plan to build the city's only Marine transfer station in the middle of a residential community -  one with the highest density as well - and de Blasio for not buckling. 

"The Bloomberg plan was a good one,  and still is. Mayor Bill de Blasio deserves credit for sticking with it under pressure," a Times January 26th Editorial states. 

Instead of not building a massive, 10 story facility between the Asphalt Green and DeKovats Playground the Times is backing a plan to move the access ramp.  Ignoring the irresponsible siting of the new facility and the fact that building it smack-dab in the district of then Council Speaker Gifford Miller was political payback for his Mayoral aspirations to unseat Bloomberg,  the Times opines that the  Solid Waste Management Plan "was built on the reasonable and fair idea that each borough needed to take adequate responsibility for its own trash."

The Times also fails to address why that exact spot is apparently the only possible location  suitable in Manhattan's 32 miles of shoreline.

The Bloomberg administration had desperately sought to portray the opposition to the siting of the transfer station on East 91st Street in Yorkville as an "environmental racism" issue. 

The costs continue to soar. 

The battle to prevent another controversial waste transfer station, this one in Brooklyn near Coney Island,  has generated little in the main-stream media.   For a decade residents, environmental groups and elected officials have been fighting against the proposed SouthWest Brooklyn Waste-Transfer Station in Bensonhurst off of Shore Parkway near Bay 41st Street & 25th Street on a former incinerator site. 

The site is adjacent to the 73-acre Calvert Vaux Park and Gravesend Bay which are important bird and fish habitats. 

- Geoffrey Croft

Manhattan

Nearly a decade ago, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration declared “a new era of solid waste stewardship,” a veritable trash Enlightenment, when it adopted a plan that would handle New York City’s garbage for the next 20 years. The plan was built on the reasonable and fair idea that each borough needed to take adequate responsibility for its own trash, according to the New York Times. 

 That era hasn’t quite arrived — it awaits the completion of one key element, a marine transfer station on the East River in Manhattan, near 91st Street and York Avenue, where trash will be unloaded from trucks onto barges for shipment out of state. Nobody loves a floating dump, but this station has met ferocious opposition from Upper East Side residents alarmed by the prospect of noise, fumes, congestion and traffic accidents. The resistance continues, even though the station is well underway; hard hats and cranes are digging and lifting and are expected to be done by late 2016 or early 2017.  

A proposal for a new ramp location would relocate it one block north to E. 92nd street instead of the current plan between the Asphalt Green and Dakotas Playground.  (Rendering: Courtesy of Sam Schwartz Engineering) 

The Bloomberg plan was a good one, and still is. Mayor Bill de Blasio deserves credit for sticking with it under pressure. Fairness in this case trumps not-in-my-backyardism. And Yorkville and East Harlem are not doomed.

But this doesn’t mean that the worries are incomprehensible or that the plan can’t be improved. The road to the bridge to the station, over the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive, cuts right through the middle of an athletic center called Asphalt Green, which is used by many schoolchildren. It’s an unsettling juxtaposition — a continual stream of garbage trucks so close to little children’s swimming lessons and soccer games, and a toddlers’ playground.  The city says that it has the situation well in hand: that sidewalks and turn lanes will be carefully designed for maximal safety, and a person will actually be stationed at the corner to direct trucks and keep pedestrians safe.

Opponents are not placated. Asphalt Green hired Samuel Schwartz, an engineer and a former city traffic commissioner, to come up with something better, which he did: a plan to shift the access to the station a block north, using a service road of the F.D.R. Drive, so that garbage trucks go around and behind — instead of through — Asphalt Green. It’s an intriguing idea that could go a long way toward making parents and children breathe easier. The city’s sanitation commissioner, Kathryn Garcia, says her agency is looking at Mr. Schwartz’s plan, with engineers calculating its costs and feasibility. A decision is expected in a few weeks.  

Later,  Speaker Gifford Miller, center, accepted the facility but as a compromise proposed an alternative waste management plan that would only take in recyclable paper.   "I don't think it's ideal to locate any kind of a transfer station in such a residential neighborhood in the middle of a park," he said.  The speaker was unable to muster the two-thirds majority votes necessary to override the Mayor's veto. (Photo: Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times) 

The city should seriously consider the benefits of Mr. Schwartz’s idea, for increased safety and for the station’s peaceful coexistence with its unnerved neighbors. Some of those neighbors, though, will probably continue fighting the long war: At a recent meeting on traffic safety at a church a few blocks from Asphalt Green, transfer station opponents heckled Mr. Schwartz, demanding that he abandon his compromise proposal and instead join their fight to sink the transfer station completely. 

 That’s an unreasonable demand. What’s reasonable is Mr. Schwartz’s compromise, which has the twin benefits of helping the neighborhood’s children and ensuring the success of Mr. Bloomberg’s and Mr. de Blasio’s well-considered plan for all the city’s waste.

The abandoned Department Of Sanitation Waste Transfer Station on East 91st St. (above-center) is nestled between the Asphalt Green, a 9 acre recreational facility and  DeKovats Playground located on the Upper East Side. The prior facility has been removed to make way for a massive 10-story one.  

(Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge.  

Read More:

A Promising Garbage Workaround

New York Times Editorial Board  - January 26,  2015 

Miller's New Trash Plan Has Wastepaper Transfer Station in His District

New York Times - June 16, 2005 - By Nicholas Confessore 

E. 91st St. Marine Waste Transfer Station Costs Continue To Soar 

A Walk In The Park -  November 6, 2014 

WHEN IS A PARK NOT A PARK - WHEN THE CITY WANTS

IT TO BE A GARBAGE DUMP 

A Walk In The Park - October 12, 2014 - By Tony Ard

Thompson Trashes Proposed UES Waste Transfer Station - Quinn Stands Firm

A Walk In The Park - May 31, 2013 

http://awalkintheparknyc.blogspot.com/2013/05/thompson-trashes-proposed-ues-waste.html

91st St. Marine Waste Transfer Station Suit Dismissed - Group Vows To Appeal
A Walk In The Park - December 30, 2011

E. 91st St. Marine Waste Transfer Station Costs Continue To Soar

The prior Marine Transfer Station facility (top center) has been removed to make way for a massive 10-story one.  Cost to construct and operate the city's only Marine Transfer Station facility in a densely populated residential neighborhood have continured to ballon.

The Bloomberg administration had desperately sought to portray the opposition to the siting of the transfer station on East 91st Street in Yorkville as an "environmental racism" issue. 

(Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge. 

Manhattan

By Geoffrey Croft

A massive 10-story garbage-transfer station set to be built on East 91st Street in Manhattan would be three times as expensive as the current method of moving Manhattan's residential trash, according to an analysis by the city's Independent Budget Office.

The plan to construct the city's only Marine Transfer Station facility in a densely populated residential neighborhood would cost an estimated $ 632.5 million over two decades, up from an estimated $554.3 million from just 17 months ago.

An analysis by the IBO projected a cost of about $278 per ton to process garbage at the new Yorkville facility in its first year up from $238 in 2012. Trucking the same garbage would cost $93 per ton up from $ 90 dollars per ton in 2012.  

Over the 20-year contract for the new Yorkville facility, the city would pay $379.3 million more than it would have under the existing truck-based system, according to the IBO report, up from $ 338 in 2012.  Over the 20-year contract the city would pay $253.2 million, compared with $ 632.5 for constructing and operating the new East 91st Street Marine Transfer Station (MTS). 

The proposed garbage facility is part of part of then Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Solid Waste Management Plan (SMAP) which was approved by the City Council in 2006.  The plan's purported motive is to distribute trash facilities more equitably throughout the city. Manhattan is the only borough without a waste-transfer station.

IBO's report was issued in response to a request in April from City Council member Benjamin Kallos who has been opponent of the plan. 

The proposed project has been fiercely opposed by community residents and local elected officials. The opposition however has fallen on deaf ears from two consecutive mayors.

The Bloomberg administration had desperately sought to portray the opposition to the siting of the transfer station their as an "environmental racism" issue.  

According to PLEDGE 2 Protect data 62% more minority residents live in this area than at any other proposed site. There are more than 1,100 public housing units – only one other location has any public housing units, and that site’s total is 33.  

The MTS would also affect significantly more people than any other proposed marine transfer station, including more people (22,056) than the other six MTS combined and 35 times the number of families living in public housing than the other 6 MTS combined.

In court proceedings the City made a series of bizarre claims meant to avoid seeking certain regulatory approvals including State parkland alienation.

Runners exercise on the Bobby Wagner Walk along the FDR Drive. The previous Marine Transfer Station (above) has been removed (below) to make way for a massive 10-story facility. 

In attempting to mislead the court Parks Department lawyer Alessandro Olivieri downplayed the dedicated park and recreational uses and argued among other things that Bobby Wagner Walk is not parkland but instead "primarily used as a thoroughfare.”

Besides representing that the Asphalt Green was not park land Olivieri also argued in the case that DeKovats Playground was not entitled to legal protection because the City never mapped it as parkland and therefor it was not “dedicated” as parkland.



Construction has begun.  


(Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge. 

For a decade residents, environmental groups and elected officials have also been fighting against the proposed SouthWest Brooklyn Waste-Transfer Station in Bensonhurst off of Shore Parkway near Bay 41st Street & 25th Street on a former incinerator site. 

The site is adjacent to the 73-acre Calvert Vaux Park and Gravesend Bay which are important bird and fish habitats. 

Read More:

Re-estimate of the Cost of 91st Street MTS

IBO - November 5, 2014

Trash Plan Price Tag Frustrates Opponents

Wall Street Journal -  May 22, 2012 - By Joseph De Avila

WHEN IS A PARK NOT A PARK - WHEN THE CITY 

WANTS IT TO BE A GARBAGE DUMP

A Walk In The Park - October 12, 2014 - By Tony Ard

Thompson Trashes Proposed UES Waste Transfer Station - Quinn Stands Firm

"I don't care how many times I get booed from the Upper East side I'm not changing my position."   -  Christine Quinn - May 30th

The  $ 250 Million - 10-story high facility is the only marine waste transfer station being proposed by the Bloomberg administration in the middle of a high density neighborhood and in the middle of parkland.  Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on image to enlarge.

The abandoned Department Of Sanitation East 91st St. Marine Waste Transfer Station (above-center) is nestled between the Asphalt Green, a 9 acre recreational facility and  DeKovats Playground located on the Upper East Side. For years the community complained about the putrid smells originating from the sanitation facility and its operation. After vehement community opposition the station was finally closed in 1999 after nearly 60 years of operation. 

The community is currently fighting the building of a new much larger waste transfer station as part of Mayor Bloomberg Solid Waste Management Plan, (SWMP). Opponents argue that no other community is being forced to house a waste transfer-station directly in the middle of a public park located in the City's highest density residential community.

As part of the legal proceedings, Parks Department lawyer Alessandro Olivieri stated that the Asphalt Green, parks managed waterfront esplanade Bobby Wagner Walk, and DeKovats Playground were not parkland.

Mayoral candadate Bill Thompson signed the Pledge 2 Protect at a press converance yesterday.   Mr. Thompson was greeted by long-time E. 91 Street  Marine Transfer Station 
(MTS) foe NY State Assemblyman-and City Council candadate-Micah Z. Kellner.

The Bloomberg administration has long attempted to portray the opposition to the siting of the transfer station on E. 91st Strret as an "environmental racism" issue.

According to PLEDGE 2 Protect data however  62% more minority residents live in this area than at any other proposed site. There are more than 1,100 public housing units – only one other location has any public housing units, and that site’s total is 33.  The area around E. 91st has twice the amount of parks, fitness/recreational areas and bike/pedestrian paths than any other site. 

The MTS would also affect significantly more people than any other proposed marine transfer station, including more people (22,056) than the other six MTS combined and 35 times the number of families living in public housing than the other 6 MTS combined and over 30% more children than the other 6 MTS combined.  



The Pledge 2 Protect coalition believes that major waste facilities do not belong in any residential neighborhoods in the city.

Read More:

Christine Quinn accuses Bill Thompson of ‘environmental racism’ 
New York Daily News  - May 31, 2013  - By Erin Durkin and Tina Moore   

Quinn: Thompson And UES Trash Station Opponents Stand For More Asthma For Poor Kids
New York Daily News - May 30, 2013 By Erin Durkin

Christine Quinn Says Bill Thompson Backs ‘Environmental Racism’
Politicker - May 30, 3013 - By Colin Campbell

Thompson ‘dumps’ on Quinn
New York Post - By Sally Goldrenberg - May 31, 2013

Thompson Trashes UES Garbage Plan, Quinn Stands Firm
Bill Thompson takes a stand on a controversial garbage transfer station while picking up an important endorsement
WNBC - May 30, 3013 - By Melissa Russo

Upper East Side Garbage Protest Now Has 5 Mayoral Candidates on Board
Village Voice -  May 30 2013  - By Sydney Brownstone

Quinn, Alone, Stands Firm On An East Side Waste Station
Capital NY - February  23,  2013 - By Azi Paybarah

91st St. Marine Waste Transfer Station Suit Dismissed - Group Vows To Appeal
A Walk In The Park - December 30, 2011

WHEN IS A PARK NOT A PARK - WHEN THE CITY WANTS 
IT TO BE A GARBAGE DUMP
A Walk In The Park - October 12, 2010 - By Tony Ard 

WHEN IS A PARK NOT A PARK - WHEN THE CITY WANTS IT TO BE A GARBAGE DUMP

The abandoned Department Of Sanitation East 91st Marine Waste Transfer Station (center) is nestled between the Asphalt Green, a 9 acre recreational facility located on the Upper East Side. For years the community complained about the putrid smells originating from the sanitation facility and its operation. After vehement community opposition the station was finally closed in 1999 after nearly 60 years of operation. 

Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) 

The Community is currently fighting the building of a new much larger waste transfer station as part of Mayor Bloomberg Solid Waste Management Plan, (SWMP). Opponents argue that no other community is being forced to house a waste transfer-station directly in the middle of a public park located in the City's highest density residential community.

Manhattan

By Tony Ard

In December 2009, in a little noticed decision, Judge Michael Stallman of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan ruled that the Upper East Side's largest public recreational complex, and the Parks Department's second largest publicly accessible facility in the community- is in fact, not a park.

The plaintiffs suing to stop the proposed $125 million East 91st Marine Waste Transfer Station are arguing that the proposed demolition and reconstruction of a ramp - vital to MTS and Solid Waste Management Plan, (SWMP) - can not be performed without getting obtaining State legislative approval first. Legislative approval must be gotten before parkland can be alienated or used for an extended period of time for non-park purposes. 

The City is hoping this decision will clear the way for the Department of Sanitation to place a 100 foot high garbage transfer station next to it, accessible only by a ramp through the middle of the park. (The decision is being appealed)

That 9 acre recreational complex is known as Asphalt Green. It lies in one of the city's two most densely populated neighborhoods. The park serves the needs of tens of thousands of grown-ups and children alike in a wide variety of ways. Included in the complex is Dekovats Playground which is heavily used by infants, toddlers, and elementary school age children, their parents and their caretakers. 

Asphalt Green includes an athletic field that serves community sports organizations, schools, and the non-profit that runs the complex's own sports programs, summer camps and field days for children. When not being rented out, the field is used by individuals and groups for soccer and baseball and for exercising in any number of ways. The facility also includes an out door basketball court that serves hoopsters of all ages, including a summer basketball league.

Just across the FDR Drive lies the 1. 828 acre Bobby Wagner Walk, a DOT owned, DPR managed waterfront esplanade used daily by thousands of walkers, runners, bikers, roller bladers, skateboarders, and fishermen.

Joggers and walkers utilizing Bobby Wagner Walk with the abandoned marine waste transfer-station in the background. Bobby Wagner Walk, a waterfront esplanade used daily by thousands of walkers, runners, bikers, roller bladers, skateboarders, and fishermen also contains hundreds of trees and flora and fauna.

In attempting to mislead the court by downplaying the park uses including its recreational significance, Parks Department lawyer Alessandro Olivieri argued that this was not parkland but instead merely a “thoroughfare.”

In order to avoid getting State alienation approval to build the sanitation facility the Bloomberg administration is arguing that because the City never mapped either the Asphalt Green or the esplanade as parkland they are not “dedicated parkland” therefor they are not entitled to legal protection. In December Judge Stallman sided with the city ruling that the Asphalt Green and Bobby Wagner Walk were not parkland. If the ruling is not overturned it would allow a portion to be used for this non-park purpose.

"A private entity - Asphalt Green, Inc - operates the Asphalt Green area, and restricts usage 70% of the time to fee-paying members, thereby mitigating against a finding of a dedicated park area," the decision stated, citing parks council Alessandro Olivieri's affidavit.

The absurd New York County State Supreme Court decision ignored the fact that the Parks Department acquired the Asphalt Green land in 1970, that the park has been used as a dedicated public recreation facility for almost forty years. The DPR shows the complex as a park on its web site and has its signs and its legally binding rules affixed on the perimeter fencing, including the playground denoting them as park facilities.

In a gross distortion of the facts, the City argued, and Judge Stallman accepted apparently without questioning its validity, that a contractual requirement that Asphalt Green facilities be available to the public at least 30% of the time is used by Asphalt Green to restrict non-paying public access to the facilities to only 30% of the time. This simply is not the truth. The Dekovats Playground for example is available 100% of the day. The outdoor basketball court is available at all times - approximately 90% of the time - except during an eight week summer camp which ends at 4:30 PM every day.

There is a brief period of summer basketball league games which start in the late afternoon/early evening. Except for the summer camp period, the athletic field is available throughout the late morning to early afternoon during weekdays.

Also, except during summer camp, the athletic field is available nearly every weekday until mid-afternoon, when it is used for youth and adults, schools and league and athletic events.

The ruling also ignored that during the Parks Department ownership the complex has been supported by tens of millions of dollars in public funds. Each year the Asphalt Green spends $ 25,000- $ 30,000 dollars lobbying our elected official for public funding.

In June 2010, the City Council restored $231.7 million of the Mayor's proposed cuts,.... but they also added another $165.2 million in new initiatives, including $48.9 million in local member items including $215,000 to fund recreational programs at Asphalt Green.

If that is in fact the city's position this also begs the question why are public tax dollars being used to build, maintain and pay for programs when the city considers this a private facility.

According to the Parks Department website, " Bobby Wagner Walk is the part of the East River Esplanade that extends from 90th to 125th Street." Bobby Wagner Walk is part of the Eastside NYC Greenway (part of a eight and a half mile long continuous promenade running along the river.

According to the Mayor's State of the City address these waterfront esplanades are part of a "multi-use recreational path." According to City Planning’s 1993 Greenway Master Plan for New York City greenways are "…at once the parks for the 21st century and a part of the transportation infrastructure, providing for pleasant, efficient, healthful and environmentally sound travel by foot, bicycle or skates." The esplanade also contains hundreds of trees and flora and fauna.

In attempting to mislead the court by downplaying the dedicated park and recreational uses, Parks Department lawyer Alessandro Olivieri argued that Bobby Wagner Walk is not parkland but instead "primarily used as a thoroughfare.”

"on the right by the serene, rippling expanse of the East River. The walk features wide-open views of Roosevelt Island and the Triborough and Hell Gate Bridges, The path is often serpentine, with garden-lined sections."

Besides directly contradicting the Mayor and City planning - not to mention his own colleague - chief of planning Joshua Laid who all consider esplanades "parks," Mr. Olivieri also directly contradicted the administration's reliance on esplanades as "park and open space" that often accompany large developments the administration pushes. 

City officials has even gone so far as to use the phrase "esplanade park" to counter criticism that not enough active recreation parkland is being created as part of huge development projects.

During the hearing, Mr. Olivieri also bizarrely argued that DeKovats Playground, located on York Ave and 91st St. adjacent to Asphalt Green was not a park either. The playground recently received $1.95 million in city funds allocated by Mayor Bloomberg.

DeKovats Playground - York Ave and 91st St. Not A Parks Department Protected Playground? Not according to the Parks Department. Parks Department lawyer Olivieri argued in court that DeKovats Playground was not entitled to legal protection because the City never mapped it as parkland and therefor it was not “dedicated” as parkland.

On October 29, 2009. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe joined Manhattan Parks Department Borough Commissioner Bill Castro and City Council Member Jessica Lappin at the ribbon cutting ceremony dedication for DeKovats Playground. The Parks Department playground received $1.95 million in city funds allocated by Mayor Bloomberg. (Photo by Daniel Avila/NYC Parks Department)

“Thanks to nearly $2 million in funds from Mayor Bloomberg, DeKovats Playground has been completed renovated, ” said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe at the playgrounds' ribbon cutting celebrating its renovation. “Children of all ages on the Upper East Side will delight in the park’s new play equipment and water features.

Background

In the 70's, many neighborhood activists including George and Annette Murphy prevented two 45-story apartment buildings and a public school from being built at the site. They strongly argued the more parkland and public recreation facilities were desperately needed in the community board with the least amount of parkland in the entire city.

Why has this become an issue? Because as as part of this administration's Solid Waste Management Plan, (SWMP) Mayor Bloomberg has sited this area to rebuild a marine waste transfer station.  After vehement community opposition, the city’s former waste station closed in 1999 after nearly 60 years of operation. For years the community complained about the putrid smells coming from the facility. This inappropriate location would bring 1, 860 tons of garbage on a typical day, (up to 5,280 tons in an emergency) six days a week according to permits being sought by the Department of Sanitation. That translates to from 372 to 1056 truck trips per day. 

Trucks spewing diesel exhaust and reeking of refuse would queue on the access ramps which bisect Asphalt Green and go over the Bobby Wagner Walk. During emergency periods, the trucks would line up in the streets along side the athletic field.

Ramp Entrance - York Avenue at 91st St. The access ramp bifurcates DeKovats Playground and swimming pool (left) with the Asphalt Green's artificial turf field (right). Neighborhood residents and park users long remember the putrid smells and long lines of idling garbage trucks alongside the playing field on York Ave.

The entrance to the proposed waste station is on York Avenue at 91st St. The access ramp runs between DeKovats playground and the Asphalt Green's artificial turf field. With recreational space in the city scarce, why choose 91st Street for a garbage transfer station? 

According to Sanitation, there was one there previously so it is more convenient to put one there again rather than looking for another place or another method. They argue, that the agency followed all the appropriate procedures. Their process, the court says, was rational and it will not interfere with the use of the park. Never mind the affect common sense tells us it will have on the surroundings. The process might be "rational" but the outcome is not.

Another point relates to the construction issues. The DSNY has only represented the amount space they would take up during the ramp construction. There is nothing that binds them to that representation.

More to the point, the operation of the station, with the number of trucks queueing on the ramp throughout the day, will substantially degrade the usefulness of the area as a playground and athletic facility.

East River. After vehement community opposition the waste station was closed in 1999 after nearly 60 years of operation. The proposed new waste station will be 100 feet higher or twice as high as the current one and be built 100 feet north, and closer to Stanley Isaccs/Holmes public housing.

In order to get vital political support Mayor Bloomberg has attempted to portray this as an environmental justice issue. Proponents of the plan point out that Manhattan creates half of the city’s refuse but does not have a transfer station. The bulk of the city’s waste is trucked to transfer stations in Brooklyn, the South Bronx and Queens. While it is undeniable that historically environmental issues have disproportionally impacted poor communities and neighborhoods of color the fact is no other community in the city is being forced to have a waste transfer-station directly in the middle of a park located in a residential community with the city's highest density.

Individuals and community groups have been fighting the city over re-opening the waste transfer station on 91st since the plan was first introduced in 2002, and will continue to fight it as long as there is a court and a legislature to fight in.

Tony Ard, is the director of the Gracie Point Community Council, a plaintiff in the suit.