by Mathew R. Warren
On April 19, 2007 representatives from the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) met with Upper East Side residents at a public meeting to discuss the renovation and reopening of the East 91st Street Marine Transfer Station (MTS). According to the City’s plan the MTS, which was originally closed in 1999 and is within feet of the Asphalt Green playing field, will be fitted to receive an average of 1500 tons of garbage a day for transport along the East River.
Since the Fresh Kills Landfill was closed in 2001 the City has struggled to sort out its garbage problem. The decision to reopen the East 91st Street MTS is the result of a new policy of “Borough sufficiency,” each Borough being responsible for its own garbage. This comes after years of protest from Bronx residents about having large amounts of Manhattan’s garbage trucked into their Borough.
Numerous community groups from both the Upper East Side and East Harlem have been trying to fight the City in court over the reopening of the MTS. An initial lawsuit to stop the project was dismissed in September 2006, but a new lawsuit has been filed and the case is currently pending.
The atmosphere at the meeting was undoubtedly tense, with 250 plus residents facing down a small group of DSNY representatives. The meeting began with a short power point presentation by the DSNY summing up the changes to the existing MTS and their conclusions that with a new odor neutralizing system in place the reopening of the MTS would have “no adverse environmental impact.”
Throughout the power point presentation there were outbursts from the crowd. “Why don’t they show the rats?” cried one resident.
Among the first speakers to follow the DSNY’s presentation was City Councilmember Daniel Garodnick, who along with Councilmember Jessica Lappin, has openly opposed the MTS. “It is not sound logic to put one of these transfer plants in a densely populated neighborhood ... This presentation did not cover the concerns of residents.” To which the Councilmember received loud applause.
Councilmember Lappin, who had recently given birth, could not be in attendance, but had a statement read that reaffirmed her opposition to the City’s plan and asserted that according to the last census over 1400 children lived within five blocks of the MTS. “No garbage dump should be located in any residential neighborhood.” concluded Lappin’s statement.
In an attempt to defend the City’s plan one DSNY representative responded, “It’s not a garbage dump. We are trying to equitably distribute where we have waste management. This MTS operated through 1999 and the neighborhood flourished.”
The following speaker was Monica Plimack, whose son went to Asphalt Green Day Camp while the original MTS had still been in use. “Many were the days when the smell was so strong that camp had to be held inside ... You are trying to make us believe miracles that garbage trucks don’t smell or make noise.” said Plimack.
Dr. Clifford B Bluestein spoke next claiming that the City had altered its research methods to “distort the truth.” Bluestein presented a petition signed by 138 physicians stating that the City’s proposed plan would create “unavoidable health problems.”
DSNY representatives were quick to deny that their research had been altered in any way, expressing that their findings were “actually conservative.”
Tony Ard, President of the Gracie Point Community Council, one of the leading groups in the legal battle over the MTS, spoke about the common concerns and unified opposition of neighborhood residents, and about the overwhelming lack of evidence to support the DSNY’s position that operation of the MTS would not have a negative impact on residents.
Carol Tweedy, Executive Director of Asphalt Green explained that in the previous year their facilities had served 47,000 New Yorkers and given free services to 14,000 people. “As an organization committed to health we cannot support this.” stated Tweedy.
George Morin, a long time resident of East 91st Street described how since 1999 the block had undergone a great deal of change and what had once been gas stations, car servicing garages and factories were now residential buildings. Morin also showed a satellite map of the Midtown area on the far Westside of Manhattan displaying how this area was desolate in comparison to the area surrounding East 91st Street.
Anne McCorrey, an Asphalt Green member and longtime resident of the area lamented, “The deal is in the air for Midtown. Someone is going to make a lot of money and they don’t want garbage in the area. But why do it in a neighborhood already so densely populated?”
Robin Foreman, another longtime resident asked DSNY representatives, “Are my children going to be sacrificed to commercial greed?”
Residents concerns were not only directed at the DSNY, but also at Mayor Bloomberg, who has been a staunch supporter of reopening the MTS. Ironically Bloomberg chooses not to live at Gracie Mansion, which is only two blocks from the MTS.
For more information about the ongoing fight over the MTS you can go to Graciepointcc.org.
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