Court shoots down celeb-led appeal against Hudson Square salt shed

Rendering of proposed sanitation garage, James Gandolfini, Jennifer Connelly and John Slattery

The state Appellate Division okayed the city’s proposed Sanitation Department garage on Spring Street yesterday, crushing the hearts of many a celebrity Hudson Square resident. According to the Post, the court ruled unanimously in favor of the controversial project, a 120-foot-tall salt-storage shed on the West Side Highway, near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel. Residents of the pricey condominiums nearby — including stars like James Gandolfini, Jennifer Connelly, John Slattery, Kirsten Dunst and REM’s Michael Stipe — had filed several legal challenges to try to prevent the $400 million garage from getting off the ground. They had argued that the city hadn’t properly considered the project’s environmental impact and the traffic congestion it would cause in the neighborhood, lobbying for several smaller garages spread around town, instead. The appeals court ruled that the group had filed their complaints too late, and since the ruling was unanimous, special permission would be necessary if the group were to file an appeal to the state’s Highest Court. [Post]