Court gives city go-ahead on waste-transfer station without legislative approval

The city obtained court permission to build a marine waste-transfer station off the East River and East 91st Street without legislative approval, Reuters reported. The city had been angling to construct the station as part of a solid-waste management plan that would contain some of Manhattan’s waste on site to prepare it for export. Nearby residents, led by former Assembly member Adam Clayton Powell IV, sued in 2006 claiming that the city needed legislative approval because of the proposal’s interference with the Asphalt Green and Bobby Wagner Walk, a stretch of promenade along the East River. But by ruling that the two spaces are not public parks, and thereby not subject to the Public Trust Doctrine, the court prevented the city from needing approval. Despite the loss, residents are not ready to go down quietly. While Bobby Wagner Walk functions primarily as a thoroughfare, Asphalt Green has the largest all-weather field in the city, a swimming pool, a gymnasium and a playground, according to Reuters. Opponents to the city’s proposal believe it’s difficult to understand how that is not considered a park, lawyers said. Asphalt Green is restricted to members who pay a membership fee. [Reuters]