UES waste-transfer station gets federal approval

The federal Army Corps of Engineers has approved the Bloomberg administration’s controversial plan to build a two-acre waste-transfer station on the Upper East Side. According to the New York Daily News, the long-delayed, $240 million project is now on track to be opened by 2015.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city officials have pushed to build the station in order to better disperse the burden of trash collection among the five boroughs. There are also plans for new stations in Sunset Park, Brooklyn and College Point, Queens to ease garbage collection responsibilities of the South Bronx, which has 13 transfer stations.

But Upper East Siders have opposed the waste-transfer station and claimed the city has vastly underestimated the cost of developing it. Their attempts to block the erection of the center have been dismissed in court. The Daily News said officials characterize these protests as “not in my backyard” opposition.

The station will be located at East 91st Street next to Asphalt Green Park. [NYDN]