Upper East Siders protest planned waste transfer site

Yorkville residents were dealt a setback last week when an appeals court cleared the way for the city to reopen a waste transfer station adjacent to their beloved Asphalt Green athletic complex. But they’re not getting down in the dumps just yet — opponents have amassed more than 8,000 petition signatures and gathered in protest this past weekend, according to the New York Times, arguing that the plant’s proximity to children’s recreation space and to several public housing projects — among them, John Holmes Towers and the Isaacs Houses — presents a health hazard. A new bill introduced in the State Assembly would prevent waste transfer stations from being built within 800 feet of a public housing project and is scheduled for a vote today. But city officials say they’ve already conducted an environmental review of the site, and in addition, the Department of Sanitation already holds a permit from the State Department of Environmental Conservation for the site, which it previously operated as a waste transfer station for more than 50 years. [NYT]