The city’s trash is one step closer to being stowed on the Upper East Side.
Having cleared heavy community opposition, the city issued a request for bids to build a $125 million waste transfer station on the East River at 91st Street, Crain’s reported.
Upper East Siders had fought the plan, claiming the waste transfer site would pose health risks to children who play at nearby recreation space, the Asphalt Green, and residents of several public housing projects, and eventually filed a suit to block the proposal. It was the third attempt by community groups to prevent what has become inevitable. The Real Deal reported last month that the court dismissed the challenge, which allowed the city to move forward with the plans.
A new, three-story structure will replace one that closed at the site in 1999, and will process 5,280 tons of trash from trucks to be transferred to barges or trains. The structure will help fulfill Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC vision of improving the sustainability of waste disposal while spreading the burden equally among New York’s communities. [Crain’s]