[EVG file photo]
The Department of Sanitation (DSNY) is moving its fleet of garbage trucks away from 10th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
DSNY officials said that the trucks will temporarily relocate to Pier 42 along the East River starting today for the next three months.
The move came nearly a month after Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick introduced legislation to ban overnight garbage truck parking for residential streets citywide.
"We are so thankful that DSNY has relocated the trucks to a more appropriate location and grateful for the help of our local elected officials ... for making this happen," 10th Street resident Michelle Lang told me in an email. "While we just learned that this is a temporary fix, we hope that the trucks will not return to residential streets in the city."
In a statement issued last night, Hoylman called this "the sweet smell of success!" He continued: "Hopefully, life will resume to normal for the residents and small businesses along East 10th Street who’ve been dealing with this stinky situation for over a year."
As I first reported on Sept. 18, 2018, the DSNY started using this section of 10th Street to park up to seven garbage trucks from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., including on Sundays. The DSNY no longer had use of their garage on 30th Street, and the solution was to relocate their fleet to residential blocks.
City officials had promised to look into this parking practice, but nothing ever happened. In September 2018, shortly after the trucks arrived, Mayor de Blasio promised to "relieve the immediate pressure" on 10th Street. "Do we want garbage trucks parking on residential streets? Of course not," said de Blasio, as CBS 2 reported on Sept. 26, 2018.
Despite meetings and direct pleas from residents of 10th Street and local elected officials, the city never took any action to relocate the trucks. With the city's inaction, officials turned to state legislation to get something done.
And why park here? The Theater for the New City complex at 155 First Ave. near 10th Street was previously used by DSNY for storage, and they still maintain space in the facility for crews.
Previously on EV Grieve:
• Questions and concerns as the sanitation department begins using 10th Street to park garbage trucks
• More trash talk about those garbage trucks parked on 10th Street
• Local elected officials continue to press city for alternatives to parking garbage trucks on 10th Street; muggings now a concern
• A waste of space: 10th Street still waiting for the garbage trucks to move on
• Garbage truck parking situation on 10th Street still stinks, residents say
• Waste land: Local elected officials tell the city to move the garbage trucks from 10th Street
• State pols introduce legislation to ban garbage trucks from parking overnight on city streets, like on 10th Street
This is great news but why the hell didn't it happen sooner? I emailed Carlina Rivera in July and suggested this exact location and got this response:
ReplyDelete"This location was brought up before, and unfortunately it is not a viable solution as it does not have facilities for the workers and it will sooon be undergoing construction to become a public park. It was able to be used for the ticker tape parade as the vehicles were being stored there and were not used in operations."
Before the contract/lease was up for their previous garage -
ReplyDeletewhy didn't they look for another garage then ?
Maybe because street parking is free !
Screw the People !
So is James Bond keeping his apartment now that the trucks are gone?
ReplyDeleteFinally! What the hell took so long?
ReplyDeleteA YEAR to get any meaningful action - meanwhile De Blah-sio is off swanning around imagining anyone would vote for him for president. DISGRACEFUL! He can't even run the city he was elected to govern.
ReplyDeleteThis is a city issue but our council member rivera is so far in the mayor's pocket and full of bluster all sound and fury signifying nothing that it took the State officials Hoylmman and glick to get action.
ReplyDeleteToo bad now they are going to a park.
“Temporary solution “ LOL. This means that 3 months from now, around Valentines day, and probably in the middle of a snowstorm, the same garbage trucks will soon be parked outside of someone else’s building, or maybe in a schoolyard, or on a parking lot or playground in public housing, or in Union Square North on the off days for the Farmers Market, or maybe in an alleyway, since technically that’s not on a “residential street.” Talk about rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. But don’t forget, the same politicians who now say they are solving the problem are the same ones who helped to create it in the first place.
ReplyDeleteWill the parking spots return?Now the garbage trucks are gone?
ReplyDeleteYeah, a year of inaction on the trash trucks, but Carliblasio sure rammed through the Tech Hub and demolition of the East River Park on an expedited schedule. Guess if there's money in it for them they jump to do the bidding of their real estate developer overlords as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteWill DOT also finally put the Bike Corral that was approved in front of Rai Rai Ken and was never installed ?
ReplyDeleteThere is plenty of parking space on the loop roads inside of Stuyvesant Town. I’m sure they wouldn't mind letting the trucks that cart away all of their garbage park there overnight.
ReplyDeleteYAY! Thanks so much for continuing to report on this issue
ReplyDeleteGreat. So happy the big shiny new destroy-East-River-Park plan apparently now includes parking sanitation trucks in one of the alternate planned-green spaces. I guess our park-hating representatives are making sure that we don't have one green space left in the LES or EV...
ReplyDeletePark them along the FDR service road
ReplyDelete