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Residents Rally Against Plan To Reopen Garbage Transfer Station In NYC

NEW YORK (CBS 2) -- The City Council is set to approve a $66 billion budget Wednesday, averting firehouse closings and teacher layoffs, but some of the funds are earmarked for re-opening a garbage transfer station in a residential Manhattan neighborhood, Jay Dow reports.

Many Upper East Side residents who live near the Asphalt Green athletic complex stand opposed to any plan to reopen the station, which closed back in 1999. They staged a rally Tuesday night, saying the plan would bring dozens of loud garbage trucks and foul odors to a mixed neighborhood that includes pricy townhouses and a public housing project, 24-hours a day and six days a week.

"Look around ladies and gentlemen and see all of the children we have here," said resident Rose Bergen. "It's about the children."

Garbage Transfer Station
Garbage Transfer Station (credit: CBS 2)

"I just think it's kind of discriminating more than helping. I don't think it's going to help at all," another resident said.

Mayor Bloomberg included $125 million in funding for the project in the budget.

"Those trucks would cut right through a public park and straight through the heart of a residential community," said Councilman Dan Gorodnick.

Supporters of the transfer station said green technology will soften the environmental impact on the neighborhood.

"They'll be state-of-the-art facilities compared to what we have behind us," said Eddie Bautista of the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance. "In order for us to have a fair and just city, everybody has to step up to the plate. We all have skin in the game, including the Upper East Side."

Should the garbage transfer station open again? Is this NIMBYism? Sound off in our comments section below…

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