Garbage Trucks Take Over Residential Street In East Village

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – With garbage trucks pulling in one after the other, you would think there was a Department of Sanitation parking lot in Manhattan.

It's actually a residential street in the heart of the East Village, one of the borough's trendiest neighborhoods and it has residents up in arms.

"No one wants to be around the trash," Monni McCleary told CBS2's Reena Roy.

"I don't enjoy coming downstairs and seeing the garbage trucks out here," Ryan Piorkowski added.

People who live on East 10th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues say they first noticed new parking signs put up a couple of weeks ago; reserving spots for authorized sanitation vehicles only.

This past weekend the trucks arrived, coming through at all hours of the day and taking over much of the block.

"Overnight they changed the signs without any warning or anything. My car got a ticket," one driver claimed.

East Village business owners say the garbage trucks are bad for business too.

"People sitting inside a restaurant frankly don't want to eat tacos while smelling the stench of garbage," Avi Burnbaum said. "You can't survive through things like this long term."

The Department of Sanitation claims the parking situation is only temporary; saying its garage lease on West 30th Street was up. The block in the East Village, along with ones on East 26th and 60th Streets, are being used by the trucks until another lot is found.

People living in the East Village aren't satisfied with that answer because the parked equipment is being used in other neighborhoods further north, not their own.

"We have to sit down together and try to resolve this. There has to be a better place than on a residential side street," Community board 3 district manager Susan Stetzer argued.

The Department of Sanitation claims it notified elected officials and local leaders about the parking change last month. For now, the trucks are here to stay.