A compromise was reached Friday between the city and some Upper East Side residents on how trash in Manhattan will be moved to a marine transfer station on the East River. NY1's Rick Boone filed this report.
"I lived here when the trucks used to be here. I used to adjust my jogging depending on the smell. If the wind wasn't blowing, I couldn't jog around here," one man says.
The route to the rebirth of the Marine Transfer station on the East River near 91st Street and York Avenue is going to change, but not anytime soon.
As planned, in 2017 trash trucks will drive through the Asphalt Green athletic center, but starting in 2019, a new entrance ramp will open one block up on 92nd Street.
The city says it listened to the residents' concerns about hundreds of trash trucks going through an area frequented by families. Asphalt Green serves more than 32,000 children.
"We will be working very closely with the city, we are confident to work with them and to make sure that this continues to be a safe and wonderful place," says Asphalt Green's Maggy Siegel.
Opponents say the compromise isn't good enough.
"This does not need to go anywhere, its not needed. Manhattan handles all of its residential garbage, which is the garbage that's really going to go here. It does not touch another borough, so to say that this is going to relieve other boroughs from any trash burden is simply not the case," says Kelly Nimmo-Guenther, president of Pledge2Protect.
Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia issued this statement saying, “This decision reflects our commitment to working with the community to address concerns about air quality, traffic, and pedestrian safety.”
The cost of that second ramp on 92nd street to the city is going to be about $30 million.