The Fight Continues Against Bloomberg’s Garbage Plan
July 29, 2009
While I was disappointed to learn of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) decision granting the City’s permit application for a Marine Transfer Station (MTS) at East 91st Street in my district (see the end of this post for the decision in full), the fight does not end here. In the Assembly, I continue to push my bill (A.6829/S.3112) to prohibit the siting of a solid waste transfer station within 800 feet of a public housing complex. I was pleased that my bill made progress this year and was passed by the Environmental Conservation and Codes Committees. I also strongly support the Gracie Point Community Council’s plans to file an Article 78 lawsuit in State Supreme Court to challenge the validity of the DEC ruling.
There is still time to put a full stop to this madness. How can the Bloomberg administration continue to argue that this makes sense even while the Department of Education prepares for the fall opening of the new PS 151 elementary school on East 91st Street between First and Second Avenues (See “Braced for Garbage,” Our Town, June 17, 2009)? The good news for us is that the Bloomberg Administration has not budgeted for the project for the upcoming fiscal year, pushing back implementation to 2011 at the earliest. Meanwhile, in addition to the Article 78 proceedings, an earlier lawsuit filed by Gracie Point Community Council arguing that the MTS is unlawful park alienation is still pending.
This project is taking longer and costing more than anyone ever imagined. If the Mayor was truly interested in fiscal discipline and efficient government, he’d abandon this boondoggle now. Elections have consequences.
The Upper East Side and East Harlem communities have repeatedly pointed out why this location is inappropriate–for the children who play outdoors at Asphalt Green, park-goers who use Carl Schurz Park, the East Side River Esplanade and Bobby Wagner Walk, the over 40,000 residents of surrounding residential high-rises, and public housing complexes like Stanley Isaacs Houses and John Haynes Homes.
The fact remains that this neighborhood is one of the most densely populated residential areas in all five boroughs. Had there not been an MTS in this location at some point in the past, it would be illegal to site one there today. The neighborhood that the former MTS was part of was a very different one. Gone are the light manufacturing uses and warehouses that once lined the East River–this is 2009, and this is a tightly packed network of high rise residential towers, housing projects, parks, and community facilities. The fact that once upon a time there was an MTS at this location has allowed the Mayor to exploit what amounts to a loophole in the law. In the City’s application, the proposed MTS was referred to as a “reactivation” of an existing MTS. This is hogwash, and it is more than disappointing that the DEC didn’t kick the City to the curb for such transparent word-smithing.
Please check back here for updates as more on this situation develops. I am posting the DEC’s decision in full below for your convenience.
7-27-09 DEC decision on marine transfer stn
So Where Does the Mayor Stand on 2nd Avenue Relief?
July 17, 2009
Looking south from corner of East 94th St. and Second Ave. Photo courtesy of The Launch Box.
Does the Mayor care about Second Avenue’s small businesses or doesn’t he?
Back in February, at a press conference to mark the beginning of construction on the MTA’s Number 7 train extension project, Mayor Bloomberg made a point of talking about the suffering of small business owners in the Second Avenue Subway construction zone:
“[The construction] is literally destroying every business on Second Avenue,” the mayor said at a press conference intended to show off a 100-ton cutting head that was to begin churning out the West Side extension for the 7 train.
“It is an economic disaster for the people who have stores and restaurants on Second Avenue and we have to find something to do for them.”
I am all too familiar with the disaster facing small business owners in the Second Avenue Subway project area. The new subway line will be great for New York in the long run, but the construction process is devastating the neighborhood. These small business owners are being asked to sacrifice on behalf of the public interest, and we owe it to them to find a way to help weather the storm.
This is why I sponsor legislation (A.3949/S.1393-Serrano) to provide targeted relief to small business owners, by giving their landlords an incentive to lower their rents. My bill gives property tax breaks to building owners in the construction zone if they renegotiate leases at lower rates for small business tenants. This bill gives Second Avenue’s businesses a a fighting chance, and in tough economic times it will help preserve the city’s tax base by working to prevent the shuttering of a once-dynamic commercial neighborhood.
The relief bill passed the Assembly last month, and for the second time in two years. But yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg instructed Republican State Senators to oppose the legislation, and without any GOP support, the measure could not come to a vote.
If the Mayor recognizes that the construction is an “economic disaster” for Second Avenue, and says that “something” should be done to aid the suffering businesses, why is he standing in the way of actual efforts to help?
US Army Corps of Engineers to Hold Hearing on E. 91 St MTS in September
August 22, 2008
Asphalt Green is a beautiful recreation center with outdoor athletic fields, a swimming pool, and a playground for children that is threatened by the East 91st Street Marine Transfer proposal by the Mayor.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced that it will hold a public hearing on the permit application submitted by the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) to undertake dredging and other construction work associated with the Bloomberg Administration proposed marine transfer station (MTS) for East 91st Street.
I am very opposed to the siting of an MTS at this location for a number of reasons. I have previously testified against the proposal at a hearing before the New York State Department of Environmental Protection (I’ll get that tesimony uploaded to my ‘Publications Page‘ soon). I have also introduced a bill, A.10891A, that would prohibit the siting of a waste transfer facility within near proximity to a public housing project.
The proposed MTS would be located less than 300 feet from two public housing projects - the Stanley Isaacs Houses and John Haynes Homes Towers and be situated next door to East Harlem, the asthma capital of New York City. Additionally, the MTS would subject neighborhood residents - especially children, who are most vulnerable - to the pollution from constant streams of garbage trucks, while simultaneously destroying Asphalt Green, one of the area’s only parks.
I urge everyone to come testify at this important hearing.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Public Hearing
Public Notice File Number: NAN-2008-00927-EJE
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
New York Blood Center, 310 East 67th Street
Comments are limited to 5 minutes and written testimony may be submitted until 5:00 p.m. on Monday, September 29th by mail to the New York District Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch, 26 Federal Plaza, Rm 1937, and New York, NY 10278-0098. Additional information can be found at http://www.nan.usace.army.mil/business/buslinks/regulat/pnotices/aug08/index.htm.
State Budget Has Historic Increases for Education Funding
April 24, 2008
The 2008-2009 NYS budget continues the commitment to better education for New York’s students, increasing education funding by a record $1.7 billion, with a total investment of $21.4 billion. The spending plan includes a $533 million foundation aid increase for New York City schools, and affirms the Assembly’s deep commitment to education, despite a daunting economic climate.
These increases uphold the tenets of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity statewide and keep us on track to meet the 4-year educational investment plan.
The budget moves toward the full implementation of the school foundation formula, which calls for stable and transparent funding for school districts. It represents a second year of record school aid increases. The budget also increases funding to libraries and expands the number of 4-year-old children attending pre-K to 121,000.
However, more work needs to be done now by the City of New York to make sure that the students of the Upper East Side and the rest of the city receive the education that they need and deserve. I and the rest of my colleagues in the Assembly do not support Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal to cut $324 million from the New York City Department of Education budget for 2008-2009. Therefore, the Assembly in its budget is requiring the mayor and the city to keep the $324 million commitment that they pledged last year to their students.
We cannot afford to compromise the education of this city’s and this state’s next generation of leaders in an attempt to cut corners in spending.
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My community office is here to help you.
315 East 65 Street
New York, NY 10065
Tel 212-860-4906
Fax 917-432-2983
Email KellnerM@assembly.state.ny.us
