Lots of discussion and debate about the Mayor’s now-approved plan to open a new waste transfer station in Manhattan. While nobody is really thrilled about having the station break up Hudson River Park, the Mayor and environmental advocates point to the efficiency and air quality improvements of moving all the recyclables by barge direct from the borough, rather than trucking them up to the Bronx, as is now standard practice.
From Sewell Chan’s piece in the Times:
In October 2004, the Bloomberg administration announced its intention to reopen a long-closed waste transfer station in Greenwich Village, on the Hudson River near 12th Street, to handle recyclable materials from Manhattan. The idea was part of a much larger Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan — pronounced “swamp” — that would transform how the city handles residential waste.
The plan, a response to the closing of the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island by the Giuliani administration in the 1990s, called for shipping the bulk of the city’s residential waste elsewhere by barge, which emit less pollution than trucks.
It’s worth a full read.
NY League of Conservation Voters and Gotham Gazette also cover the issue.