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Save East Harlem-Yorkville

The City is planning to build a 2-acre, 10-story industrial trash facility at East 91^st St. that will hurt East Harlem-Yorkville. The only thing that can stop it is…you! Support Residents for Sane Trash Solutions.

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1. Join The Cause

   The simple act of joining RFSTS is an immensely powerful one. It lets us know that our message is getting out, and gives us a way to reach out to you when something important is happening!

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2. We Need Money!

   We need money to pay for the lawyers, lobbyists and publicists that are fighting on our behalf. We have no paid staff.

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3. Make Your Voice Heard

   Some of our elected officials are with us in opposing the proposed MTS facility. We would like to thank Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Council Member Jessica S. Lappin, Council Member Daniel R. Garodnick, State Senator Elizabeth Krueger, State Assembly Member Micah Z. Kellner, and State Assembly Member Dan Quart among others, for their support.

   There are other elected and non-elected officials that need to understand how important it is to our community and our City, that the Department of Sanitation re-think their plans to build this monument to waste.

   Fill out the few boxes below, press SEND and you will have automatically emailed two separate form letters, each carefully crafted for its respective audience!

   • The first form letter (side right below) will go to local officials who need to know that you're opposed to this ill-conceived project. These officials include:

     • Speaker Quinn who has made no secret of either her ambition for even higher office or her ardent support for this ill-advised project…
     • By filling out the form below, you will also send an email to Mayor Bloomberg, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Comptroller John C. Liu, State Senator Jose M. Serrano, Council Member James Gennaro, Council Member Dominic M. Recchia Jr., Council Member Letitia James. The letter you send is below as well for you to read.

   • The second form letter (just above SEND button below) will go to Ms. Naomi Handell at the Army Corp of Engineers. They are currently considering a permit request and mitigation plan by the NYC Department of Sanitation. They need to know why the City's mitigation plan is inadequate and why the whole project is a travesty.

     The third email is a note to the politicians that have supported us thus far: U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney; State Senator Liz Kruger; State Assemblymember Micah Kellner; State Assemblymember Dan Quart; Councilmember Jessica Lappin; Councilmember Dan Garodnick. The purpose of this email is to press them to do more. We all have to dig deeper to stop the 91st Street MTS from being built, and now is an especially important time. Let’s ask them to really fight with everything they have for us now!

   Your Email:
   
   Your Name:
   
   Your Address:
   
   Your Phone (optional):
   

   The following email will be sent to the local officials listed above:
   I live in New York City, I am a taxpayer, and I am a voter. The proposed Marine Transfer Station (MTS) at 91st and York Avenue will destroy a neighborhood. I am asking your help to make sure this unwise project is not built. The proposed MTS is an industrial garbage facility that does not belong in a residential neighborhood. It will be 10 stories high, almost 2 acres in size, and run six days a week, twenty-four hours a day. Up to 500 trucks a day will rumble up and down our local streets to dump garbage there. The access ramp will cut in half the beautiful Asphalt Green athletic facility where thousands of children play. All this will increase air pollution by at least 16%, increase noise levels that are already beyond legal limits, and irreparably harm the East River estuary, among other harms. There are no other garbage facilities in the City located in a residential neighborhood. It is wrong to put one in ours. This unnecessary facility will cost already-strapped NYC taxpayers a fortune. The City admits that the price tag has already soared from the $55 million projected originally to at least $245 million, and private estimates suggest that costs will be far higher. One reason for this spiraling cost is that the proposed MTS is three times larger than is necessary for the Manhattan residential garbage it is supposedly designed to handle. Rather than wasting our tax dollars, City should be spending this money on after-school programs, teachers, police, and firefighters and others who improve our quality of life. This destruction of a residential community is based on the false 'borough equity' premise that Manhattan's residential garbage is being shipped to other boroughs in New York City. In fact, much of Manhattan's residential trash is now is trucked in clean-air vehicles directly to a waste to energy plant in New Jersey, where the garbage is converted to much-needed electrical energy. That is a sane solution that preserves precious resources, and answers the City's borough equity argument: other boroughs will not be absorbing Manhattan's residential garbage that is disposed of in this way. No one has looked carefully at this project for more than 6 years. Judges have deferred to the Department of Environmental Conservation, and the DEC has deferred to the Department of Sanitation based on unrealistic assumptions and outdated 2003 data. The time has come for our elected officials to find a sane trash solution based on current data and sound analysis. I will use my vote if they don't.

   Additionally, the following email will be sent to Ms. Naomi Handell at the Army Corp of Engineers:
   Dear Ms. Handell: As a resident of New York City I oppose the Department of Sanitation's ('DSNY') proposed 77,000 square-foot, 10-story marine garbage transfer station ('MTS'), to be built on the East River estuary at East 91st Street. The MTS will be located in a densely populated neighborhood, 100 feet from residential apartment buildings and 280 feet from public housing. The MTS's entrance ramp will bisect a children's playing field and aquatic center, Asphalt Green. The MTS site is in one of Manhattan's lowest-lying flood plains which is frequently flooded during rainstorms—according to New York City's Office of Emergency Management, this site is designated as Zone A, with the highest risk of flooding from a storm surge. Run-off waters from a flood that breach the MTS would clearly contribute contaminants and toxins to the already fragile eco-system of the East River estuary, and unprocessed waste could spread water-borne diseases and bacteria through this densely populated neighborhood. The site is also located near the '125th street fault line,' which has been responsible for past earthquakes and tremors. Since the closing of the former MTS near this site over 10 years ago, the East River estuary has become home to an abundance of aquatic life, thanks to the estuary's unique combination of salt and fresh water. Marine life from striped bass to tautogs, as well as crabs, eels, shrimp, flounder, perch and oysters, inhabit this tidal strait, and the renewed abundance of such life has led to the return of various birds including herons, egrets, ducks and cormorants. DSNY has not taken proper account of this aquatic life. In particular, DSNY's studies ignored the resurgence of striped bass, a species protected under the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 5151-5158. (Note that the East River estuary, as a tidal strait opening into the Atlantic Ocean, is covered under the Act.) DSNY has not conducted a sufficient study to ascertain what permanent damage to the waterways and the riverbeds would occur as a result both of the dredging for construction of the MTS and ongoing barge operations at the MTS. The DSNY has also failed to account adequately for the effects of shading and cover on the marine environment. The proposed MTS will cover and shade approximately two acres of water, with a nearly 100% increase in coverage and shading of now open waters. Because DSNY has not undertaken a proper study of the aquatic life at the site, it is in no position to assess whether and to what degree the coverage and shading of these waters will force out species currently inhabiting the site. For all the above reasons I strongly urge the Army Corps of Engineers to reject the DSNY's request for a permit. I request new, impartial new scientific testing and analysis, reflecting 2011 conditions. I also request further opportunity to review any new data collected and to participate in any hearings.

   Finally, this last email will be sent to the politicians, listed above, that have supported us thus far:
   I wanted to thank you for your support of the community effort to stop the Bloomberg administration from building a garbage dump at 91st Street and York Avenue. Recently, the administration was defeated in its plan to place a waste-to-energy facility on Staten Island. Elected officials – both Republican and Democrat – stood unified on Staten Island and rallied the community, telling Mayor Bloomberg that they would not stand for another garbage facility in their borough. We are asking you and other elected officials to take the lead and stop this dangerous project. We will stand behind you – because the community is united in opposition to this garbage dump. We believe it is wrong on many levels, including safety, health quality, cost and overall community well-being. What more can we do together? We are prepared and willing to step up and make our voices heard. Let’s stop the 91st Street Marine Transfer Station together and preserve one of the City’s best residential communities from this industrial disaster! We urge you to bring singular focus and energy with your colleagues in government to lead our opposition effort before a shovel hits. Let's Get Loud!

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   While emailing letters is great, actual, written and stamped letters are even better.
   Just click on this downloadable form letters below.

   Form Letter for local officials Mailing Addresses of Local Officials Form Letter for Army Corps (recipient and address at top of letter)

4. Spread The Word

   If Facebook is your thing, then Like us!

   Email website address — sanetrash.org — to three, five or better yet ten friends and neighbors.

   We also encourage you to download printable flyers and post them where your neighbors will see them.

5. Register To Vote

   Make sure you’re in a position to cast a vote when the time comes!
   Holding our elected officials accountable is our right and our civic duty!

   Click here for Voter Registration Form