Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today stood with a host of city, state and federal elected officials, and Reverend Al Sharpton to call on the State Assembly to pass legislation authorizing the construction and operation of a marine transfer station (MTS) to handle recyclable paper, metal, glass and plastic at Pier 52 on the Gansevoort Peninsula in Manhattan. Once operational, the Gansevoort MTS will handle recyclable metal, glass and plastic generated in Manhattan that is currently trucked to facilities in the Bronx, Brooklyn and New Jersey.  In addition, the new facility will free-up capacity at an existing transfer station at 59th Street on the Hudson River to handle Manhattan's commercial waste. The Gansevoort MTS will help to achieve one of the most important goals of the landmark Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) passed by the City Council last July: ensuring that each borough has the capacity to handle its own waste and recyclables. On June 18, the State Senate passed the Gansevoort MTS legislation but action is required in the Assembly. The Mayor called on the State Assembly to act following a meeting with the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus held at the Office of Emergency Management in Brooklyn.

At the announcement the Mayor was joined by Congressman Charles Rangel, Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Assembly Member Carmen Arroyo, Assembly Member William Boyland, Assembly Member Karim Camara, Assembly Member Ruben Diaz, Jr., Assembly Member Felix Ortiz, Senator Bill Perkins, Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, Borough President Marty Markowitz, Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Council Member Robert Jackson, Council Member Maria del Carmen Arroyo, Council Member Michael McMahon, Council Member Hiram Monserrate, Council Member James Sanders, Council Member Leticia James and Council Member Mathieu Eugene.

"In 2006, both the City Council and the State Department of Environmental Conservation approved our entire Solid Waste Management Plan," said Mayor Bloomberg. "The State Senate has already given us approval to build the Gansevoort facility - it's crucial that our State Assembly members know how much this matters to our City's future. When the Assembly resumes session, we hope its members will pass the bill introduced by Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat."

"I strongly encourage the State Assembly to support the opening of the Gansevoort transfer station," said Congressman Rangel. "This plan provides an equitable solution to our garbage crisis by spreading the burden of waste management across the five boroughs. It brings us one step closer to the cleaner, greener environment that this city needs to be in order to be successful in the 21st century."

"As the Council Member from Greenwich Village, I am proud that our community has an opportunity to play such an important role in a Solid Waste Management Plan rooted in borough equity and environmental responsibility," said Speaker Quinn. "This new recycling transfer facility will take 30,000 truck miles off the roads each year while providing educational space to our community.  It is time for all of us as elected officials to stand together in making a greener and more equitable City." 

"The Gansevoort Marine Transfer Station will help relieve the burden on many neighborhoods throughout the City of New York who have been saddled with the lion's share of waste management problems," said Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat, who introduced the legislation. "These neighborhoods currently experience some of the highest levels of asthma among children in New York City.  This effort will substantially reduce truck traffic in these neighborhoods, improving the air quality in the City of New York."

Once the Gansevoort facility is operational, Department of Sanitation (DSNY) trucks will deliver Manhattan's recyclable metal, glass, and plastic there, eliminating 30,000 miles of truck trips to the Bronx and New Jersey every year.  The Gansevoort facility would also receive Manhattan's recyclable paper that is currently shipped out of the Marine Transfer Station on 59th Street in Manhattan, which will free up that facility to receive Manhattan's commercial waste.  Manhattan produces 40% of the City's commercial waste, approximately 3,000 tons per week, all of which is currently trucked to the Bronx and Brooklyn.  If the Assembly does not pass the necessary legislation and the Gansevoort facility is not built, none of those truck trips will be eliminated and the Solid Waste Management Plan's requirement that every borough participate in handling its own waste in a substantial way will not be realized.

The new Gansevoort MTS will be a model green building that will replace an existing transfer station that served Manhattan from the 1950s through the early 1990s.  The facility will serve as a transfer point for Manhattan's recyclables and will host an environmental education center that will be a destination for users of Hudson River Park.  The environmental center will house a classroom that will provide much-needed indoor space for community uses, as well as a viewing platform and educational panels that will describe the importance of recycling, alternative modes of transportation and the history and ecology of the New York harbor.