HUDSON RIVER PARK — A major recycling center planned for the Hudson River Park is waiting on action by the governor's office before it can move forward.
The marine transfer station planned for the western edge of the Gansevoort peninsula would handle all the recyclable materials for Manhattan.
The rest of the peninsula will be a park constructed and cared for by the Hudson River Park Trust.
The existing Department of Sanitation structures on the peninsula — including a salt shed, a transfer station, a garbage destruction plant, and a garage — are currently being demolished. Demolition of the salt shed is complete; contractors are still in the process of asbestos abatement.
Part of the demolition will entail removing about 5 feet of soil and replacing it with clean gravel mix specified by the Trust.
The new transfer station will be constructed on the footprint of the existing one, but allowed to extend 10 feet beyond the current steel structure, per a 2015 request for proposals document created by the city's Department of Design and Construction.
A DDC representative recently told Community Board 2 that the peninsula will be turned over to the Trust by 2017. A spokeswoman for DDC said the agency is collaborating with the Department of Sanitation on next steps and design and that construction cannot commence until demolition is complete.
The station is intended to encompass 76,000 square feet, including two floors of transfer station facilities, administrative offices, staff support spaces, mechanical spaces and an education center, and be designed by Grimshaw Architects.
But a Sanitation spokeswoman said the marine transfer station requires a memorandum of understanding with the state in order to move forward. She said the department has been working with the state on getting that done.
A state official said the MOU must come from the National Heritage Trust, a division of the state Parks Department, without commenting further. A Parks Department official did not respond to a request for comment.
The city has its funding for the recycling station in place, once the state does its part.
The total cost of the Gansevoort station is $88.6 million, which includes the $33.4 million from prior years that went toward the demolition of the existing structures on the site.
Most of the remaining funds are in the budget for fiscal year 2020 — approximately $50.5 million earmarked for construction of the project.
