RAVENSWOOD — Mayor Bill de Blasio will allocate $130 million to replace an aging Department of Sanitation garage, which for years has spurred complaints from residents about traffic and foul-smelling trucks parked on nearby streets.
DSNY has been using the facility at 34-28 21st St. since the 1930s to house garbage trucks and other equipment, but the building has outgrown its capacity — sending the city searching for an alternative location, though funding wasn't previously available to make the move.
But the mayor allocated $130 million in his executive budget to cover the costs of a replacement garage, he announced during a town hall meeting in Long Island City Thursday night.
"The trucks that are now on the street in your area will be moved off by this fall," de Blasio told the crowd.
The garage, located on 21st Street between 34th and 35th avenues, has been a source of contention with residents nearby, especially for those in the surrounding NYCHA Ravenswood Houses.
Tenants complained of garbage trucks idling outside their buildings, double-parking or leaving smelly garbage debris in the street.
"It's the filth and more filth on top of filth," Carol Wilkins, head of the Ravenswood residents association, told DNAinfo last year. "The smell is awful."
The Sanitation Department says it is still looking at potential replacement sites, which need to be located in the confines of Queens Community Board 1 and be at least three acres in size.
The final site, when chosen, will need to be approved through the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), according to DSNY Spokeswoman Kathy Dawkins.
"In the interim, we are seeking to re-locate some vehicles and personnel to a nearby annex facility on a privately-owned lot to alleviate some of the on-street vehicle parking at the existing facility," she said.
