DSNY, elected officials celebrate opening of long-awaited garage

Participants in the ribbon-cutting, left to right: Ronald Prattis, vice president of Local 831; former DSNY Director of Real Estate Daniel Kline; Councilmember Chi Ossé; Sanitation Commissioner Gregory Anderson; former DSNY Assistant Commissioner Arlana Davis; Deputy Mayor for Operations Julia Kerson; Councilmember Lincoln Restler; and community advocates. Photo: DSNY

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — THE NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF SANITATION on Monday held a ribbon-cutting for its new garage on Park Avenue. The result of more than 25 years of planning, design and construction, the 220,000-square-foot facility will serve as a new hub for all Sanitation operations in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The garage accommodates 68 sanitation vehicles and 120 personnel, along with departmental and personnel vehicle storage, repair facilities and office.

DSNY Commissioner Gregory Anderson said during remarks that “it has been a decade since the Department of Sanitation opened a brand-new, built-from the ground-up district garage.” He described the stages entailed for the building to become reality, starting with obtaining environmental review and land use approval and design amendments. Councilmember Lincoln Restler, who represents the area, spoke of additional challenges that arose, including multiple redistrictings of the location, which changed representation of the area during the approval process.

Restler added that the presence of a local garage will reduce the number of sanitation trucks having to traverse longer distances into Bed-Stuy, which has transformed from a mostly industrial area to a growing residential neighborhood.

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