Ackerman Asks Spitzer To Block Sanit Facility Close To LaG Airport

Plans to build an 11-story Marine Transfer Station fewer than 2,000 feet from LaGuardia Airport were blasted last week by Congressmember Gary Ackerman as colossal stupidity and a potential disaster for Queens.

The veteran lawmaker called upon Governor Eliot Spitzer to intervene and stop the city Department of Sanitation's plan, which must have the approval of the state Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). That appears to be "the final step needed for this ill conceived project", Ackerman said.

In his appeal to Spitzer, Ackerman stated, "Governor, I am sure that even you and I could understand why one should not put an 11-story structure seconds away from the end of a runway.

"But on September 18, 2006, after an extensive lobbying effort, which included the city of New York and whoever else you might discover, and without any change in the proposal, the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] curiously and mysteriously reversed its previous determination and concluded that the Marine Transfer Station posed 'no hazard to air navigation.' Duh?"

Ackerman, (D- Bayside) said the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, is "the only player which seems to have its head screwed on right"- it has appealed the FAA decision.

"Absent that," Ackerman continued, "the last remaining barriers to the construction of the Marine Transfer Station are permits issued by NYSDEC, required by New York State law, for the erection of a tower at this location."

According to Ackerman, New York City first submitted a proposal to construct the transfer station in the winter of 2004. On Jan. 28, 2005, the lawmaker said, the FAA determined that the placement of the project was presumed to be a hazard to air navigation, a position that was firmly echoed by the Port Authority.

"That decision, which in effect says it is dangerous to put an 11-story structure only seconds away from the end of an active runway, was very easy to understand, it was appropriate," Ackerman said.

Subsequently the FAA changed its position for reasons unknown.

In closing his letter to Spitzer, Ackerman pleaded with the state's newly installed chief executive: "in the interest of ensuring the safety of the flying public and the communities surrounding LaGuardia Airport, to support the appeal made by the PA and to work with it and me" to get the city Sanitation Department to place the transfer station at a less hazardous location.

As an alternative Spitzer could also make clear the unlikelihood of the NYSDEC approving the various permits needed to continue this project, Ackerman said.

Efforts to reach the Sanitation Department to comment before yesterday's deadline was unsuccessful.- John Toscano