East Village residents complain over odor from sanitation trucks

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - The smell coming from a group of sanitation trucks parked on East 10th Street seems to only be getting worse and neighbors and local lawmakers say they’ve had enough.

“We need a better solution than parking sanitation trucks on a residential block,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney.

Elected officials, business owners and members of the community came together Sunday morning to call on the Department of Sanitation to remove the trucks.

While the odor is at the top of their list of complaints, East Village residents also cited quality of life and crime concerns.

Neighbors say the trucks began parking on their streets almost a year ago, and despite their efforts to reach out to the Department of Sanitation and City Hall, their questions and complaints have not been answered.

City Hall did not return a request for comment, but a spokeswoman for the Department of Sanitation said, in part: “Since losing the lease of our Manhattan District 6 garage, the Department of Sanitation has been searching for a suitable garage space in Manhattan that meets the infrastructure needs of our fleet.”

The Department of Sanitation is looking into other parking options, but it is currently unclear exactly when the community will be able to breathe a sigh, or smell, of relief.