Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
New Staten Island trash complex lets city make way for hundreds of new homes
By
Liam Quigley
Published Aug 18, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Liam Quigley / Gothamist
By
Liam Quigley
Published Aug 18, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
New York City's sanitation department unveiled a sprawling new $230 million facility on one end of Staten Island on Tuesday, which will enable the city to build hundreds of new apartments on the other end of the borough.
The new Fresh Kills sanitation complex was first devised 12 years ago as a replacement for the city’s Jersey Street Garage on Staten Island’s North Shore. The 68-year-old structure is set to be razed and replaced with 232 new apartments and a new grocery store.
The new 140,000-square-foot sanitation building is housed among other trash facilities at Fresh Kills, which was once the city’s biggest garbage dump. It was closed in 2001 after operating for over 50 years, but was briefly reopened after 9/11 so investigators could sort through the rubble to identify human remains.
The old Jersey Street sanitation garage will be the site for hundreds of new apartments.
Liam Quigely / Gothamist
The facility includes a new salt shed, rooftop solar systems and a new fueling station for sanitation vehicles. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said its opening will make it easier for crews to keep the streets clean.
“The new Fresh Kills complex will strengthen the services Staten Islanders rely on, from trash collection and street cleaning to snowplowing and salt spreading,” the mayor wrote in a statement. “And by moving these operations, we’re making way for hundreds of new affordable homes, public space and a grocery store.”
Bryan Mendoza, who grew up near the Jersey Street Garage, said he’d become accustomed to the sights — and smells — on the block, but noted the new housing would be a welcome change.
“ It does smell. Really, it does,” he said. “It’s sad to go, but it's also a good thing.”
Tagged
new york city
sanitation
staten island
Liam Quigley
Liam Quigley is a reporter covering parks & sanitation for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 4:15 p.m. ET
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
News
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
NYC nor’easter dries up after weather service reports minor flooding
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .