Canal Park, one of New York’s oldest, stands as a triumph for the Hudson Square residents. Taken apart in the 1920’s to build the Holland Tunnel, the park was restored four years ago to look very similar to the 1888 design by Vaux and Parsons, the designers of Central Park. However, with the city’s plan to relocate a salt shed and sanitation garage from the Gansevoort Peninsula next to Canal Park, the community is afraid it will be destroyed once again.

The city and the sanitation department are proposing to build a $500 million garage large enough to fit 128 sanitation trucks from the Community Board districts one, two, and five of lower, west, and midtown Manhattan. The city’s plan also proposes to build a 4,000-ton salt shed that would be located next to the garage, on Washington and Spring Street and across the street from Canal Park.

The proposed salt shed is being relocated from Gansevoort Peninsula and Pier 52 as a result of the Hudson River Park Act court order, a decision which allocated the 5-mile long area from Battery Place to West 59th Street to build a park. The act, which was passed in 1998 by the New York State Legislature and then-Governor Pataki, is the reason the city is required by law to move the garage and salt shed. Unfortunately, the site the city chose jeopardizes another park, Canal Park.

“One of the reasons they decided to remove the facilities from Gansevoort was based on the negative impact it [salt] would have on the future park there,” says Richard Barrett, President of Canal Park Conservancy and long-time resident. “There’s a bit of irony in the move.”

The proposed garage would be located at 500 Washington Street, a lot two city blocks long, which is currently owned by the UPS company and is used to store truck trailers.

These proposed Department of Sanitation facilities have been met with large opposition from the Tribeca and Soho residents. Residents believe the garage large enough for three community’s trucks violates the Fair Share agreement, which is an understanding that each district has areas designated for their own services such as a police station, fire department and sanitation garage. In New York City, where space is rare, the city and sanitation believe that consolidating three garages is the most efficient option.

The area is mainly residential and the proposed facility would tower over The Ear Inn, a landmark house dating back to 1817 that looks like a doll house with delicate windows and a brick façade, which is located across the street from the city’s proposed garage site. The proposed sanitation building would be comparable to a 12-story building, which would exceed the height of all the buildings next to it.

Michael Kramer, a real estate lobbyist who works in the St. John’s Center, an office building next door to the proposed garage, says, “The garage is imposing and out of character in the neighborhood.”

Phil Mouquinho, Chair of the Community Sanitation Steering Committee in the neighborhood, thinks, “It’s just not fair. No one is saying look don’t build this garage here, of course we need facilities for garbage, but make them to scale.”

Due to overcrowding across the street from the proposed location, at District One’s garage, sanitation trucks already line the sides of Washington Street.

Opponents of the city’s building argue that a salt shed in such close proximity to Canal Park, the Hudson River and residential buildings, salt vapors and spills would destroy the trees and plants the community had to fight for. Canal Park was restored in 2005 after a lawsuit brought by community members, such as Richard Barrett, against the city based on park alienation, a law that states that if land is allocated for a park, it must always be a park.

Community members have proposed an alternative, a building they call ‘The Hudson Rise’, which would serve the same purpose as the city’s proposed building, but only for districts one and two.

“We aren’t saying not in my backyard,” says Mouquinho, “We are saying not so much in my backyard.”

The Hudson Rise building would be 70 feet tall, approximately 50 feet shorter than the city’s proposal. The downtown community proposes moving midtown Manhattan’s garage closer to the location it is serving, spanning from Union Square to Central Park South. City Planning proposed the downtown Washington Street garage most effective because the trucks would use the West Side Highway to get to the midtown area they serve.

“You cannot put that many trucks and not expect it to worsen our traffic and our air quality,” says Phil Mouquinho, long-time resident.

Residents of the area have called the sanitation department’s building “Stalin-like” and “imposing.” The building, resembling a rectangular metal box, is said to include “a green vegetated roof” and will “make use of recycled materials”, yet the proposal does not offer details about specifics.

The Hudson Rise would include a solar roof, a roof top park and other amenities for the community. Architect Stas Zakrzewski created a design the community feels fits in with the character of the neighborhood and is environmentally friendly. Depending on the location found to relocate the midtown Manhattan garage, the community says their design will save $30 million. Since the Hudson Rise structure is significantly shorter, it saves a portion of the high price of air rights, according to the residents. The city will have to pay UPS for the air rights, which are the cost of the space above land that is developed.

Community members envision the design to be a legacy for the community, similar to the Highline, which is a public park elevated on a preserved railroad structure on Manhattan’s west side, from Gansevoort to 20th Street.

A statement from the Department of Sanitation says they “expect to submit the project for contractor bids by the end of the year” due to a court order that the sites must be relocated by 2013. The statement also says that in order for the community’s alternative plan to be considered, they would have to find, approve, and acquire a site for the midtown Manhattan garage and the salt shed, which they state will cause significant delay and cost more than the city’s proposal.

The city’s plan to start building in Spring 2010 is put on hold due to legal action that associations in the community took on Feb. 3, 2009, filing a suit in the New York Supreme Court against the city, the sanitation department, city planning and others. Community groups such as The Tribeca Community Association and the Canal Park Conservancy claim that the sanitation garage violates the fair share agreement, that each district is responsible for providing service areas for their own neighborhood. The community is still waiting to hear the decision made by the New York Supreme Court judge.

William Thompson, the democratic candidate who ran against Mayor Bloomberg in the November 2009 elections, was a supporter of the Hudson Rise community proposal. However, with Mayor Bloomberg winning a third term, the community has not lost hope, but instead are shifting their efforts.

“My efforts have been focused on finding another location for the midtown garage currently”, says Michael Kramer, who works in the St. John’s Center next to the proposed garage site. “I’m working with community boards four, five, and seven to try to find some solution that makes sense for them that would then relieve the pressure downtown.”