Mayor Wins Trash Battle Showdown with City Council

The City Council decided not to override the Mayor's veto of their rejection of his garbage plan. The New York Times calls this a major political victory for the Mayor, as City Council Speaker and wannabe Mayor Gifford Miller was hoping to override the Mayor's veto, but was unable to gather up enough City Council votes. The Mayor's garbage plan has been in the works for years (here's a 2002 PowerPoint presentation about it), with an extensive plan to take garbage out of the city by barge and to construct waste transfer stations in different parts of the city - not to mention make each borough responsible for its own trash. What's interesting is that in this instance, it was the City Council members in poorer districts whose support of the trash plan meant the override would fail; the Mayor has talked up the fact that this plan equalizes trash disbursement constantly. Gothamist finds the Mayor's stance on trash interesting, since this is the man who eliminated recylcing because the city couldn't pay for it, but then brought it back.

At any rate, it's unknown when the trash plan will actually be passed, since many Upper East Siders (including Miller) are upset that the new plan might involve a solid waste facility in their neighborhood. And what's happening with the big recycling contract the city signed a while back?