CURES has received many reports of stinking waste-by-rail in 2026, starting in April, when it was just 50 degrees outside. In mid-August 2026, a resident wrote: “The trash train has been sitting on the track for 5 days now, with the stench of trash seeping into our neighborhood. Too unpleasant to use our back yards.” Council Member Phil Wong and Queens Community Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano responded by paying a visit to the CSX tracks by Lutheran Avenue, near Juniper Valley Park. When they reached the tracks, they observed open rail gondolas of stinking Construction & Demolition Debris (C&D). As Council Member Wong reported, “The stench from these cars could be smelled blocks away.” Thankfully, as a result of their intervention, the stinking cars were finally hauled away. And thrillingly, Council Member Phil Wong pledged to reach out “…to CSX and appropriate agencies to get answers and address this,” in an August 14, 2026 Facebook post.

Residents are justified in asking why these rail cars are still uncovered and stinking up neighborhoods from Fresh Pond Yard to Middle Village, to Calamus Circle, the Bronx, and beyond. After all, a NYS law mandating solid covers for C&D gondolas was championed by Senator Joe Addabbo and Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar, and we celebrated its enactment in 2023. When the Governor signed it, we believed this law would finally “Put a Lid on It!” for all C&D gondolas. Electeds, civics, and residents worked — starting in 2009 — to accomplish this. The new law also added provisions to New York Environmental Conservation Law that say putrescible Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)-by-rail — the waste contained in the green Waste Management cans — must be hauled in sealed containers to avert odors and leakage. Yet for the past five months there have been regular reports of stinking C&D gondolas and MSW cans. Why?

First and foremost, as soon as this law was supposed to go into effect, in January 2024, the National Waste and Recycling Association — New York State Chapter, Association of American Railroads, and American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) filed a lawsuit to stop these modest public protections (U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Foley Square), CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 1:24-cv-00135-RA). The Long Island Rail Road’s freight rail licensee, the New York & Atlantic Railway (NYA) is a member of the ASLRRA and, as such, a party to this lawsuit. The last time CURES checked the filings, it appeared that the case would be heard in 2027. The NYS DEC Commissioner is a Defendant in the lawsuit, gumming up enforcement.

The odor and locomotive pollution problems residents have been reporting are not random events. They are the result of how the industry has decided to operate. The onus of compliance must be on railroads and shippers, with systemic supervision, inspection, and enforcement by agencies, such as:

DSNY: Enforce the sealed MSW containment standards in DSNY’s long-term contracts with WM, which cost the City of New York tens of millions of dollars a year and include generous escalators for inflation. Ensure that cans are maintained and replaced so those that are shipped actually are sealed and leakproof. Work with railroads to reduce dwell times. Keep supervising.

MTA-LIRR: Enforce Article 14.1.1 of the LIRR Transfer Agreement with NYA, which states, “The occurrence of any of the following shall constitute a material breach of this Agreement by the Freight Operator: (b) The Freight Operator fails to comply in all material respects with any applicable federal, state or local safety standards and regulations, any environmental laws and regulations and, in regard to the Joint Use Premises, the LIRR Operating Rules which failure shall, singly or in the aggregate, cause a significant hazard or danger to the public or the Employees or property of the LIRR.” Environmental laws include provisions of the New York Consolidated Laws, Environmental Conservation Law ENV § 27-0712 mandating containment of waste in rail cars and containers. The LIRR has leverage. Is NYA seeking a new Transfer Agreement when the current renewal expires in 2027, while violating the Transfer Agreement and NYS law? Since 1997, when the Transfer Agreement was signed, NYA’s ownership has started two new waste-by-rail businesses in MTA-LIRR railyards: a C&D-by-rail transfer station with Tunnel Hill Partners in Farmingdale Yard and a coal-ash-by-rail operation in Blissville Yard.

NYSDEC Regions 1 & 2: Inspect and enforce sealed containment of putrescible waste at DSNY-WM and other putrescible waste-by-rail transfer stations. Inspect C&D gondolas at transfer stations to ensure commercial waste is not being commingled with C&D. NYA says they have a mandated inspection program with a clean record. A new system is needed.

What can residents do? Report a stench from rail cars to 311 with the location, time, and date. Post about it on Facebook (with a photo, if possible, that includes the numbers and letters on the rail car and/or locomotive, taken from a safe distance). Report it to your elected officials. You also can send a message to CURES at civicsunited@gmail.com. The railroads know where locomotives and rail cars are. Industry representatives who say they can’t help if they don’t get perfect information about the number of the rail car that is stinking or the locomotive that is smoking are deflecting.

Please keep your food scraps off the rails by putting them in your brown bin for separate collection by DSNY instead.