Opinion

Chris & Billy’s trash talk

Talk about your food fights. Over the past few days Chris Quinn and Bill Thompson have been going at it over an issue that hasn’t been much in the headlines: the city’s trash policy.

What’s got the two Democratic mayoral candidates so hot and bothered is the planned location of a waste-transfer station at East 91st Street on the Upper East Side. Quinn supports it. Thompson opposes it.

In defending her position, the white City Council speaker accused her foes here of “environmental racism.” Thompson, who’s supporting the Upper East Siders, said he took umbrage as a black man — and demanded an apology.

In this battle it helps to step back and look at the history. In 2006, after decades of battles over the siting of trash and recycling centers, the city adopted a five-borough plan. It was a response to charges that poorer, more minority-populated neighborhoods bore the brunt of either “hosting” the centers or dealing with heavy sanitation trucks routed through them. To “share the pain,” Quinn supported the plan, even in the face of strong opposition from her own Manhattan constituency.

The East 91st Street site is part of this plan. And rhetoric about racism aside, Quinn’s got the basics right: If the waste-transfer station is moved from East 91st, it will probably go to a neighborhood less affluent and less politically connected.

The larger point is mayors have to deal with issues like waste-transfer stations every day. They have to be dealt with on a citywide basis, which inevitably means some people will not be happy. Good for Quinn for refusing to pander.