New Rochelle company accuses city of hazmat risk at Thruway overpass

NOTE: This story was updated July 23, 2021 with comments from Ashby Fuel Corp.’s attorney.

The city of New Rochelle is engaged in an “abnormally dangerous activity,” a company claims, in moving around hazardous materials under a New England Thruway overpass near the downtown.

Starr Tent and Event Group accused the city and Ashby Fuel Corp. of risking harm to others, in a lawsuit filed July 8 in Westchester Supreme Court.

The hazardous materials pose “a health and safety risk to Starr Tent employees, the residents of New Rochelle, and possibly all drivers on the Thruway that drive over this portion of the Thruway,” the complaint states.

“This case is total baloney,” Ashby’s attorney, Anthony G. Piscionere said. “There is nothing hazardous there.”

City spokeswoman Kathy Gilwit declined to offer a response to the allegations, citing a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.

Starr leases party tents to wealthy individuals and for events such as the Tribeca Film Festival. It leases a warehouse at 75 Beechwood Ave., near the city’s waste transfer station at 85 Beechwood and Ashby’s base at 99 Beechwood.

Starr has an easement from the New York State Thruway Authority to use property under the highway for access to the warehouse. Ashby has a permit from the authority to use a portion of the land, according to the complaint, but not for storing hazardous materials.

Ashby allegedly stores “oil trucks, rusted oil tanks, and other dangerous oil and construction debris” under the highway overpass and next to the driveway that leads to Starr’s warehouse.

Piscionere said the Thruway Authority has leased the site to Ashby for 18 years, knowing that the trucks are kept under the busiest highway on the East Coast. The trucks are empty and used as spares for Ashby’s fleet, he said, and they are inspected at least once a year.

The city has filed an eminent domain action to take the warehouse that Starr leases and use the property for a public works project. In February, the city began renovating the site for a waste transfer station.

The city should have directed Ashby to remove hazardous materials from the site, Starr claims, but instead forced Ashby to move its trucks and materials next to Starr’s building, where they emit oil, noxious fumes and dust that pose a risk to anyone nearby and pose a fire hazard.

The equipment and materials allegedly block Starr from loading and unloading trucks, threaten to shut down the tent rental business and put 24 employees out of work.

But Piscionere said the Thruway Authority allowed Ashby to relocate the trucks next to Starr’s building, where Starr is trespassing. And Starr, he said, stores propane tanks near their building that, if ignited, could “blow up like a bomb.”

Starr accuses the city and Ashby of negligence, trespass and creating a nuisance. It has asked the court to order them not to store hazardous materials next to it’s building and to remediate the alleged hazards.

Starr is represented by Nassau County attorney Andrew Kazin.