DSNY Central Repair Garage Open House 10-17-15 (Photos)

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Yesterday, I attending the NYC DSNY (Department Of Sanitation NY) open house at their Central Maintenance Garage in Woodside, Queens. DSNY is responsible for all residential garbage and recycling collection, street cleaning, derelict vehicle removal, vacant lot cleanup, and snow removal citywide.

The facility, over 900,000 square feet, is MASSIVE. It employs over 1,000 people in 76 different trade unions. It is the largest municipal repair facility in the United States. The over 80 local DSNY District bases do the preventative maintenance and low level repairs. The Central Maintenance Garage does all the heavy and specialty repair and upgrades of all types of equipment, which includes 2,230 collection trucks, 275 specialized collection trucks, 450 street sweepers, 365 salt and sand spreaders, 300 front end loaders, and over 2000 support vehicles. The facility also repairs and maintains heavy vehicles for other city departments, including DEP.

They have the capability of fabricating just about anything needed for a vehicle in house. They rebuild engines and transmissions, build and repair hydraulic systems and components, and refurbish seats, to name some of the work. A full machine shop and iron shop allows them to build any type of part out of metal. Numerous other specialty shops fabricate, rebuild, repair, and refurbish all the components of the various vehicles in the fleet. This allows them to repair vehicles quickly and properly and minimize downtime.

The facility also is responsible for developing specifications and procurement of new vehicles.

The facility includes a state of the art Class 8 Vehicle Lab, which does research and development for DSNY vehicles, primarily developing and testing technology that makes the fleet greener and more fuel efficient, including lowering emissions. It is one of only 3 facilities in the US of it's type. A very large dynometer lab allows them to evaluate, simulate, and develop truck technologies while the wheels are turning.

Also included in this facility is the Bureau Of Building Maintenance, which is responsible for maintenance and repair of over 160 DSNY facilities citywide, as well as refurbishment of facilities. Numerous shops include a carpentry shop, which makes furniture, desks, work benches, platforms, and other items for DSNY facilities. Other shops support the plumbers, electricians, steam fitters, sheet metal workers, carpenters, welders, masons, and other skilled trades that work on the various different facilities and infrastructure, including garages and transfer stations.

In the last photo, you'll notice a big box mounted on the front of the vehicle, attached to the snowplow hook. This is a generator run off the hydraulic system of the garbage truck. It was developed in house, and it is designed for situations like Hurricane Sandy, and can generate enough electricity to power DSNY District Garages.

I've only scratched the surface on what goes on under the roof of this facility. It is amazing to see all that goes on "behind the scenes" to make sure DSNY can perform its missions each and every day. Special thanks to the DSNY staff for a tour of this awesome place.