Sunset Park cries foul after smell causes school evacuation
On Friday, December 5, over 60 students and adults from P.S. 24, 427 38th Street, were evacuated following numerous complaints of a potentially dangerous and putrid odor spreading throughout the area.
According to Councilmember Carlos Menchaca, both the NYPD and FDNY immediately treated both children and adults. After the evaluation, no one required hospital attention. The odor was said to have originated from the Jackie Gleason MTA Bus Depot at Fifth Avenue and 36th Street.
“Every month, the bus depot undertakes an oil separation process, where they separate oily water from the waste water that is used to clean the buses,” said Menchaca. “This process is designed to ensure that no oil enters our sewer systems. Early indications suggest that the fumes were from that process, and the MTA halted their work immediately after receiving word from the FDNY.”