LSK Turkey Factory

We have been advising the LSK Turkey Factory at Noble Avenue in the Bronx ever since local residents have protested odors emanating from the facility. We do sympathize with local residents but the issue raises a number of important questions.

First of all, under the city’s code for odor, enforced by the DEP, there is a zero tolerance calculation for enforcement. What his means is that, in theory, any odor could be grounds for shutting a business down, even your local McDonald’s, pizzeria or bakery. When such a standard exists, however, there is no standard at all and any enforcement action, usually initiated by some disgruntled local residents, is based on political pressure. It must there be, by its very nature, capricious.

In addition, what the LSK situation also highlights is the tenuousness of many of the city’s M-1 districts that abut residential areas. As these areas grow, residents are unwilling to tolerate a manufacturing use in their midst and pressure is brought to bear to regulate the use out of existence.