Turf Stank

Downtown residents are celebrating a change in greenery around Fahrenheit, an East Village condominium located on the corner of Island and Tenth Avenue.

After being installed approximately three years ago, fake turf placed on the sidewalk around the mid-rise has been the cause of ire and concern for residents — not for being green but for smelling bad. On Thursday, August 26, work crews put the finishing touches on a sidewalk overhaul that included the turf's replacement and newly planted bushes.

The building’s HOA initiated the project after years of receiving complaints from homeowners who said that the constant dog traffic and lack of maintenance on the turf resulted in a smelly sidewalk area.

“Three years ago, someone had the bright idea to install fake turf on the sidewalk because it would never need to be watered,” recalled a downtown resident. “Their reasoning was — the grass that was previously there always turned brown from all the pet traffic. They never realized that the fake grass would actually be worse because all the dog pee stunk up the place.”

Business owners who occupied storefronts at the ground level of the building also witnessed the effects of the stinky turf. “The smelly turf attracted a lot of flies and gnats, especially lately since it’s been so hot,” explained a business owner. “Some days, it gets so bad that customers would complain of the smell.”