By Dustin Brown
The New York Power Authority will be asked to address public concern over 11 power generators planned for sites around the city at a series of public hearings organized by the Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee, state Assemblyman Mike Gianaris (D-Astoria) said Monday.
Last week, NYPA representatives tried to hammer out a deal in State Supreme Court with a coalition suing to prevent two of the generators from being installed in Long Island City, while local residents rallied against the generators at a town meeting.
NYPA’s plans to place the two generators in Queens, eight in every other borough but Manhattan and one on Long Island has stirred outcry among local residents and community groups, who say NYPA defied zoning regulations and failed to perform adequate environmental reviews.
“A number of disturbing questions continue to exist regarding NYPA’s proposals,” Gianaris said. “These hearings will finally force NYPA to answer the tough questions it has been avoiding to date.”
Among the generators’ most prominent detractors is Queens Borough President Claire Shulman, who said Tuesday an analysis of the proposed plants reveals NYPA “has made a very poor land use decision that will hurt us for years to come.”
NYPA claims the generators must be installed by June 1 to avert a power crisis this summer.
Silvercup Studios, a television and movie company in Long Island City, leads a coalition of public officials and community groups that filed suit last month to prevent the NYPA from setting two generators at 42-30 Vernon Blvd., adjacent to the Silvercup property.
State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Golia ordered a preliminary injunction Feb. 16, which would require NYPA to halt construction once Silvercup posts a bond, the amount of which will be determined by the court.
Rather than set the bond figure when he met with both parties last week, however, Golia attempted to help them reach a settlement, said Michael Zarin, lead attorney for Silvercup and the other petitioners.
“It has been the position of the petitioners that this is a plant that simply does not belong on the waterfront, and any settlement has to include removing it in due course,” Zarin said.
But Councilman Walter McCaffrey (D-Woodside) predicted NYPA would not agree to remove the power plants once a more permanent solution to the power shortage was found.
“They’ve said all along this is going to be temporary. What did they tell the judge? Not temporary,” McCaffrey said. “It’s a case of lying once, shame on you, lying twice, shame on me.”
The settlement conferences lasted five hours over the course of two days and concluded with both sides agreeing to adjourn the matter until March 5, said Mitchell Kaufman, Golia’s law secretary. The judge will set the bond on that date if an agreement is not reached by then.
Among the papers submitted to the court was an affidavit by the Giuliani administration requesting that the bond be set at $25 million.
A bond of that size would likely allow construction to continue unimpeded since Silvercup already has refused to pay a bond of $5 million to halt construction when Golia issued a temporary restraining order Feb. 1.
“It’s nonsense. It’s ridiculous,” McCaffrey said. “The mayor should know better than that.”
The list of petitioners suing the NYPA reads like a Who’s Who of local political officials, including McCaffrey, Gianaris, U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights), state Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan (D-Ridgewood), and state Sen. George Onorato (D-Long Island City).
Hours after the discussions ended last Thursday, 60 community residents met in the gymnasium at the Jacob A. Riis Settlement Community Center in Queensbridge Houses to discuss possible responses to the generators. Queensbridge, largest public housing project in the country, is located across the street from the Vernon Ave. site.
Although snow cut down the guest list, which was to include most of the public officials named in the suit, McCaffrey, Community Board 2 Chairman Joseph Conley, and Deputy Borough President Peter Magnani spoke to the crowd and affirmed their commitment to fighting the plants.
“Silvercup obviously has a significant financial investment here,” McCaffrey said. “The rest of the community has a stake that is substantially different — that’s our children, our senior citizens. We have for years known that western Queens is known as Asthma Alley. We cannot have the health and safety of our community put in jeopardy by the power plants.”
Residents complained that the area now harbors some of the worst pollution in the city, which they attribute to the power plants already lining the shore, in addition to heavy bridge and tunnel traffic. According to the suit, air quality in the Astoria/Long Island City area was considered “unhealthful” one out of every three days in 1999 and “hazardous” more than once a week.
“I have four children. Three of my children have asthma — not light asthma but chronic asthma,” said Queensbridge resident Hazel Johnson. “This is a smokestack we’re living in already.”
Although the Vernon Blvd. site is located within Community Board 1, pollution concerns drew supporters from bordering neighborhoods such as Woodside, Sunnyside and Hunters Point in Community Board 2.
“Why is Community Board 2 here? We happen to share something — bad air,” Conley said. “They talk about two smokestacks, but you can’t afford one. You can’t afford half a smokestack.”
The Assembly hearings will begin at 10:30 a.m. on March 15 at 250 Broadway in Manhattan. Anyone interested in testifying can call 718-545-3889.
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154
