You are reading

Rep. Maloney Calls on the State to Shut Down Ravenswood Power Plant Smokestack

Ravenswood Generating Station (Rise Light & Power)

Sept. 27, 2021 By Allie Griffin

Congress Member Carolyn Maloney is calling on state officials to shut down a smokestack at a Long Island City power plant that is the biggest polluting plant in New York.

Maloney joined residents of the Queensbridge Houses Saturday to renew their call for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to close down the smokestack known as Big Allis at the Ravenswood Generating Station.

Maloney penned a letter to the agency Friday demanding it shut down the Big Allis, the largest smokestack at the power plant which is located across from the Queensbridge Houses.

She said the operating company of Big Allis, Rise Light & Power, submitted a plan earlier this year to replace the polluting plant with a renewable energy alternative, but it hasn’t been approved by the state.

Instead, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced this week two green energy infrastructure projects to power the city and neither included a plan to shut down Big Allis.

“While the approved plans provide some climate benefits, I am extremely disappointed that neither of these projects contain a promise to shut down ‘Big Allis,'” Maloney wrote in the letter.

Maloney said she was upset that the state chose not to retire the smokestack given its detrimental effects on the surrounding community, such as Queensbridge. The area and western Queens more generally is often called “Asthma Alley” due to its high rates of residents with asthma and other respiratory conditions.

“Our communities and our environment cannot afford to pass up this opportunity to address the
dangers of ‘Big Allis,'” Maloney wrote. “It is absolutely unthinkable that people are dying in ‘Asthma Alley,’ and existing proposals that could fix this were not selected.”

Queensbridge tenant leaders said they will “no longer tolerate the environmental injustice” they face living next to the plant.

“Power plant pollution has affected our lives and wellness over years,” said Stephanie Chauncey, Queensbridge Residents Association, PSA9 President. “… Big Allis must come down. Together we will fight until the transition is done – our families’ lives depend on this transition.”

Rise Light & Power’s proposal would make all outputs from the Ravenswood Generating Station renewable by 2026.

“Our constituents deserve clean air, and this Board can help deliver it,” Maloney wrote. “We cannot afford anything less.”

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

The best pumpkin picking patches near New York City

Sep. 7, 2024 By Barbara Russo, Kaitlyn Riggio and New York Family

October is almost here which means it’s that time again to go pumpkin picking. Head to one of these pumpkin picking farms in and near New York City to pick from a variety of gourds, munchkins, and other pumpkins.

South Richmond Hill senior killed after fire breaks out in his illegal basement apartment on Thursday afternoon

A 72-year-old man was killed after a fire engulfed his illegal basement apartment in South Richmond Hill on Thursday afternoon.

The FDNY received a call just after 5 p.m. of a house fire at 94-14 132nd St. Firefighters confirmed the blaze broke out in the basement. The FDNY dispatched 12 units and 60 firefighters and EMS personnel to the scene. Paramedics rescued the 72-year-old victim, and EMS rushed him to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition. He succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead a short while later.

Woman allegedly choked in Queensboro Hill by robber who snatched her bag containing thousands in cash: NYPD

Police from the 109th Precinct in Flushing are looking for a strangler who robbed a 63-year-old woman in Queensboro Hill on the night of Thursday, Aug. 29.

The victim was walking on a residential block near the intersection of Frame Place and Maple Avenue just before midnight, when a stranger approached her and began to choke her. The perpetrator snatched her bag, which contained $6,000 in cash, her wallet and an iPhone.