Re: 'An ominous presence': New York City bill aims to restrict cruise ship pollution

On Thu, 29 Feb 2024 09:39:07 -0000 (UTC), useapen
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Efforts to regulate how cruise ships operate in New York City waterways 
>have locals speaking out about the negative effects the vessels have had 
>on their communities – and their health.
>
>More than 200 cruise ships dock in New York each year, bringing an 
>estimated 1.3 million passengers and $420m in tourism spending to the 
>city. But the industry takes an environmental toll: just one cruise ship 
>docked for a day at port can emit diesel exhaust equivalent to 34,400 
>idling trucks.
>
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>“I could literally see the black smoke for the entire day coming out of 
>the funnels,” said Adam Armstrong, a community activist who for years 
>lived steps away from the Brooklyn cruise ship terminal, in Red Hook. “It 
>was just an ominous presence.”
>
>A new bill in the city council would crack down on diesel-powered luxury 
>liners, requiring them to connect to the city’s power grid when docked, 
>thus lowering their emissions. The bill would also tackle traffic, noise 
>and pollution related to disembarking passengers. If passed, New York 
>would become the first city on the east coast to pass such an ordinance.
>
>“As an environmental justice community, we’re really looking seriously at 
>all the noxious infrastructure and pollutants in the air,” said the 
>councilmember Alexa Avilés. Avilés, whose district includes Red Hook, 
>introduced the bill in February with the councilmember Erik Bottcher.
>
>“We’re seeing a community that is really frustrated with how long it has 
>taken [to adopt] offshore power,” said Aviles. “They’re seeing a situation 
>that’s getting worse, not getting better.”
>
>The move comes nearly a year after one of the world’s largest cruise 
>ships, the 5,600-passenger MSC Meraviglia, started docking in Brooklyn. 
>Residents soon complained of traffic congestion related to the nearly 600 
>vehicles that arrived to transport passengers to destinations in the city.
>
>“My business, one of the busiest restaurants in Red Hook, could not open 
>on time on numerous occasions when Meraviglia was docked because our 
>employees could not get to work,” said Susan Povich, the owner of Red Hook 
>Lobster Pound and chair of the Red Hook Business Alliance, at a rally in 
>support of the bill. “We have one street in and one street out.” She added 
>that few apparent passengers visited her business, despite its proximity 
>to the dock.
>
>In 2017, Brooklyn became the first terminal on the east coast to operate 
>plug-in stations for ships at dock, costing the city $21m. By plugging 
>into the local electricity grid at the terminal, ships can keep running 
>without burning their diesel-powered engines. But not all vessels connect 
>to shore power – only 40% of cruise ships in service are equipped to plug 
>in to shore power, according to an industry group.
>
>Though Meraviglia is shore power-equipped, its connector is too far out to 
>reach the stationary plug-in at the Brooklyn terminal – arguably, due to 
>its size.
>
>A representative for the Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), the 
>non-profit that runs the cruise terminals, said that new long-term 
>agreements with three major cruise operators (which account for 85% of the 
>city’s cruise traffic) require ships docking at the Manhattan and Brooklyn 
>terminals to connect to shore power “when feasible” and involve traffic 
>mitigation plans.
>
>They also said they were procuring a mobile jib that would allow more 
>ships to connect at the Brooklyn cruise terminal, adding “NYCEDC is deeply 
>committed to ensuring that the industry has an environmentally sound and 
>sustainable future in New York, and we will continue engaging with our 
>elected official partners and local community members to gather their 
>input on sustainability measures, traffic mitigation and community 
>benefits.”
>
>Avilés said the EDC had expressed support for the legislation “in 
>principle” but wanted to see what that looks like in practice. “They need 
>to get [shore power] in Brooklyn 100% functional at all times because 
>they’ve been dragging their feet on repairing it for a number of years,” 
>she said.
>
>In addition to the cruise ship terminal, Red Hook, an industrial 
>neighborhood with one of the city’s largest public housing complexes, has 
>gained three Amazon last-mile warehouses since 2021. The sites bring 
>convoys of delivery trucks to narrow and predominantly one-way streets. 
>Last year, Guardian reporting found that more than 1,200 trucks and vans 
>pass through a single street over the course of a day.
>
>Red Hook has one of the highest rates of asthma-related emergency visits 
>in New York City.
>
>“Pollution from cruise ships, along with the trucks and last-mile 
>facilities is just one part of a compounding issue of the huge number of 
>pollutants in Red Hook,” said Avilés. “The community is tired of being 
>dumped on as a last resort.”
>
>https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/27/new-york-city-cruise-ship-
>pollution-bill


How many KVA does a decent sized cruise ship need? Some are a small
city. Must be a heluva plug.