March 1, 2012
New York

Plan to put wind turbines atop Freshkills Park to get new push as NYC pursues energy alternatives

By Michael W. Dominowski/Staten Island Advance, www.silive.com 29 February 2012

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The idea of erecting electricity-generating wind turbines atop the former Fresh Kills landfill will get a new push this spring when the New York City Department of Environmental Protection solicits plans for such a project, according to a published report.

The New York Times says that in addition to planting the power-producing pinwheels near the borough’s western shoreline, city planners are moving toward zoning changes that would allow wind turbines up to 55 feet tall to be placed on the rooftops of buildings taller than 100 feet. That would be a step toward realizing an idea Mayor Michael Bloomberg has championed for years.

Meanwhile, plans to build wind turbines in lower New York Harbor, 13 miles off Rockaway, Queens, are being pursued.

A study of wind conditions, concluded in 2007, showed the still-settling garbage mounds of the old landfill, now officially designated Freshkills Park, are marginally suitable as a wind turbine site. The plan nevertheless stalled because of the difficulty and expense of building the towering turbines without disturbing the landfill’s environmentally required cap.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/03/01/plan-to-put-wind-turbines-atop-freshkills-park-to-get-new-push-as-nyc-pursues-energy-alternatives/