New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced, in October, an expansion of the city’s network of public electric vehicle (EV) fast chargers, with the opening of a new, public fast charging station at NYC DOT’s White Plains Road Municipal Parking Field in the Bronx Park East section (2071 White Plains Road). The new fast charging station is in a community where drivers licensed by the Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) are highly concentrated. TLC drivers can sign up for a 15% discount on charging fees.
NYC DOT has installed four fast chargers (including three 50 kW units and one 175kW unit) at this facility, capable of providing most EVs with an 80% charge in as little as 20 minutes. In addition to the four fast chargers, four Level 2 chargers were installed, which can provide most EVs a full charge in six to eight hours.
This station is one of many slated to open over the next year at DOT’s municipal parking lots and garages. Progress to date includes:
- Fast Charging Program:A fast-charging hub, with four fast chargers and four L2 chargers, at the Bensonhurst Municipal Field, located at 1763 86th Street, Brooklyn is expected to open this fall. Three more locations, one in Brooklyn, one in Queens, and one in Staten Island, are also in the pipeline.
- NYPA EVolve Partnership:the New York Power Authority, through a partnership with NYC DOT and with funding from New York State’s EVolve program, has started construction of fast charging stations with multiple fast chargers at NYC DOT’s Bayside, Flushing 2, Rosedale, and Canarsie parking facilities. Construction at four additional sites – Sunnyside, Rockaway Park, Steinway 1, and Brighton Beach – is expected to begin by the end of the year, with up to two more to follow.
- L2 Charging Program:NYC DOT broke ground on 10 new L2 chargers at their Steinway 2 parking facility in Astoria, Queens, 8 L2 chargers at College Point, and 6 at the Bensonhurst #2 lot in Brooklyn. Up to five more L2 sites are scheduled to break ground by the end of the year with more to follow.
The new chargers add to the city’s growing network of public charging stations:
- Queens Borough Hall municipal garage in Queens
- Court Square municipal garage in Queens
- The Delancey/Essex municipal garage in Lower Manhattan
In addition to these hubs, 100 curbside on-street Level 2 chargers have been installed since 2021.
