Electric cars parked outside the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association headquarters in Whitestone on Tuesday, Oct. 19.
Inset: Scott Shaw, president and CEO of Lincoln Technical Institute, speaks at the Electric Vehicle Ride and Drive event. Photos by Paul Frangipane
Electric Vehicle Ride and Drive event
highlights the future of transportation
BY PAUL FRANGIPANE
The Greater New York Automobile
Dealers Association
(GNYADA) hosted a ride and
drive event on Tuesday, Oct.
19, in Whitestone, to showcase
some of the latest electric cars
and talk about the future of
transportation.
The event, which took place
at 15-30 Petracca Pl., aimed to
highlight the opportunity for
tech jobs, infrastructure investment
and pollution reduction
that electric cars will bring.
GNYADA President Mark
Schienberg talked about hosting
their first electric vehicle
ride and drive at the Javits
Center eight years ago.
“It’s easy to say, and I feel
confident to say, that dealers
are all-in on electric vehicles,”
Schienberg said. “We’ve made
a huge, huge investment on it
and it’s exciting.”
Schienberg mentioned that
New York auto show was the
first and largest auto show in
North America, and the first
vehicles shown at old Madison
Square Garden were electric
vehicles and steam-powered.
“We are coming in full
circle now with electrification
that’s really happening
and it’s exciting to see that,”
Schienberg said. “There really
hasn’t been a more profound
time and change in transportation
maybe since the late
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.2 COM | OCT. 29 - NOV. 4, 2021
1800s, when there was this
change over from transportation
of a horse and buggy to a
motorized vehicle. This is going
to be the next big revolution
in car transportation.”
The event showcased more
than two dozen of the latest
electric cars supplied by local
franchised car dealers. The
cars were tested on close track
in their parking lot.
There are 55 electric models
in showrooms in greater
New York, with 25 models
coming next year.
There are nearly 50,000
public charging stations in
the U.S., with a total of 109,034
ports and more than 1 million
electric vehicles on the road in
the country.
New York is planning to
ban the sale of gas-powered
cars by 2035, as Gov. Kathy
Hochul signed a bill amending
the state’s environmental conservation
after it passed the
state’s Senate and Assembly in
September.
Assembly Speaker Carl
Heastie attended the event,
and spoke about the benefits of
electric cars.
“Anything we can do to
limit the carbon emissions
that are coming into our atmosphere
I think is a great
thing to do for our future generations,”
said Heastie, adding
that he owns a 330e Hybrid
BMW. “One of the things we
do have to do if we’re asking
everybody to make the personal
investment is ask the
corporations and the dealers
to make the business investment.
We need the infrastructure
in order to charge up
these cars.”
Heastie added that they’re
in the process of turning over
the Assembly’s fleet of vehicles
to electric and hybrid.
“I just want to show my
personal and the Assembly’s
position on doing our share
and our part on improving the
environment, and also making
sure that we lead the way
if we’re asking people to save
this planet for future generations,”
Heastie said.
BAYSIDE TIMES (USPS#025088) is published weekly by Queens CNG LLC, 41-02 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY.11361, (718) 229-0300. The entire contents of this publication are copyright 2021. All rights reserved. The newspaper will
not be liable for errors appearing in any advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Periodicals postage paid at Flushing, N.Y. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Bayside Times C/O Queens CNG
LLC. 41-02 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, N.Y. 11361.