MTA plugged in to expanding electric bus fl eet
BY MARK HALLUM
The Metropolitan Transportation
Authority’s purchase from last year
of 45 zero emissions buses will be
increased to 60 as the agency’s $55 billion
capital plan regains momentum after a year
in hibernation due to COVID-19.
At Pier 83 on the West Side Tuesday,
MTA Chief Development Offi cer Janno
Lieber said this brings the agency closer
to meeting its goal of a full zero emissions
fl eet by 2040 and is four times the size of
their last procurement of environmentally
friendly buses.
But the needs of their new fl eet will also
require additional work, which is where a
new overhead charger comes into play at
Pier 83.
“As we have learned over the past four
years, operating these buses required
signifi cant power and infrastructure additions.
To that end, the MTA has fi nalized
a $39 million deal with the New York
Power Authority to install more than 50
of these overhead electric charges at fi ve
locations citywide,” Lieber said. “We’re not
just buying the buses, we’re creating the
A zero-emissions bus on the M60 route in January 2020.
infrastructure that enables them to operate
and to be effective.”
Construction of these charging stations
is expected to begin in the fall are expected
to be completed within a year.
With the addition of 60 buses, however,
the MTA still has a long way to go before
reaching the goal laid out in their 2020-
2024 capital plan to have 6,000 buses of
this kind before the end of the decade, and
PHOTO COURTESY OF MTA/MARC HERMAN
construction of the charges is not expected
to be completed until the end of 2022.
The majority of the buses in the new fl eet
will be added in 2028, according to MTA
Bus Company President Craig Cipriano.
“In New York City, most of our bus depots
are located in low to moderate income
communities and transit bus routes run
disproportionately through these neighborhoods.
Conversion to an all electric fl eet
will help to signifi cantly improve air quality
and public health by reducing health outcomes
like asthma,” Cipriano said.
While the New York Power Authority
will be providing the charging infrastructure
to charge the fl eet, Con Edison is
expected to provide the electricity.
The 50 charging stations will be located
in four depots throughout the city, according
to the MTA, and one will be located
on the street.
While the pandemic placed the agency’s
$55 billion plan on hold due to fi nancial
devastation, The American Rescue Plan
and other federal assistance gave the MTA
the infusion it needed to pick up the pieces.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer
also plans to deliver on $73 billion for
green transit improvements through his
“Green New Wheel” plan.
The MTA began a pilot program for its
zero emissions fl eet in January 2020, in
which an all-electric M60 bus would run
its usual route between Harlem at 125th
Street and LaGuardia Airport. As the
longest route in the entire city at about 20
miles, this route was expected to put the
technology through a rigorous test.
DSNY unveils sculpture in honor of sanitation
workers who lost their lives to COVID-19
BY DEAN MOSES
Lost but not forgotten, the Sanitation
Department will continue to honor
and remember their essential workers
who perished from COVID-19 with a
heartfelt memorial unveiled Thursday.
The morning of May 20 was rife with
emotion for those among “New York’s
Strongest.” The Sanitation Department
never wavered during the COVID-19 pandemic,
with its workers out in the streets
collecting trash, sweeping roadways and
plowing snow as most everyone else socially
distanced and stayed home.
Unfortunately, that also meant that some
of these essential employees succumbed to
the deadly virus.
The NYC Department of Sanitation unveiled
the memorial Thursday during a special
memorial ceremony outside its Spring
Street Salt Shed in Lower Manhattan. The
sculpture, entitled “Forever Strongest,”
is intended to encapsulate the steadfast
dedication of their departed colleagues
through the material that commemorates
their work.
“It’s forged in steel and is a symbol of our
loved one’s strength and fortitude and will
continue to serve as an enduring reminder
DSNY Commissioner Edward Grayson looks upon the sculpture.
of their patriotic service to this city and our
country,” DSNY Commissioner Edward
Grayson said.
In addition to the unveiling, the event also
looked to remember the nine confi rmed
COVID-19 fatalities DSNY suffered. Both
coworkers and family members gathered
to pay their respects. Many in attendance
were overcome with emotion, sobbing into
tissues at their great loss.
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
As an additional thanks, family members
were asked to step up to the podium where
they were presented with medals.
“A facility like this may seem like an
unusual location for an event. We store salt
across the city, but the storage is special.
Often, we just call it a salt shed,” said DSNY
Investigator/Trainer Offi ce of Equity, Diversity
and Inclusion Evelyn Nieves-Moscol,
describing the site as a beautiful piece of
architecture, adding, “It’s meaningful that
we are honoring all of our colleagues here
because earlier this year we unexpectedly lost
Michael Friedlander, who spent his entire
career as an architect for DSNY. His work
has shaped our city, and this is his legacy.”
Approximately 20% of DSNY’s staff
wound up testing positive for COVID-19
since March 2020, and while the vaccine
rollout has provided reassurance for those
still on the job, Grayson also dedicated the
hulking sculpture to those who died before
testing was readily available.
The statue features a column, vessel,
shroud, and a bird sitting upon a rebarreinforced
concrete and was created by
Bernard Klevickas, an iron shop worker
and machinist. The artist chose to use steel
since it represented durability and versatility,
refl ecting the lives cut short, while the
dove is seen providing a shroud of protection
on the lost loved one.
“This pandemic has touched virtually
every part of this department and every
part of New York City. Nearly 2,000 of
our colleagues have tested positive for the
virus, and as we mourn nine colleagues
here today, we also remember the others we
lost early on when testing was not readily
available,” Grayson said.
20 May 27, 2021 Schneps Media