Mercer Street Option Selected Following Input from Local Community
Following a vote of support by Community Board 2 on where to locate its new co-generation facility, New York University today announced the location of the plant will be under Mercer Street between West 3rd Street and West 4th Street. The decision comes after months of conversation and negotiations between NYU and members of the local community, including Councilman Alan Gerson, Community Board 2.
The upgrade and capacity expansion of NYU’s 30-year old co-generation plant will allow the University to significantly reduce pollutants and emissions in the area. It will also significantly increase efficiency and allow NYU to take an additional 23 buildings off of the over-taxed power grid, bringing the total amount of buildings powered by co-generation to 30.
“We are extremely pleased that we were able to work with the community to come to a decision on this,” said Dr. Alicia D. Hurley, NYU Associate Vice President for Government and Community Affairs. “This is a really good project that is beneficial not only to NYU, but the local community and even the world, and it was important to us that the community be a part of the conversation.”
The new co-generation, or Combined Heat and Power (CHP), technologies support the generation of heat and power from the same fuel source that uses thermal energy for heating and cooling. The benefits to NYU’s installation of this new equipment include significant reductions in emissions, increased energy efficiency, and decreased reliance on the already-taxed power grid.
The project will take approximately two years to construct and the approved siting of the plant on Mercer Street will allow all of the equipment to be placed below ground. At the end of the project, NYU will build a vibrant, green public space above the site. The University will launch the process of the re-designed space in the next few months and will rely heavily on community input in that process.
“All of the scientific evidence points to the fact that we are facing a global crisis and it is incumbent upon universities and other large institutions to emerge as leaders in committing to the reduction of our environmental footprint,” continued Dr. Hurley. “This project allows us, in one fell swoop, to dramatically reduce pollution and emissions and our hope is that this will start our conversation with the community to explore other ways to be an environmentally sound community.”
The project is the mainspring of NYU’s “Green Action Plan,” which was announced by Michael Alfano, NYU’s executive vice president, in October with the goal of improving NYU’s environmental footprint and saving energy. At that time, the University announced the purchase of 118,000,000 KWh of wind energy, the largest of any university in the U.S. or any institution in New York City. In January, the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced the nation’s top 25 “Green Power Purchasers” and NYU ranked number thirteen and first among the nation’s universities.
NYU and the community had considered the option of putting the co-generation plant partially under Gould Plaza and partially under Mercer Street, but came to a consensus that Mercer Street would be the most beneficial and least disruptive to the wider community. After multiple months of meetings and discussions, Manhattan Community Board 2 voted unanimously (with seven abstentions) in favor of locating the project under the Mercer Plaza.