Jessica Jones-Gorman – Staten Island Advance, N.Y.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – After residents voiced their concerns about the construction of a new battery energy storage site (BESS) in a residential section of Manor Heights, launching an online petition to halt its progress, Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella is calling out city officials for allowing a disproportionate amount of the facilities to be erected in the borough.
“New York City is playing with fire allowing these BESS sites to be constructed in residential neighborhoods like these,” Fossella noted during a press conference on Monday morning, standing on the corner of Manor Road and Tillman Street where the site will soon be erected. “[Developers] are building here because the land is cheaper, and we have more of it – and New York City is allowing it. We’re willing to take our fair share, but this goes way beyond fair share.”
Fossella was flanked by several area residents and eclipsed by the noise of at least five utility trucks, which had already begun work at the corner – although it is unclear if that work was related to BESS construction.
“We’re calling for a moratorium on these units until safety protocols are in place,” Fossella continued. “I’ve met with a range of representatives from different regulatory agencies and asked them if these sites should be allowed on residential streets. They’ve all said no.”
Fossella spoke about a BESS proliferation in the borough – more than a dozen sites are already in the works with several more in the pipeline – comparing the unwanted structures to the Fresh Kills Landfill – which received as much as 29,000 tons of trash per day during its peak operation in the 1980s, ultimately closing in March of 2001.
“We sued the city to close the landfill based on that fair share provision,” Fossella said. “We shouldered that burden for too long. And in a way this is reminiscent of Fresh Kills. Why should the borough that only has 5% to 6% of the city’s population have to house all these sites?”
Located across from The Manor Restaurant and A&C Superette and Salumeria, the Manor Heights BESS site is spaced approximately 10 feet away from a block of semi-attached homes. Valerie Vislocky, who lives on Tillman Street, launched a petition last week on Change.org to halt its construction. She has already gathered over 800 signatures.
“As concerned residents of Staten Island, N.Y., we urge you to join us in demanding an immediate halt to the setup and installation of the lithium battery sites (BESS),” stated the petition. “This petition is personal to all of us who call this community our home, because we understand the potential dangers associated with such a facility located so close to our residences. The community was not made aware of this site being built until last minute, and we do not approve.”
Developers and green energy proponents tout the lithium-ion structures — which started popping up in several NYC neighborhoods in 2022 — as quiet neighbors that are a necessary agent for renewable change. They are designed to remove pressure from the city’s stressed grid, using rechargeable batteries to store electrical energy from various sources, and then releasing that stored energy when needed.
But over the past two years, borough residents and local officials have voiced their concerns about the structures. Community Boards voted against their proximity to bakeries and storefronts; elected officials issued a moratorium on BESS applications filed within residential districts. In one instance, an energy developer retracted plans to place batteries in a Bulls Head church parking lot.
Now, in the wake of a toxic, days-long fire at a battery energy storage system in Moss Landing, California, Staten Island residents are once again speaking up.
NineDot Energy, the company which is developing the site, said it does not minimize those concerns, and offered the following statement to clarify which safety measures have already been taken:
“The FDNY has examined the site and has no safety concerns. The city and the International Fire Code require a distance of 10 feet between any battery and a building — which this project abides by.”
NineDot also noted that the FDNY has “examined and tested the BESS technology used on this site [Tesla Megapacks] and determined the technology is safe for use in NYC, in large part because of the several layers of safety redundancy, which prevent so-called ‘thermal runaway’ [i.e., a fire spreading from one cell or module to another].”
Referencing the Change.org petition, the representative noted that “the FDNY’s warnings regarding lithium-ion batteries that are referenced in a petition were with regard to e-mobility devices, a different technology which, sadly, in New York has been completely unregulated until recently.”
The rep also referred to a a 2023 BESS fire in Warwick, New York, stating:
“[It] resulted in no injuries, and the Governor’s Inter-Agency Fire Safety Working Group concluded that there were absolutely no hazardous materials either in the air or in the water as a result. It’s also worth noting that the Warwick site used a battery technology which is not approved for use by the FDNY in New York.”
Still, Tillman Street residents want the site stopped.
“Our community already faces numerous challenges, and adding a potentially hazardous facility right next door only exacerbates these concerns,” the Change.org petition noted. “We believe that safety should always be prioritized over convenience or profit.”
Ben D’Amato, Land Uses chair for Community Board 2, told attendees at the press conference that a meeting will be held on Feb. 18 at the Joan and Allan Bernikow JCC located at 1466 Manor Road to discuss the site. A representative from NineDot Energy is scheduled to attend and field questions.
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