City Council passes bill requiring cruises to connect to shore power when idling

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The city council passed legislation that requires cruises to plug into shore power when docking in the city rather than continuing to burn diesel in a unanimous vote Thursday,

Brooklyn Councilwoman Alexa Aviles co-sponsored the bill. 

Aviles represents Red Hook, home of the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, the first and only cruise terminal on the East Coast with shore power connectivity. 

While most cruise ships should have the ability to connect to shore power, Aviles said the city is having conversations with ships unable to ensure compliance.

"Of course, we feel like this should have been fixed a long time ago. And now there is critical urgency around fixing the jib so that in fact it will plug in, and the ships will be able to turn off their diesel engines," Aviles said.

The legislation also addresses traffic coming from the Brooklyn terminal and the impact that it has on Red Hook, where there is one way in and one way out.

Susan Povich is Chairperson of the Red Hook Business Alliance and owner of the Red Hook Lobster Pound.

"The amount of traffic that comes into our neighborhood blocks off our tiny little peninsula from other tourists and guests and even employees from arriving here," Povich said.

Povich said summers are the worst and that she and her neighbors have been trying to have the terminal traffic mitigation and air quality concerns addressed for 20 years. 

She shared that they weren't done fighting.