106th Cop Returns to Work After Shock by Stephen Geffon - Queens Chronicle

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A 106th Precinct police officer who received an electric shock that knocked him to the ground and sent him to the hospital is now back on his feet.

The officer, who police declined to identify, returned to work last week, theysaid.

When the officer opened the door to the Sky Watch tower at Liberty Avenue and 133rd Street at 3:40 p.m. on Jan. 27, he received a jolt of electricity that caused him to fall, police said. An NYPD spokesperson said the officer was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where doctors determined he had fractured his left shoulder.

Sky Watch towers are elevated observation booths police use across the city.

A Con Edison spokesperson said the company could not determine what caused the electrical surge. Company technicians checked the Sky Watch tower’s electrical system after the Jan. 27 incident and found it to be working properly with no stray voltage, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson noted the company ordered the power disconnected as a precautionary measure.

When a Chronicle reporter checked for the tower at Liberty Avenue location last Friday, he found it was no longer there. The NYPD said it was put out of service.

The tower was part of a crime deterrent program initiated by the NYPD in mid-2007, police officials said.

Police said officers in the observation booth atop the two-story towers have a line of vision that gives them the ability to continually monitor conditions in a large area. Atop the booths are digital cameras that record images 24 hours a day, even when the perch is not manned.

The towers, which cost $90,000 each, are also equipped with high-powered spotlights that can illuminate the area when needed.

Going Green in Queens 2011 - March 26th at Al Oerter Recreation Center

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What: Going Green in Queens

When: Saturday March 26th

Time: 10am - 3:30pm

Where: Al Oerter Recreation Center

Address: 131-40 Fowler Avenue - Flushing, NY

Map:

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Snow Keeps Elderly Wife Out Of Contact With Hospitalized Husband In Ozone Park Queens - CBS New York

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One Queens neighborhood was not only still buried in knee-deep snow drifts Wednesday, but had lost phone service because of phone lines toppled by the wind, Derricke Dennis reports.

Arlene Krasowsky, 69, of Ozone Park was afraid of what could happen. Her husband’s in the hospital. “And if it wasn’t for a neighbor with a cell phone, I got no way to call for help in here,” she said. “If something happens to my husband, what’ll happen?”

On Wednesday, the area saw its first plow in three days. Con Ed arrived on the scene to fix one set of lines, and Verizon came to work on another set.

Then there’s a sewer truck, dispatched on a broken water main, that ended up stranded in the snow.

Resident Philip Russo doesn’t even want to talk about it. “Why am I gonna talk to you?” he joked with Dennis. “What are you do for me? You clean?”

Russo’s in bad health and so is his wife Frances. They said they’re like prisoners.

“I can’t go out unless its completely clear, because God forbid I slip and fall, and I’m ruined for my life,” she said.

Krasowsky, however, wants to go out, and was asking anyone she can for help. She feared she’ll be out of reach, or stranded in the snow, if anything happens to her husband. “The TV stations are a Godsend, because nobody will move without you. Nobody will move without you because they won’t listen to me.”

CB 10 Talks OTB in Year-end Meeting by Stephen Geffon - Queens Chronicle

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Community Board 10 held its last meeting of the year on Dec. 2 in South Ozone Park and wrapped up business in 33 minutes, a record, according to Chairwoman Betty Braton.

Board members heard from state Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) who discussed his view on the state bailing out the cash-strapped New York City Off-Track Betting Corp.

He said the days of writing a blank check to bail out any entity at this point has to be considered very cautiously. He added that although he is very concerned about 1,000 people losing their jobs at city OTBs centers if it closes, he is hopeful that something can be worked out in Albany to keep it open.

“Hopefully we can save these jobs and hopefully work out an arrangement, but I am not prepared to make Medicaid cuts and cuts to services for our seniors or youth or anyone just to bail out the OTB,” he said.

The Senate on Tuesday, however, rejected the OTB rescue plan, and its doors may shut before the end of the year.

In other business, CB 10 Budget Committee Chairman Sean McCabe reported that although community boards have been exempted from the newest citywide budget cuts, they were recently informed that they would not receive the additional $8,000 each that was promised to them by Mayor Bloomberg in November.

Braton said that the board had received a notice of application for a liquor license filed with the state Liquor Authority by the Ballroom Company, Inc. seeking to open a billiards parlor at 98-07 Liberty Ave. in Ozone Park, site of the former Chemistry Lounge, which was closed for allegedly violating state liquor laws. It was also the site of alleged numerous violent altercations.

District Manager Karyn Petersen reported that Con Edison residential electric customers in one-to-four family homes are eligible for cash incentives for recycling their old, energy-wasting, “second” refrigerator. The utility will remove regular-sized, extra refrigerators, which are often kept in garages and basements, at no charge.

The utility will also collect and recycle old, inefficient window or wall air conditioners. Con Edison customers will receive $30 for second refrigerators, $35 for window air conditioners and $100 for wall air conditioning units. Appliances must be in working condition in order to be picked-up and recycled. For more information, call 1 (800) 430-9505.

Braton informed the audience that Genting New York, which will be operating a casino at Aqueduct Race Track, now has a website for job opportunities and other information, www.rwnewyork.com. 

Con Edison Blocks State-Supported Energy Saving Program By Jasmin K. Williams - Special to the AmNews

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Angry homeowners and community leaders gathered in front of the Con Edison building at 4 Irving Plaza in Manhattan for a press conference and to protest the utility company’s efforts to thwart the Green Jobs/Green NY program, a new initiative that will finance energy saving retrofits for low- and moderate-income homeowners. The program will also create 60,000 green jobs.The Green Jobs/Green NY bill was passed in 2009.

The gathering was organized by Sustainable South Bronx, Laborers Local 10, the Hunger Action Network, Envirolution and New York Communities for Change and the Center for Working Families.

Green Jobs/Green NY is a residential energy efficiency program that will allow homeowners access to retrofits that will decrease energy bills. This program allows a homeowner to pay back the cost of the retrofit with the funds that they save.

“Homeowners would get an audit, determining what type of work would be necessary to properly insulate the home. The cost of the work, covered upfront by the program, would then be paid back as part of the homeowner’s utility bill.

“The costs are calibrated so that there’s no increase in monthly utility payments as long as the energy usage behavior remains the same. Homeowners will see a decrease in their energy bill once the retrofit takes place and more so when the loan is paid off,” said Chloe Tribich from the Center for Working Families.

What makes this different from other such programs is that the funds come from private capital. The government has $112 million allotted for such green initiative programs. Private sources have also donated money to this program, which will also create green jobs. Lenders, who normally would not lend to small businesses or homeowners who don’t meet income requirements or who have shaky credit, invest
in a fund that pools many small loans. This makes funds available to those who would not normally qualify for them.

Con Edison’s push back is that accommodating the program would require them to update and recode their billing system to include the loan line item. They are additionally concerned that this might cause homeowners not to pay their bill on time, but the program is already calibrated in a way that no increased monthly cost is incurred. The bill will decrease once the retrofits are in place, protesters claim, adding that this type of “one-bill” financing is the safest financial option for homeowners who need these energy saving options but who can’t get a traditional loan to cover the cost.

Additional info: Legislation

• Green Jobs - Green NY Bill
• Amendment

Halliburton's Murky Name Resurfaces After Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill by Denis Hamill - NY Daily News

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Some things never change.

When Al Gaudelli, noted attorney and former Queens homicide prosecutor, first read about the disastrous oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, one word popped out of the spreading dark sea of words:

Halliburton.

Halliburton is one of the world's largest oil-field services corporations. And, as we all know, the odious company that made Dick Cheney super rich. The same company that received exclusive no-bid government contracts for almost everything involving oil in the invasion of Iraq.

But Gaudelli wasn't thinking about Dick Cheney or the untold billions Halliburton made from Iraq.

He was reading the part of a newspaper story that said Halliburton might be in for some legal problems in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill because it was in charge of "cementing" on the rig.

"I flashed back to Aug. 18, 1973, when I was the chief homicide prosecutor in the Queens DA's office," says Gaudelli. "At the time Con Ed was building a water intake facility at 20th Ave. and 31st St. in Long Island City to suck water from the East River into coal turbines. A watertight cofferdam that was constructed to build the facility had collapsed. Two sandhogs, fathers of young children, died down there. One of the companies working on that cofferdam was Ebasco Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Halliburton."

Like all New Yorkers, Gaudelli was saddened by the deaths of those two workers - Vincent Calzolaio, father of one, with a second kid on the way, and Donato Callaro, father of six.

"Then NYPD Sgt. Robert Byrne, a Harbor Patrol cop for 15 years back then, who knew that river better than anyone, called me up and said he'd watched them construct that cofferdam and that it wasn't kosher," says Gaudelli. "That corners were cut."

The veteran police salt took Gaudelli and a few ADAs out onto the river for a look-see.

Gaudelli says the construction plan was to anchor the intake facility to the river floor. In order to do that they had to put in a cofferdam, which is a watertight steel box made of corrugated tongue-and-groove steel sheeting that is driven into the hole to refusal.

"The bottom of the box was supposed to be sealed with saline concrete," Gaudelli says now. "Then the plan was to pump the water out of the box to allow workmen to go down there into the hole to build the water intake facility under the river. And later they were to remove the cofferdam. But we discovered that the contractors didn't put the concrete in place. Didn't do the cementing. And the goddamned bottom of the cofferdam kept blowing and causing great leaks. And finally on Aug. 18, 1973, it blew altogether, water rushing into the hole at 40-60 mph, and two sandhogs were killed."

Seven others barely escaped.

Gaudelli, aided by Sgt. Byrne and Detective Thomas Shay of the 17th homicide squad, conducted an exhaustive investigation and on Dec. 18, 1973, he brought homicide indictments against the contractors Spearin, Preston & Burrows, and Ebasco Services, and three of their supervisors. The charges stated that they had "failed to properly construct and supervise construction on the cofferdam and failed to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death in construction of the cofferdam."

Gaudelli says Con Ed was insulated from prosecution because they'd contracted the construction job out.

"Halliburton was insulated, too, because Ebasco was a subsidiary," Gaudelli says. "But as soon as we brought the indictments against the SOBs, these big companies hired the top lawyers from the biggest firms in town and our case was dismissed. But we wanted justice for those two men whose kids had lost their fathers because the contractors had failed to secure the cofferdam with concrete. So we appealed. But it was also denied. I always thought they'd all gotten away with murder."

Then, last week, Gaudelli, now a private attorney in Queens, was reading the papers about the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf and the name Halliburton pops out of the murk as possibly being legally responsible for the catastrophe. Oil construction experts were saying that the timing of the explosion indicates faulty, ahem, cementing. Transocean, the operator of the doomed oil platform, has claimed that Halliburton workers had been capping the 18,000 foot well with cement prior to the explosion that ultimately sank the rig, sending some 200,000 gallons of oil per day into the Gulf.

Talk about rounding up the usual suspects.

"Who knows if Halliburton will be held responsible for the oil spill," says Gaudelli. "It just gave me the chills that 37 years after two men died unnecessarily in Queens that one of the companies involved in that long forgotten underwater tragedy is implicated in the oil spill in the Gulf. Some things never change."

Senator Addabbo Discusse New Energy Cost-Saving Initiatives for Small Businesses with Community Leaders on Earth Day...

Teams with Local Electeds, Con Ed and National Grid

On Thursday, April 22, NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., held a Roundtable discussion to inform local small businesses, civic leaders and Chamber of Commerce presidents about vital energy cost-saving strategies they can use to save thousands of dollars a year.

Lillie Manjarrez, Community Relations from National Grid, Anne Krzyzanowshi, Representative from NYS Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan; NYS Assemblyman Mike Miller and NYS Senator Joe Addabbo.

As part of a broader movement to go green this Earth Day, the Senator was joined by NYS Assemblyman Mike Miller, NYC Councilwoman Liz Crowley and representatives from Con Edison and National Grid to discuss what local businesses can do to go green and cut costs.

Today, only a fraction of eligible businesses take advantage of free Con Ed and National Grid energy surveys that can substantially reduce their energy costs, from anywhere between 8 and 40 percent. For example, of Con Ed's 280,000 eligible customers, only 21,000 have requested surveys, less than 8 percent.

Con Ed offers an expansive array of affordable energy-saving options to businesses including a free on-site energy efficiency survey and free energy savings upgrades. Additionally, they cover 70 percent of installation costs for energy-saving upgrades. Similarly, National Grid has several programs to enable businesses to reduce carbon emissions, go green, and cut costs.

Some small businesses have already taken advantage of such savings. A survey conducted by Con Edison of a catering business in Queens showed how they could easily obtain annual cost savings of $12,750 for only a one-time cost of $974.

Lillie Manjarrez, Community Relations from National Grid; Anne Krzyzanowshi, Representative from NYS Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan; NYS Senator Joe Addabbo.

“Small businesses across Queens stand to save thousands of dollars a year through taking advantage of these simple and affordable measures,” said Senator Addabbo. “We need to make an aggressive effort to assist our small businesses in our communities. Also, as we move into the 21^st century, we must continue to explore new ways to protect our planet.”

NYS Assemblyman Mike Miller said, “Every little bit helps, whether we are talking about a small business's bottom line or protecting our environment.”

"I commend Senator Addabbo and my colleagues for bringing together this important roundtable in support of our small businesses. Our City’s economic recovery will be driven in large part by our small businesses, making it in our best interest to support them," said NYC Council Member Elizabeth Crowley.

Con Ed Representative Ryan Southard said, “With Con Edison footing upwards of 70% of the tab for energy conservation measures, our Small Business Direct Install Program is a great win for small businesses and for the environment. We’re grateful to Senator Addabbo for convening the roundtable and working diligently with us to promote energy efficiency for small businesses in Queens .”

“National Grid is happy to work with businesses to help them save energy, improve efficiency and reduce the bottom line," said Joe Rende, Vice President of Energy Solutions Delivery at National Grid. "The Roundtable discussions are a great opportunity for us to provide information about energy efficiency programs and other initiatives and learn more about how we can help our customers.”

Eileen Reilly, Maspeth Town Hall; Jim O'Kane, Maspeth Chamber of Commerce; Ken Camillou, National Grid; and Lillie Manjarrez, National Grid .

Pearle Vision's owner, Anthony Presti, expressed delight with his past Con Edison energy survey. "It was seamless, they went in to survey, were out fast and it was simple. I heard about it from a nearby business owner who had big savings. Con Edison changed my light bulbs--I saved 40% or better. I saved $20,000 in 4 years. My other store in Jackson Heights is five times larger than my Ozone Park location, but now I only have a $1,100 monthly bill. I'll put my kids through college with $20K saved here and there."

Addabbo concluded, "These programs have been underutilized and we need to continue to encourage small business owners to take advantage of these free services provided by Con Ed and National Grid. There is no central place for business owners to go to research energy efficient savings measures, which is why I am hosting two informational sessions later this month.”

The Senator's two informational sessions for small businesses, where they can sign up for a free energy survey with Con Edison and National Grid, will be held on May 6 at St. Mary Gate of Heaven School Auditorium, 104-06 101 Avenue, Ozone Park, from 7-9 PM. The other will be on May 13 at Glendale Memorial Building, 72-02 Myrtle Avenue, Glendale, from 7-9 PM.

Assembly-member Mark Weprin Demands Investigation Into 260th Street Gas Explosion

Assemblymember Mark S. Weprin (D-Little Neck) wrote to Commissioner Garry A. Brown, New York State Public Service Commission, and to Chairman Kevin Burke, Consolidated Edison, to express serious concern regarding the powerful natural gas explosion that took the life of a young mother in Floral Park, Queens on Friday, April 24. In a joint letter with Assemblymember Kevin Cahill, Assemblymember Weprin pointed out Con Edison’s apparent lack of emergency planning and called for a full investigation, public hearings, and recommendations for improvement, all of which should be widely available to the public.

Over the weekend, several news outlets reported that a Con Edison spokesperson said that there was no protocol in place for this type of incident. “This very statement indicates that there is a serious gap in the emergency planning and implementation process,” said Assemblymember Weprin. “Both Con Edison and regulatory officials must address the situation.”

Mr. Weprin called for the review of, and a report on, the protocols that should be followed in the event of a suspected natural gas leak. He said that Con Edison should fully disclose existing policies, practices, training with regard to gas leaks; how and why procedures were or were not followed in this instance; and what recommendations are necessary to improve emergency responses. “When three children lose their mother, it is truly a tragedy,” said Mr. Weprin. “We must ensure that every appropriate precaution is taken so that no other family has to endure the loss of a loved one.”

Assemblymember Weprin noted that Con Edison is responsible for 7,200 miles of mains and service pipes for gas delivery to over one million ratepayers. “We must ensure that the company be held directly responsible for the safety of its xustomers,” he said.

Assembly-member Mark Weprin Organizes Drive to Help Family of Floral Park Mother Killed In Gas Explosion

Assemblymember Mark S. Weprin (D-Little Neck) announced that he is calling on the Eastern Queens community to come to the aid of the family of Ghanwatti Boodram, who died in a tragic gas explosion that destroyed her home in Floral Park, Queens. “When three children lose their mother, it is truly a tragedy,” said Mr. Weprin. “We must ensure that the mourning husband and three young sons have the full support and assistance of the entire community.”

Assemblymember Weprin is asking those who can help to bring gift cards or gift checks to Public School 115Q, the Glen Oaks School, where the late Ghanwatti Boodram’s sons are students. Janet Guzman, a staff member at Public School 115, will be collecting everything for the family. Her telephone number is (718) 831-4010.

A Call on Con-Ed to Review Its Safety Procedures - Op/Ed by Albert Baldeo

Here we go again! Yet another Con Ed explosion in our neighborhoods, killing a mother of 3 kids, leaving shattered dreams and painful suffering in its wake. Ghanwatti Boodram, who saved lives as a nurse, excruciatingly lost hers, leaving her 3 sons and husband to endure a life time of grief. How inexcusable and regrettable when that tragedy is caused by human error, by a public utility company that refuses to eradicate its mistakes.

The explosion was the city's third fatal utility explosion in two years. What makes this explosion all the more unacceptable is that it comes less than two years after another gas explosion in Queens prompted calls for Con Ed to improve its protocols for evacuation, only for them to fall on deaf ears.

On the day before Thanksgiving in 2007, Kunta Ora, an elderly woman, watched as firefighters searched for the source of a gas leak on her block in Sunnyside. Con Ed took over, but gave her clearance to reenter her home. The inevitable explosion burned her entire body. She died the following day. Con Ed said at the time that the explosion had occurred before it could repair a cracked 6-inch gas main in a manhole.

How many mistakes is Con Ed allowed? How many more residents have to die, before we say enough is enough? Are we allowing Con Ed a quota on human life? The Public Service Commission, the agency charged with oversight of utilities, cannot remain complicit in Con Ed’s mistakes.

The first change Con Ed should make is rehabilitating its infrastructure, and retraining its personnel. Next, they have to implement a better plan for evacuations. When a possible gas leak is reported, fire and police should be immediately dispatched to the area to close off the streets nearby and be on the scene if an explosion occurs. If a gas leak is confirmed, evacuation procedures must immediately be implemented, using door to door knocking, calling on the phone and using bullhorns and sirens.

Con Ed should also educate the public that the odor described as rotten cabbage or rotten eggs indicates a dangerous build up of natural gas, and should trigger an evacuation.

A neighbor was alarmed enough by the rotten egg smell to call Con Ed at 3:34 p.m. that fateful Friday. A Con Ed worker arrived at 4 p.m, but found no significant trace of gas inside and began standard protocol of testing manholes in the street. The second manhole had 80% gas, 8 times more than is enough for an explosion. At 4:15 p.m., the worker called for back-up and at 4:50 p.m. an explosion leveled the house next to the one that originally reported the leak and a mother of three was killed. Con Ed’s personnel were 35 minutes too late in evacuating the block.

Con Ed did not knock on doors, nor suggest to anyone inside to evacuate the area until the leak was located and remedied, which proved to be a fatal mistake. We demand answers, and remedies now!

Albert Baldeo is a Community Advocate and a former State Senate candidate who helped Democrats take control of the State Senate since 1965.

Whitestone Journal - Fighting Real Parrots With a Fake Owl in Queens by Corey Kilgannon and Jeffrey E. Singer - NYTimes.com

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Exotic green birds in Whitestone, Queens, have built nests up on Con Ed equipment, which often starts fires and destroys costly machinery.

Many of Con Edison’s challenges are well known — blackouts and steam pipe explosions included — but a lesser-known problem has proved no less nagging: how to protect equipment from the thousands of monk parakeets that nest in the utility poles of Queens and Brooklyn.

These birds — also called monk parrots or Quaker parrots — are attracted to the heat given off by the transformers and other equipment high up on the utility poles. Their nests often wreck the electrical equipment by engulfing the electrical devices, blocking ventilation.

The resulting trapped heat can cause the devices to short-circuit, and often to catch fire, sometimes leading to local power failures. In eight fires on overhead equipment in past 18 months, the nests are the main suspects.

Con Edison officials have tried to shoo the birds with nets, spikes, deterrent sprays and sound machines.

“None have been successful,” said Al Williams, a senior scientist with Con Ed who tracks the monk parakeet, a native of South America.

One Con Edison crew has come up with its own solution: a plastic battery-powered owl that swivels its head and makes a hooting noise, bought at a local nursery.

The idea came from Gerry Goodwin, 65, a 44-year Con Edison veteran who tired of continually replacing the 24,000-volt feeder reclosure on a pole on 11th Avenue, just off Clintonville Street in Whitestone, Queens, which has become a main parakeet habitat, along with Canarsie and Midwood in Brooklyn.

“These things cost about $20,000 to replace, and we’ve gone through five in the past couple years,” Mr. Goodwin said of the feeder reclosures. “These nests are killing us.”

Pondering the problem, Mr. Goodwin recalled that a co-worker had installed a plastic owl on his boat to keep sea gulls away.

“I figured, ‘If it works for sea gulls, it’ll work for parakeets; let’s put one up on the equipment,’ ” Mr. Goodwin said. So last year, they bought an owl and named him Hootie.

Hootie worked like a charm. Months went by with no new nests. But suddenly the nests were back, and again they caused the feeder reclosure to short-circuit and catch fire.

Hootie’s batteries must have run out, the workers said, and the birds immediately detected him as a fake and built their nest next to him.

“I think one of them married Hootie,” joked Sam Maratto, a Con Edison supervisor.

At any rate, when Mr. Goodwin took Hootie down, he saw that he had been damaged by the fire. So Mr. Maratto drove to a nearby plant nursery and bought another one, and a set of fresh batteries.

On the way, Mr. Maratto pointed out some huge nests in the area. When the nests become wet, he said, they conduct electricity and cause the devices to short-circuit and explode.

“They’re all over, and they’re huge,” he said.

He stopped at a device on a pole near Seventh Avenue and 150th Street “smothered” by a huge nest.

“Look at that capacitor bank — it’s a condominium,” he said. “It’s engulfed. That’s a piece of Con Ed equipment; you can’t even see it.”

According to the prevailing theory, the birds escaped from cargo at Kennedy International Airport and now proliferate mostly in Brooklyn and Queens, with perhaps 300 nests that cause “a tremendous cost” to Con Edison, Mr. Williams said.

The men said working in Whitestone had given them double duty as parrot home wreckers (though parrot sympathizers should know that the birds rebuild their homes within several days). When working on nest-infested equipment, Con Ed workers must wear protective suits and face masks.

“These birds don’t go easy,” said one worker, Patrick Chery. “They hover right around you, and if they have eggs in the nest, they’ll attack you.”

Mr. Goodwin said that the Hootie solution seemed like the way to go citywide, except for the need to change the batteries every few months. He has asked Con Edison engineers to come up with a way to feed low-voltage direct current from the lines to power the owls.

Last week, Mr. Chery mounted the new Hootie. Within minutes, a parakeet flew over to take a look.

Steve Baldwin, who runs BrooklynParrots.com, a Web site devoted to chronicling the wild urban parakeets, said the parakeets have strong instincts to return to their original nesting spot. They will not be fooled for too long by a plastic owl, he said. A better solution might be using recorded hawk calls to deter the parakeets, he added, and providing “alternate nest platforms” on poles.

“I know there are people who think Con Edison is killing them, but I think they’re pretty humane about removing the nests,” he said. “It would be nice if, on our Con Ed bills, there was a box you could check to donate $5 for humane monk parakeet nest removal.”

State Explores Wind Energy Off the Rockaway Peninsula by Lee Landor - Queens Chronicle

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Crisis is a word the public hears several times a day, every day. “Financial crisis,” “health care crisis,” “climate change crisis,” “energy crisis” — these phrases are seen, heard and read everywhere from the evening news to the morning radio broadcast to the lunch-break newspaper.

Some find it refreshing to finally read about “potential,” and were glad to hear about the launch of a project exploring possible wind energy for New York State.

An interdisciplinary working group formed last month between the Long Island Power Authority and Consolidated Edison to study the potential for an offshore wind project that would be situated at least 10 miles off the Rockaway Peninsula.

This marks the first regional partnership project between LIPA and ConEd.

The project originated from a series of recommendations made in February 2007 by the Governor’s Renewable Energy Taskforce — a commission charged with a series of tasks aimed at increasing the state’s supply of clean, renewable energy.

Those included identifying barriers to increased production of renewable energy; recommending policies and financial incentives to overcome those barriers; and identifying future markers where additional research and development investment is necessary.

The wind energy project was among the recommendations made in a report released by the task force in February 2007.

It suggested the formation of a working group that would study suitable locations for an offshore wind project; transmission and interconnection capabilities; and the availability of wind as an energy source.

Information gathered from this study will be used to determine whether there are opportunities for such a project and its feasibility. If a wind energy project is feasible, the working group would develop a request for proposals whereby both utilities could share the cost of and power generated by the project.

Wind developers, industry representatives and other interested parties will be invited to participate in the study, as well.

The project could provide a variety of benefits, according to Gov. David Paterson. It could stimulate investments in clean and renewable energy technologies, which would create more clean-technology, or “green collar” jobs, incite significant market developments for the wind industry and help diversify the state’s electricity system.

This is not LIPA’s first attempt to create offshore wind turbine farms that harness the clean, renewable energy. Several years ago it proposed the construction of a 40-turbine wind farm off Jones Beach that would have produced 140 megawatts of energy. LIPA shelved the project when it discovered that costs substantially exceeded what was originally anticipated.

New offshore wind turbine technologies that allow facilities to be sited much further offshore now than was possible just a few years ago prompted LIPA to give the idea a second attempt.

“I share the ... desire to introduce more wind resources in the metropolitan region,” said LIPA President and CEO Kevin Law in a statement. “While there is plenty of windpower upstate, there is a transmission bottleneck that makes it difficult to get it to New York City and Long Island, and we need to do some planning to see if offshore wind makes sense downstate.”

ConEd’s Chairman and CEO, Kevin Burke, called the use of renewable technologies “critical” to the economy. “This burgeoning market has potential as limitless as the energy it can generate,” he said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is known to be environmentally conscious and who has taken efforts to improve the city’s energy efficiency, welcomed this effort to building a “greener, greater New York.”

Don Riepe, president of the Northeast Chapter of the American Littoral Society and founder of the Jamaica Bay Guardian, agreed that, overall, the project is a step in the right direction. But, he said, “we need to look at it from a wholistic approach.”

Part of the energy-efficiency package should be conservation. “Nobody talks about ... using less energy so we don’t have to keep plugging in more and more things into the system,” Riepe noted.

What about solar energy and green roofs, he asked. “There’s lots we can do and I think all of that should be part of the mix, not just say, ‘Oh, we need more energy, let’s put a whole bunch of windmills out there,’ like that’s going to solve it.”

Riepe’s most important piece of advice to the task force and the public was: “You have to weigh the environmental benefits as well as the costs.”

©Queens Chronicle 2008

Rockaway Leaders Didn't Know of Wind Farm Plans by Keith Herbert -- Newsday.com

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Jonathan Gaska's telephone buzzed about 10 a.m. yesterday.

Assemb. Audrey Pheffer (D-Rockaway) was on the line and wanted to know what Gaska knew about a proposal to build a wind farm 10 miles off the shoreline of the Rockaways.

Gaska, district manager for Community Board 14 in the Rockaways, told Pheffer he had no answers for her. Officials with the governor's office, the city and the Long Island Power Authority didn't let Rockaways community leaders know of the plans before they became public, Rockaways officials said yesterday.

"I've been in government for 25 years," said Gaska. "The thing they tell you in planning is keep the stakeholders involved at every step. They haven't done that."

A year after the Jones Beach wind farm proposal was torpedoed, LIPA yesterday formally announced its plans to explore a new, larger proposal with Con Edison for as many as 100 turbines off the coast of Queens.

"We don't know enough about it to make an educated decision," Gaska said. Members of the public had called his office, Gaska said, and wanted to know if the wind turbines would spoil ocean views or cause pollution.

"I don't know," Gaska said. "It could be a good thing if they do a good job of explaining it."

Gov. David A. Paterson's renewable energy task force recommended wind power be introduced to the downstate region.

At a minimum, local Rockaways officials should have been notified, Pheffer said.

"I guess what I need is someone to take a boat out 10 miles and have them wave to me," Pheffer said. "I have no idea what 10 miles is."

Lack of notice aside, the proposal could still get a positive reception. With gasoline at $4 a gallon, and the economy sputtering, Queens residents might embrace a renewable energy plan close to home.

"I think people are willing to see," Pheffer said. "It's not drilling."

Dan Mundy, of Jamaica Bay Eco-Watchers, an environmental group, agreed economic conditions could play a role in how people perceive wind farms.

"It's got to start to change people's minds about these things," he said.

Peter Sammon, of the Neponset Property Owners Association, a development of 580 homes on the Rockaway peninsula, said not enough is known about the plan to form an opinion. "We need to have a lot of answers before we can determine if it makes sense," he said.

Con Edison Gives Ospreys a New Home - Wave of Long Island -

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"For the past two years, a pair of ospreys have been nesting on top of a transformer telephone pole on Cross Bay Boulevard in Broad Channel.

Con Ed worker Laurie Wint (in bucket) guides the nest to the new pole site.

Last week, a team of workers from Con Ed carefully removed the nest and placed it on top of a new pole and nest platform about 30 feet from the original site.

An osprey visits new nest site on Cross Bay Boulevard.

"This is a much better and safer site for the ospreys," said Don Riepe, the Jamaica Bay Guardian. "They are higher up and well away from the electrified wires. The Con Ed team did a great job in providing the nest pole and transferring the entire nest to the new site."

The Con Ed team working with the Osprey nest.

Since DDT was banned by Executive Order in 1972, ospreys have made a remarkable comeback on Long Island. These fish-eating raptors are now nesting in most wetlands on Long Island and there are about 10 nesting pair in Jamaica Bay.

Con Ed workers carefully remove osprey nest from telephone pole.

For more information about ospreys in Jamaica Bay contact the American Littoral Society in Broad Channel: www.alsnyc.org