Renewable Rikers movement gains traction

Environmental sustainability advocates rally outside City Hall on Wednesday in favor of a bill that will turn Rikers Island into a Renewable energy powerhouse. Eagle photo by Victoria Merlino.

By Victoria Merlino

A movement to put renewable energy facilities on Rikers Island is gaining steam, with advocates, elected officials and community leaders gathering at City Hall on Wednesday to rally for the Renewable Rikers Act.

“Stoke stacks looming over the same communities impacted by the fractured system emblematic in Rikers Island have made South Bronx and Western Queens residents sick for generations,” said Councilmember Costa Constantinides, chair of the Committee on Environmental Protection. “These communities are showing they want a cleaner future that creates thousands of good jobs filled by their sons and daughters.”

Constantinides, who created the Renewable Rikers bill, seeks to conduct studies on whether the city can close wastewater treatment plants and power plants located in neighborhoods like Astoria and establish operations on the island. Constantinides has in the past blamed power plants near Queensbridge, Ravenswood and the Astoria Houses for the region’s high rates of asthma compared to the rest of the borough.

Rikers jails are scheduled to close by 2026, after the City Council voted in October in favor of a plan to build four smaller, community-based detention facilities. That will leave the 413-acre island open to new opportunities for development. 

The bill is backed by members of the City Council Progressive Caucus, including leaders Manhattan Councilmember Ben Kallos and Bronx Councilmember Diana Ayala.