Red Hook residents back bill requiring ships to use shore power

A New York City Council committee heard testimony on Thursday from Red Hook residents and businesses fed up with the pollution, traffic jams and economic hardships that giant cruise ships docked at the Brooklyn Cruise Ship Terminal have brought to the beleaguered neighborhood.

The purpose of the hearing, held by the Council’s Committee on Economic Development under chair Amanda Farias, was to consider a bill sponsored by Councilmember Alexa Avilés (D-Red Hook, Sunset Park) which would require the use of electric shore power by cruise ships at berth, along with traffic mitigation plans in neighborhoods impacted by the enormous vessels. 

Among the bill’s many co-sponsors is Eric Bottcher, who represents the district which includes the Manhattan Cruise Ship Terminal on the West Side.

The Brooklyn Cruise Ship Terminal is the only one on the East Coast which provides an electric shore power system, but the gargantuan MSC’s Meraviglia, which docks in Red Hook during the cruising season, is unable to plug into it. Unlike cargo vessels, cruise ships must keep systems such as HVAC running while berthed. Every time it docks in Red Hook, the Meraviglia belches fumes into the neighborhood’s streets, school yards and yards. 

The vessel also discharges roughly 5,000 passengers at one time, tying up small, local streets.

EDC says new agreement will fix the problem

Opposing the bill is the city’s Economic Development Corp. (EDC), whose representatives testified that the cruise industry brings enormous economic benefits to the city, including more than 2,000 full-time jobs in hospitality, tourism and transportation and $430 million in spending. 

In late September 2023,…