The Parks Department is negotiating a deal for a pilot program to expand green infrastructure
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| Whole Foods employed a similar design for the parking lot of its Gowanus location. Stefan Engquist photo |
The de Blasio administration wants to turn city-owned parking lots into miniature solar-power plants, officials said this week.
The Department of Parks and Recreation owns or operates 333 parking
lots and has identified 40 that could host canopies topped with solar
panels, along with charging stations for electric vehicles, self-powered streetlights and underground reservoirs to catch rainwater that would otherwise flow into the overburdened sewer system.
Parks, which held a public hearing on the matter Thursday, is currently negotiating a contract with the New York office of Florida engineering
and consulting firm NV5. The firm is leading a team that would be tasked
with coming up with designs for five lots and drawing up a full construction plan for one of them as a pilot program.
“The project aims to transform these parking lots into places that
generate renewable energy, provide vehicle shading, protect water
resources and buffer communities against severe storms and sea
level rise,” the city wrote in a request for proposals.
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