If you’ve walked past the Seward Park Co-op, along Clinton Street, lately, you might have noticed something new in the driveway. Alongside the “Connect-by-Hertz” rental station, there are two new electric car charging stations.
The co-op recently purchased four charging units (two are located in an underground parking garage), becoming part of a special program to make New York City “plug-in ready.” The ChargePoint America Program, partially supported by federal grants, is outfitting NYC with 200 “pumps.” Less than 20 have been installed so far. Half of the Seward Park program was paid for through grant money.
Right now, of course, there aren’t a lot of electric cars tooling around the neighborhood. The hope is that will begin to change once the charging stations start to become more numerous across the city. The Seward Park pumps will be available to the general public. Charging an electric car costs a lot less than paying for a tank of gas (it amounts to about 75 cents a gallon, we’re told).
Seward Park board member Michael Tumminia came up with the idea for the charging stations. “I’m excited that the Seward Park Co-op is helping to make the Lower East Side the most plugged in neighborhood in the city,” he said. Last year, the co-op debuted “Connect-by-Hertz,” a short term car sharing service.
