BC Community Still Needs Natural Gas
In a push to help provide Broad Channel families with an affordable natural gas supply, Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder wrote a letter to New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, asking him to subsidize a National Grid project in Broad Channel that would bring a gas line into the community without placing an additional financial burden on families.
“Broad Channel is the only community in the five boroughs that is forced to heat its homes with propane cylinders, which can be very expensive, and at times, inefficient,” Goldfeder said. “If the city can help by providing tax relief for this important project, residents would be happy to do their part. The area deserves a gas line that’s not a financial burden to its residents.”
The families and business that call Broad Channel home have been asking National Grid for a number of years to supply the community with a natural gas line, noted Goldfeder. Recently, the Public Service Commission overturned a Petition for Relief requested by National Grid that would excuse them from building the line; however, the Public Service Commission did not require that National Grid cover the cost. It was recommended that residents should pay to build and maintain the line and suggested that New York City may help by providing a tax credit to residents.
“The residents of Broad Channel appreciate the support of Assemblyman Goldfeder in our fight to bring clean, economical natural gas to our island community,” said Dan Mundy Jr., president of the Broad Channel Civic Association. “As the only occupied island in the ecologically sensitive Gateway National Park area it would seem only common sense that our residents have access to this cleaner fuel at a time when the mayor has made the environment a key component of his legacy. We look forward to working with Assemblyman Goldfeder to finding a funding solution that would allow our residents the same access to gas that is available to every other neighborhood in this city.”
“While the construction of this line is a significant benefit to Broad Channel families, it would cost the community millions of dollars that these families simply don’t have,” the Assemblyman said. “If the city does not help fund the project, the burden will fall on more than 950 homeowners and 50 businesses to pick up the pieces. We cannot let that happen. I am asking the city of New York to take action and help provide an affordable and economical gas supply line to the Broad Channel community.”
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