BY COLE SINANIAN
cole@queensledger.com
GREENPOINT — A public park built atop a battery storage facility could come to the River Street waterfront in the near future.
Brooklyn Community Board 1 voted on Tuesday to recommend a proposal by real estate developer Two Trees to repurpose the existing peaker plant at 49 River St, also known as Kent Peaker Plant.
The proposal would convert the plant — already set to be decommissioned by 2030 as part of New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) — into a “fire safe” battery storage facility. A 1.3-acre park, funded and developed by Two Trees, would be built on the roof of the battery storage facility, providing a waterfront greenway that would connect Domino Park to the immediate south with the proposed River Ring park and development to the north, both of which are owned and operated by Two Trees.
“Two Trees has a vested interest in having a park there because of their other properties around it,” said Second Vice Chair Del Teague at Tuesday’s meeting. “They don’t want to just see a battery storage plant adjacent to the park land that they’ve invested so much money in.”
The project would require collaboration between Two Trees, a third-party energy consultant, the New York City Fire Department, and the New York Power Authority (NYPA), which would remain the landowner. Two Trees’ proposal described new technologies that “allow battery cells to be encased to prevent ‘thermal runaway,’”which would “eliminate any risk of explosion.”
Because the land is state-owned, a rezoning and Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) would not be required if Governor Hochul approves the project.
“They [Two Trees] will do this philanthropically, and they will commit to maintaining in perpetuity the park land that they’ve invested in,” Teague continued.
Peaker plants are powered by fossil fuels and are notorious polluters, used to provide backup power to the electrical grid during emergencies and extreme weather events. The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has moved to decommission them for greener alternatives after the passage of CLCPA in 2019, with some 15-20 left in New York City as of 2025.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Greenpoint City councilmember Lincoln Restler praised the proposal, and added that it would take local pressure for Hochul to move forward with the plan.
“The governor’s office just hasn’t made this a priority yet, and we need to keep pushing them,” Restler said. “Community board support helps, every single elected official who represents the north side supports this project, and we’re gonna keep pushing until we get it done.”
