By Scott Etkin
As part of an expansion of the NYC Department of Transportation’s (DOT) network of curbside electric-vehicle chargers, the agency has proposed seven new locations on the Upper West Side.
The city currently has 88 curbside charging points, which are contracted in partnership with ConEdison, including three already on the UWS. The DOT plans to bring that number to nearly 700 charging stations city-wide over the next three years, according to an announcement in August.
The new proposed locations in the neighborhood are:
- 2 West 73rd Street (Central Park West)
- 229 West 74th Street (Broadway)
- 215 West 76th Street (Broadway)
- 222 West 83rd Street (Broadway)
- 102 West 95th Street (Columbus Avenue)
- 13 West 106th Street (Central Park West)
- 200 West 106th Street (Amsterdam Avenue)
The DOT is looking for feedback from locals on the newly proposed sites. Community members have until the end of September to add their comments, either for or against the proposed locations, through an online portal – HERE. As of September 8, there are 132 comments posted.
The Upper West Side’s existing curbside EV charging stations are located at West 76th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues, West 84th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues, and West 93rd Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. All three stations were installed in 2021.
Similar to the existing stations, the new docks are Level 2 chargers, which provide up to 20 miles of range per hour of charging, and will have two plugs per station. The chargers are only compatible with electric cars, not e-bikes.
Since these original chargers were installed in 2021, the number of electric vehicles in the neighborhood has increased. Over the past four years, more than 1,600 electric vehicles have been registered on the UWS. EVs account for 8.3% of new vehicle registrations in New York City, according to the DOT.
In 2023, a DOT study found that the Upper West Side’s EV chargers are among the most-used in the city. According to the report, EV adoption rate on the Upper West Side is “at the minimum, twice as high as the citywide average.”
Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here. And you can Support the Rag here.
