STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Borough President Vito Fossella and Assemblymember Sam Pirozzolo denounced plans for another Staten Island lithium-ion battery energy storage site (BESS) Wednesday — this one near a strip of businesses and adjacent to several homes in Westerleigh where a tributary runs through the property.
A closer look at the active tributary that runs directly through the property.(Advance/SILive | Jessica Jones-Gorman)
“There’s a move to save the whales, there’s a move to save the water, there’s a move to save the environment,” noted Pirozzolo, standing in front of a vacant lot at 1963 Victory Blvd. where he and Fossella report that BESS plans have been filed. “So, what are we about to do? We’re about to take a battery site, toxic when it catches fire, and allow it to leach into the water that is running down there…it’s rather ironic that we want to save the planet but we’re going to poison our own groundwater.”
Fossella says plans have been filed at the site to build a 10,000 square foot facility that will house four lithium-ion battery megapacks. The applicant listed on the plans is Waldron Engineering, a construction management firm specializing in the energy industry. The firm did not respond to a request for comment about the project.
“It’s rather ironic that we want to save the planet but we’re going to poison our own groundwater,” said Assemblymember Sam Pirozzolo at Wednesday’s press conference.(Advance/SILive | Jessica Jones-Gorman)
“If [these units] catch fire, as they’ve done throughout the country, they have to evacuate neighborhoods, they close highways down,” Fossella said. “And yet there are people in this city, in this state, who think it’s a good idea to dump one of these things in your backyard…you do not deserve to have one of these next to your home or business.”
Mark Anderson, who heads the Westerleigh Improvement Society, voiced his concerns about persistent flooding that often occurs at the proposed site.
According to Mark Anderson, who heads the Westerleigh Improvement Society, the tributary runs under the property and throughout the neighboring community. (Advance/SILive | Jessica Jones-Gorman)
“This is a problem site. For a long time, we have never seen any development on this site for good reason,” Anderson said, describing how water consistently runs through the property and overflows during periods of rain. “And this water runs not only through the site, but completely through Westerleigh,” Anderson continued. “[Water] runs through pipes and trenches, through people’s yards from here to the far corner of Westerleigh.”
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation did not respond to a request for comment about the source of the tributary or where it empties by the time of publication.
Borough President Vito Fossella and Assemblymember Sam Pirozzolo hosted a press conference on Wednesday, denouncing plans for another Staten Island lithium-ion battery energy storage site.(Advance/SILive | Jessica Jones-Gorman)
Battery energy storage system sites use a group of batteries to store electrical energy, releasing it when needed, and essentially act as backup power sources for homes or the grid, particularly during peak demand or power outages. They are often used in conjunction with renewable energy sources like solar power.
BESS siting has been a hot-button topic on Staten Island for the past several years, as residents and elected officials alike have condemned construction of the facilities in residential zones, asserting that the units are changing the character of the borough and creating a potential hazard.
Water flows through the property on Wednesday, June 17, 2026.(Advance/SILive | Jessica Jones-Gorman)
Community Boards have voted against siting the facilities near bakeries and storefronts, and elected officials even issued a moratorium on BESS applications filed within residential districts. In one instance, an energy developer retracted plans to place batteries in a Bulls Head church parking lot.