MIDDLE VILLAGE, Queens (PIX11) — Chants of “Not Here!” filled the air Tuesday night on 69th Place in Middle Village, Queens.

Dozens of residents and several local politicians joined a protest against NineDot Energy’s plan to build a Battery Energy Storage System facility on an empty plot of land at 64-30 69th Place.

It’s across the street from P.S. 128.

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City Councilman Phil Wong said, “Do not believe the lies that these batteries are safe! It’s not safe !”

According to the NYC Department of Buildings, across the five boroughs, there are currently 26 battery energy storage system (BESS) sites that are in operational status, and an additional 56 DOB-approved applications for BESS installations.

A spokesperson added, “DOB’s Office of Technical Certification and Research performs extensive review of all BESS applications, and both DOB and FDNY have strict regulations related to battery energy storage systems.”

A NineDOT Energy spokesperson said in a statement to PIX 11 News, “As we’ve been communicating with the Council Member and the community for more than a year, this battery energy storage system will bring more reliable, more affordable, and cleaner energy to Middle Village residents.  Fear-mongering and repeating false statements by politicians do a disservice to Middle Village residents – especially since this area experienced brownouts as recently as two weeks ago because of an overly strained electrical grid.

We trust the FDNY, not politicians, to tell us what’s safe. We follow the FDNY’s toughest-in-the-nation safety standards, which include pre-approval for all technology, 24-hour monitoring, fire-rated walls, and other layers of safety redundancies.  These standards already apply to the 30+ battery storage systems currently operating across New York City today.  Not one of these systems has seen any fire safety incident whatsoever, and several of them are located closer to schools, residences, and community facilities than ours in Middle Village will be.”

Charlie Vavruska, who works in Councilman Phil Wong’s office, was handing out fliers ahead of the demonstration. He told PIX 11 News, “NineDot’s going to say anything. They said Chornobyl was safe, this is a scam, it’s a boondoggle, we don’t need this.”

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