{"id":280576,"date":"2026-06-28T18:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T18:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/280576\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T18:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T18:28:08","slug":"nycs-demolition-of-iconic-steam-plant-used-in-marvel-series-violated-its-own-asbestos-rules-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/280576\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC’s demolition of iconic steam plant used in Marvel series violated its own asbestos rules: records"},"content":{"rendered":"

The demolition of an iconic Manhattan steam plant<\/a> that served as the filming location for several Marvel streaming series has been halted because the city violated its own asbestos rules.<\/p>\n

Work on the 87-year-old, city-owned Roosevelt Island steam plant \u2014 set to be razed under a plan managed by the city Housing and Preservation Department \u2014 was halted after an inspection by Big Apple environmental authorities earlier this month, according to agency records.<\/p>\n

The demolition of an iconic Manhattan steam plant has been halted because the city violated its own asbestos rules. Nicole Rosenthal\/NY Post<\/p>\n

The Department of Environmental Protection inspectors noted in their June 12 report that the asbestos abatement work being done by the city is in violation of its own asbestos rules and \u201cposes a threat to human safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Work can\u2019t resume until the DEP approves a plan \u201cthat addresses all disturbed asbestos containing materials\u201d at the site, the order said.<\/p>\n

A Post request for comment from the DEP was referred to the HPD.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is part of a routine interagency process for identifying any hazards and additional work that should be covered throughout the project,\u201d an HPD rep told The Post, adding that additional samples were taken on Monday and are being sent to a lab for asbestos testing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHPD and its partner agencies will continue to execute on this process to ensure that the project meets our top priority of keeping the residents of Roosevelt Island safe,\u201d the representative said.<\/p>\n

The site has been featured in Marvel\u2019s \u201cDaredevil,\u201d among other television shows. Netflix\/Courtesy Everett Collection \/ Everett Collection<\/p>\n

But some Roosevelt Island residents are calling for further transparency and record-sharing when it comes to the controversial demolition project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city\u2019s own agency found this work poses a threat to human safety \u2014 and we learned about it only because it came up at a meeting,\u201d said Kalin Kresnitchki, co-founder of the Architectural Community Alliance of Roosevelt Island advocacy group.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [stop work] order is posted inside the fence, where no resident can see it,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat else don\u2019t we know?\u201d<\/p>\n

Asbestos abatement at the site \u2014 which has been featured in ABC\u2019s TV show \u201cGotham\u201d and Marvel\u2019s streaming series \u201cThe Punisher\u201d and \u201cLuke Cage\u201d\u00a0\u2014 is expected to continue until the fall, according to a source familiar with the matter. <\/p>\n

The demolition start date is still months away, the source added.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of locals and elected officials have campaigned city authorities to release a structural assessment showing the need for demolition. Nicole Rosenthal\/NY Post<\/p>\n

Residents have complained for months that the decrepit 1930s-built steam plant \u2014 which was decommissioned in 2014 and has been slated for emergency demolition in 2024 because of the \u201cdeteriorated masonry\u201d along its smokestacks \u2014 \u201cvery likely\u201d contains toxins such as lead paint, asbestos, mercury and fuel oil No. 6, given its past industrial use.<\/p>\n

But the site\u2019s emergency designation allows the city to bypass traditional environmental review procedures \u2013 and officials have refused to provide air monitoring in the surrounding community before demolition or even release an environmental review, The Post previously reported.<\/a><\/p>\n

Hundreds of locals and elected officials have since campaigned city authorities to release a structural assessment, comprehensive environmental study and hazardous materials remediation plan for the site.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city says the facility is structurally unsound with a pair of smokestacks at risk of collapsing, but it has yet to produce a single official report or document to support its assertion as requested by residents,\u201d ArchRI said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal has voiced support for the community\u2019s fact-finding efforts, noting at an April community board meeting that his office is advocating for an \u201cindependent air quality monitoring and public release of structural reports.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The building\u2019s emergency designation allows the city to bypass traditional environmental review procedures, The Post previously reported. Nicole Rosenthal\/NY Post<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the state and city is eying a \u201cpossible redevelopment\u201d of the defunct steam plant site, which is on land leased to New York state, according to a press release issued by the governor\u2019s office last year.<\/p>\n

Third-party asbestos air monitoring has been ongoing since abatement work began, and testing thus far has shown no evidence of airborne asbestos, an HPD rep said.<\/p>\n

But only asbestos \u2014 not lead, PCBs, or combustion residues \u2014 is being tracked in this phase, advocates pointed out.<\/p>\n

Community air monitoring in the surrounding area will only start during actual demolition \u2013 even though debris such as soil and asbestos is already being trucked through Roosevelt Island\u2019s main thoroughfare, ArchRI noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cAir monitoring is only taking place within the structure to protect workers, a necessary step that nonetheless fails to protect residents from airborne transmission outside of the steam plant,\u201d ArchRI reps said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The demolition of an iconic Manhattan steam plant that served as the filming location for several Marvel streaming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280577,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4663,25779,75,57,9,197,56,63,65,64,5152,58],"class_list":["post-280576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-department-of-environmental-protection","tag-department-of-housing-preservation-and-development","tag-manhattan","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city-life","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-roosevelt-island","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}