{"id":353979,"date":"2026-09-22T22:26:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T22:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/353979\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T22:26:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T22:26:15","slug":"officials-cut-ribbon-on-citys-largest-public-ev-charging-station-at-forest-park-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/353979\/","title":{"rendered":"Officials cut ribbon on city\u2019s largest public EV charging station at Forest Park \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"

DCAS Commissioner Yume Kitasei joined NYC Parks First Deputy Commissioner Mark Focht and several other city representatives near the George Seuffert, Sr. Bandshell in Forest Park on Sept. 22 to the ribbon on the new chargers, which will be available from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.<\/p>\n

The chargers, which will be available to individuals for up to 60 minutes, are available at 30 cents per kilowatt during off-peak hours and at 35 cents per kilowatt during peak times as part of efforts to provide affordable stations.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by Shane O\u2019Brien<\/p>\n

The new charging station also boasts two chargers specifically designed for accessibility, officials said at Tuesday\u2019s launch.<\/p>\n

The station adds to DCAS\u2019s charging infrastructure across the city, which now includes 451 fast chargers, the majority of which are used to charge the city\u2019s fleet of electric vehicles. DCAS has now installed 26 chargers across the city that are available for public use, with plans to install a further 34 public chargers over the coming 18 months.<\/p>\n

The agency provided $2.7 million in funding for the Forest Park project, with Con Edison providing a further $472,000 through the New York Power Ready program.\n<\/p>\n

Kitasei described the new charging station as an \u201camazing site,\u201d adding that charging an electric vehicle in New York City is a particular challenge for drivers due to the lack of driveways and garages in the city.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by Shane O\u2019Brien<\/p>\n

\u201cBy installing this kind of infrastructure in a very beautiful location where it\u2019s very pleasant to come and\u00a0enjoy yourself in this public amenity\u2026\u00a0I think it makes the prospect of owning an electric vehicle more affordable and more pleasant,\u201d Kitasei said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Focht, meanwhile, described NYC Parks as the \u201cgreen agency\u201d for New York City and said the new charging station is \u201cvery much aligned\u201d with the agency\u2019s sustainability agenda.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese 10 fast chargers will ensure the public has a convenient way to keep their vehicles running,\u201d Focht said. \u201cWe\u2019re happy that these chargers are here in Forest Park.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"PhotoNYC Parks First Deputy Commissioner Mark Focht speaks at Tuesday\u2019s event. Photo by Shane O\u2019Brien<\/p>\n

Keith Kerman, a DCAS deputy commissioner and the city\u2019s chief fleet officer, said the new station also aims to support the large number of rideshare and taxi drivers who live in Queens. More than a third of the Taxi and Limosuine Commission\u2019s 180,000 drivers live in Queens, officials said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

TLC is additionally aiming to implement its Green Rides initiative, which would see all rideshare trips completed in zero-emission or accessible vehicles by 2030.\n<\/p>\n

James DiGiovanni, TLC\u2019s deputy commissioner for policy and external affairs, said the new Forest Park charging station provides an ideal location for Queens-based drivers to charge their vehicles before, during or after their shift.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a nice place to take a little break,\u201d DiGiovanni said. \u201cIt\u2019s a perfect location for drivers who are in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DCAS Commissioner Yume Kitasei joined NYC Parks First Deputy Commissioner Mark Focht and several other city representatives near…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353980,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[81029,41078,52271,15799,9,11,10,22458],"class_list":["post-353979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-dcas","tag-department-of-citywide-administrative-services","tag-ev-charging","tag-forest-park","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-nyc-parks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353979","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=353979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}