Both have long been vocal opponents of the mass siting of dangerous lithium-ion battery energy storage systems (BESS) in residential neighborhoods on Staten Island, which was made possible by the reclassification of BESS to residential zoning in the City of Yes.
Since the implementation of the City of Yes, a large share of all BESS units in the city have been proposed or sited on Staten Island. As BESS systems are nearing completion across Staten Island, fires continue to ignite near homes and businesses near these facilities across the country, including three in Warwick since 2023.
“You’ve got to wake up once and say does anyone appreciate what we go through when somebody comes through and suggests that a BESS unit should be built right here,” said Borough President Fossella at a press conference at the site of a planned 10,000-square-foot system in an empty lot at 1963 Victory Boulevard on the border of Westerleigh and Castleton Corners. “They’re insane, they’re unsafe, and if they catch fire, as they’ve done throughout the country, they have to evacuate neighborhoods and they close highways down.”
Borough President Fossella called the siting of the BESS units near Staten Island homes and businesses “unconscionable and immoral.”
“And we’ve been banging the drum literally and figuratively that you don’t deserve this next to your home,” said Borough President Fossella. “It’s unfair, it’s borderline immoral, and others argue it’s borderline illegal to do this to you. So, the powers that be think it’s good for Staten Island, but we think it’s bad and we think it’s wrong.”
