EV Revel-ution landing in Maspeth

 

Queens Chronicle

Revel, the Brooklyn-based ride share company that introduced its light-blue electric scooters to Queens in early 2021, is planning a 60-station electric vehicle-charging hub for Maspeth, one of five it hopes to open in the city by the end of this year.

The site is at 54-12 48 St., just south of Exit 35E on the eastbound Long Island Expressway, according to a press release issued Monday. The company also has 76 additional charging stations with two sites in Brooklyn and one each in Manhattan and the Bronx.

The company said with 60 stalls, the Maspeth “Superhub” will be the largest public, universally accessible EV fast-charging station in the Western Hemisphere. Its proximity to the LIE, according to the company, places it on a high-traffic corridor for light-and heavy-duty vehicles, especially those servicing the transportation, delivery and freight sectors. The site will be equipped with ultrafast charging capable of charging an EV in 10 to 20 minutes.

Revel said at present there are only 20 public fast charging stalls available in Queens, all of which are located at low-volume sites.

“The only way mass EV adoption will ever happen in New York City is if the charging infrastructure is there to support it,” said Revel CEO and co-founder Frank Reig. “We need high-volume, public sites in the neighborhoods where people actually live and work, and that’s exactly what Revel is delivering with our growing Superhub network. This is the biggest fast charging expansion our city has ever seen, and it’s a huge step toward making our EV transition a reality.”

Borough President Donovan Richards expressed cautious optimism on a few fronts in an email on Wednesday.

“In a city as dense and as vulnerable to climate change as ours, we welcome any effort from any entity — public or private — to heavily promote the use of electric vehicles,” Richards said. “Publicly accessible charging stations, like the one proposed by Revel, are critical in our push to protect our environment for generations to come. However, important community-centered conversations and a thorough public engagement process must be had to ensure proper siting for this facility, and I look forward to having those discussions with Revel and our neighbors in Maspeth.”

Asked where the Maspeth project is in the process, including securing any required permits and approvals, a Revel spokesman, in an email on Wednesday, said the five sites “are proceeding to development. The Maspeth Superhub will be finished by the end of this year.”

Revel repulsion

Queens Chronicle 

 The image is a stark one.

Four of the sky-blue Revel scooters that have become ubiquitous on street corners in some sections of Forest Hills were photographed last week, not in the street waiting to be rented by a new rider, but on the other side of the curb, laying on their sides in the grass on a side street just off Union Turnpike.

At least one appeared to be damaged, with its mirror laying a short distance away on the sidewalk. The photo doesn’t indicate whether, the damage was incidental to the vehicles being moved by someone looking for parking or done with extreme prejudice.

The scooters began appearing in Forest Hills back in the spring. Unlike Citi Bike vehicles that are taken from and returned to specific docking bays, the scooters, under a city-approved program, can be left on the street for the next renter to pick up and drop off when finished.

While they must adhere to all city parking and traffic rules, they have not always sat well with some Forest Hills residents, who have complained about abuses on both fronts.

The apparently damaged scooters even came to the attention and social media accounts of Tom Verni, a retired NYPD detective who now works as a crime and law enforcement consultant for media outlets. He also is a former resident of Forest Hills and Kew Gardens. Verni, too, said the photo appears to show that at least one of the scooters was damaged.

“They’ve been springing up like dandelions all over the place,” Verni said. “With Citi Bikes, you have stations that take up a quarter-block, half a block. The Revels people leave them just anywhere. It’s becoming a nuisance.”

Verni said he has seen the scooters parked illegally; parked in front of driveways; and parked between cars, often leaving them inadequate space to pull out without physically moving the scooters. He has also seen them parked at curbs on alternate-side-of-the-street parking days when street sweepers must detour around them.

“All true. Those are the calls we’ve been getting,” said Frank Gulluscio, district manager of Community Board 6. Gulluscio said Revel officials did speak before CB 6 before the program kicked off, but that was it.

“It’s not like we had a say,” he said. “The city had already approved it.”