Cruise ships docked at Red Hook terminal are 'choking Brooklyn,' community leaders say

BY Erin Durkin

Cruise ships docked in Brooklyn are spewing tons of noxious fumes into the air, and a fix is bogged down in two years of bureaucratic nonsense, officials and community leaders complained Monday.

"We can smell that diesel wafting over the neighborhood," state Sen. Daniel Squadron (D-Brooklyn) said. "It's time for the cruise ship terminal to stop choking Brooklyn."

Cruise ships that dock at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook have to run on diesel because there's no way for them to plug into the electric grid.

Government agencies have pledged $15 million to build an electric system, known as shore power. But the Port Authority, which owns the property, and the city Economic Development Corp., which runs the terminal, are still fighting over who should have to pay to maintain it.

"We've had two years of idling ships and idling negotiations," said City Councilman Brad Lander (D-Brooklyn).

At a rally and news conference, residents wore masks to protest pollution from the terminal, which opened in 2006.

Each ship docked in Red Hook pollutes as much as thousands of cars a day, they said.

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