{"id":880925,"date":"2026-06-20T17:08:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T17:08:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/880925\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T17:08:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T17:08:54","slug":"dep-issues-stop-work-order-for-roosevelt-island-steam-plant-demolition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/880925\/","title":{"rendered":"DEP issues stop work order for Roosevelt Island steam plant demolition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following an inspection identifying concerns regarding Asbestos, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection has issued a stop-work order for the demolition of the steam power plant on Roosevelt Island.<\/p>\n

The DEP issued the order following a June 12 inspection of the structure at 5 East Main Street, which some residents said validates their concerns that work is being rushed, with possible shortcuts regarding safety.<\/p>\n

The inspector, in the sign posted regarding the order, wrote work \u201cconstituting an asbestos project is being performed at the premises\u201d in violation of the New York City Air Pollution Control Code or New York City Asbestos Rules.<\/p>\n

The inspector wrote work must stop immediately, indicating \u201cthe work poses a threat to human safety\u201d at the structure under the Queensboro Bridge and next to the tram station.<\/p>\n

Information about the stop work order was brought to the attention of the public at the first meeting of the Roosevelt Island Steam Plant Demolition Community Advisory Group.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The stop-work order.Photo courtesy of The Architectural Community Alliance of Roosevelt Island<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no functioning system for the public to be notified in a timely manner about issues at the site,\u201d Kalin Kresnitchki, co-founder of the Architectural Community Alliance of Roosevelt Island, seeking to stop the demolition, said in a written statement. \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<\/p>\n

He said \u201cthe order is posted inside the fence, where no resident can see it,\u201d although it includes significant information.\n<\/p>\n

The Roosevelt Island Steam Plant, built in 1939 and decommissioned in 2013 and 2014, with two towers taller than 200 feet, has been generating heated controversy even if it has long since stopped producing power.<\/p>\n

AnnMarie Santiago, HPD\u2019s Deputy Commissioner for the Office of Enforcement and Neighborhood Services, at the meeting said the order was issued after DEP \u201ccame to the site for routine inspection.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey identified materials in additional areas of the building that they believe require asbestos remediation,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n

She said DEP \u201casked us to do some additional testing\u2026and we\u2019re having those samples analyzed now.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Maspeth, Queens-based Statewide Demolition, Santiago said, is qualified\u201d to do not just the demolition with appropriate licenses, \u201cbut to do asbestos removal.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added there was no asbestos in the smokestacks and \u201cthere are some areas of the building where asbestos remediation was already done.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Santiago said the stop work order is in effect until they complete requested testing and \u201csubmit to them any new uh areas that we believe need to be remediated.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the second time work stopped over environmental concerns, which some residents said are more severe, due to proximity to a field, residential tower and daycare.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The New York City Department of Environmental Protection has issued a stop-work order for the demolition of the steam power plant on Roosevelt Island.Photo courtesy of The Architectural Community Alliance of Roosevelt Island<\/p>\n

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in February temporarily stopped excavation of underground oil tanks due to concerns over oil-spill contamination. HPD at the meeting said all the tanks have since been removed and a soil-removal and backfill plan is being finalized.<\/p>\n

Santiago said they need to update filings with the DEP and are \u201cworking very carefully with them.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The inspector, in the order, said DEP must receive and approve a written scope of work that addresses \u201call disturbed suspect Asbestos Containing Materials.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DEP said it must receive and approve an Asbestos Assessment Report or an Asbestos Survey Report addressing concerns accompanied by official laboratory bulk sample results regarding Asbestos.<\/p>\n

Violation of this order, the DEP said, could result in the issuing of a notice of violation with fines of up to $10,000 per day.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect the asbestos abatement work and monitoring to continue for another three to four months,\u201d Santiago said.\n<\/p>\n

Kresnitchki also has concerns about potential \u201clead exposure,\u201d which he would like to be included in a \u201crobust, community-wide Community Air Monitoring Plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

HPD in written statements said it \u201chas committed to\u00a0implementing a Community Air Monitoring Plan for the demolition phase of the work.
\n\"The<\/a>The New York City Department of Environmental Protection has issued a stop-work order for the demolition of the steam power plant on Roosevelt Island.Photo courtesy of The Architectural Community Alliance of Roosevelt Island\n<\/p>\n

Kresnitchki called \u201cfor lead-specific containment protocols and surface testing at highly trafficked public receptors like local parks, transit hubs, and recreation facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also described photographs of the work site as demonstrating potential problems related to safety.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe red fabric is separating the old, contaminated soil from the new, clean soil on top,\u201d Kresnitchki said. \u201cYou can see a big portion at the Southeast corner \u2013 no fabric, no clean soil. It was exposed even today.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also described another scene showing conditions that he suggested could be better safeguarded to prevent contamination.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at the open windows \u2013 no cover, no plastic sheets,\u201d Kresnitchki continued. \u201cAt the top of the building, two white plastic sheets are crumpled at the bottom of the windows.\u201d<\/p>\n

HPD said there is no projected start date for demolition of the smokestacks or main building, and would provide at least five days\u2019 notice to RIOC and CAG once a date is set.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cAir monitoring during asbestos abatement will continue as already underway and reports will continue to be\u00a0provided,\u201d HPD said in a written statement.\n<\/p>\n

Kresnitchki supports considering removing some debris by barge, which HPD said it is already looking into and anticipates occurring.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point, it is likely that we\u2019ll be able to barge some amount of debris off the island,\u201d Santiago said. \u201cConversations are still happening with both RIOC (the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp.) and the ferry about how that would work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Certain materials, such as asbestos, HPD added, cannot be removed by barge and will only be removed via truck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following an inspection identifying concerns regarding Asbestos, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection has issued a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":880926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,16089,20528,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,24672,186781,357872,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-880925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-dep","tag-department-of-environmental-protection","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-pm-newsletter","tag-roosevelt-island","tag-steam-plant","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116783545544679383","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=880925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/880926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}