Mercer Street plant enters final phase | NYUs Daily Student Newspaper

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by Ji Hyun ParkPublished February 2 2010

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Construction of the Cogeneration Plant at 251 Mercer St is now in its third phase with highhopes of completion in spring 2010 said Alicia Hurley NYUs associate vice president ofgovernment and community affairs

According to a press release from August 2008 the project was expected to be completed bythe summer of 2009

Hurley said construction is moving along well

According to the universitys construction website the construction team is currentlyinstalling the underground generator On Jan 8 the construction barriers were moved backto their original positions down Mercer Street

Re-landscaping the plaza will begin this spring

According to the construction website the university plans to partner with the New York CityDepartment of Parks and Recreation to create a new space for the local community duringthe final phase Mature trees will be a part of the landscape

We do plan to wrap up in the coming months Hurley said

Construction of the plant began in August 2007 with hopes of expanding the combined heatand power plant for a more energy-efficient upgrade

Major buildings such as Bobst Library and the Silver Center will draw energy from the plantas well as freshmen dorms including Hayden Goddard and Weinstein residence halls

The plant will provide electrical power to at least 18 additional NYU buildings and hot waterto 40 NYU buildings In generating both electric and thermal energy the plant will triple theuniversitys energy production while reducing pollutants by 75 percent according tocongressman Jerrold Nadler in an August 2008 press release

In addition to providing more efficient energy the plant will run mainly on natural gas andperiodically on low sulfur diesel fuels

Not only does this project remove buildings from the heavily burdened local utility grid it willalso provide a 75 percent decrease of regulated pollutants

But some students feel inconvenienced by the project

Its pretty annoying because it blocks off a part of my view when Im walking CASsophomore Sidrah Syed said Sometimes cars could be coming from the other side and Inever know if they are So I always have to walk really cautiously

Ji Hyun Park is a contributing writer

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