Speaker 3
0:10:27
Thank you so much, chair Frias, and thank you to my Friend and colleague, council member, Alexa Avalez, for your leadership on this issue.
0:10:37
We're here today to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly.
0:10:41
The good is the benefits that the cruise industry provides to New York.
0:10:46
It is a major economic provider in New York.
0:10:50
It directly and indirectly employs thousands of New Yorkers in our district, the Manhattan cruise ship terminals do have a positive economic impact in health kitchen and Midtown.
0:11:06
A lot of the folks from the cruise ship terminals come out into our neighborhoods.
0:11:11
Patronized local small businesses.
0:11:13
The hospitality industry provides thousands of good paying jobs for New Yorkers and all five boroughs.
0:11:23
The bad is that that economic impact is not equally shared among all New Yorkers.
0:11:29
And I've been learning a lot about this.
0:11:33
I was out in Redhook for a press conference when we first announced this legislation in the fall only to learn about how the Redhook cruise ship terminals are not directly benefiting the people of Redhook.
0:11:49
The the the folks getting off those terminals should be spending money in Redhook.
0:11:55
They should be patronizing small businesses in Redhook, something I wanna talk about today.
0:12:01
The ugly is the environmental impact of the cruise industry.
0:12:11
Cruise ships when they're at sea, emit tremendous pollutants.
0:12:16
The 63 cruise ships owned by Carnival Cruise Lines, emitted 43% more sulfur oxides than all the cars in Europe combined.
0:12:30
When they're at port and not connected to shore power, The ships are burning heavy fuels, emitting toxic emissions into the air that's wafting into our neighborhoods.
0:12:48
This is entirely preventable with shore power.
0:12:53
In Manhattan, we have no shore power.
0:12:55
Those ships are burning fuel when they're at port.
0:12:59
And Redhook, they have the beginnings of shore power, not fully operational.
0:13:05
We appreciate the efforts that EDC has been making to electrify the ports.
0:13:14
We've been told that everything is being done, its full speed ahead, and that these ports will be electrified as soon as possible.
0:13:22
What we're doing today with intro 4, the legislation that we're hearing today, is we we want to codify that process to ensure that it happens.
0:13:34
Our health depends on it.
0:13:36
Our the health of our stituents depend on it.
0:13:39
So I look forward to a hearing today where we exercise our oversight authority as a city council.
0:13:48
Looking into all these issues and our legislative authority codifying sure power in New York City for generations to come.
