The Con Edison blackout on July 13 left 73,000 residents of midtown Manhattan without power, and a subsequent blackout affected 30,000 residents of Brooklyn and 8,000 in Jamaica, Queens. Yet Penn South, the Mitchell-Lama affordable housing complex just five blocks south of the Manhattan blackout, had no reason to be concerned about Con Edison. The same is true for Rochdale Village, the Mitchell-Lama complex in Greater Jamaica, Queens. Both are off the grid, generate their own power, and offer a model for others, as Con Edison warns that more outages could be coming.
New Yorkers are not used to looking to affordable housing developments for innovations, but Penn South and Rochdale Village are energy leaders. They are showing the way for New York City, as it addresses energy priorities in the 21st century.
