The New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) unveiled Wednesday a newly completed public charging station for electric vehicles, located at the Municipal Parking Field on White Plains Road in the East Bronx.
The new charging station will allow people who own electric vehicles in the Bronx access to four fast chargers that will boost most EV batteries to 80% in as little as 20 minutes, with special discounts for drivers licensed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) when they sign up with the city.
Commissioner of the DOT, Ydanis Rodriguez, who used to drive a taxi in the Bronx, said that the borough had been long underserved with resources compared to its high concentration of people that operate vehicles for hire. The agency estimated that roughly 2,500 TLC licensed drivers lived in the neighborhoods surrounding the newly-opened, publicly-accessible charging port.
“This [charging] station is so important because so many taxi and limousine drivers live and work— one of the two — in this community, with few places to charge their electric vehicles,” Rodriguez said.
Taxi drivers in the Bronx are increasingly in need of access to affordable EV charging stations. Under the Adam’s administration’s Green Rides Initiative, which sets benchmarks for the percentage of for-hire vehicles in the city that must be either electrified or wheelchair accessible each year. In 2025, 15% of the city’s fleet must meet Green Rides Initiatives standards, up from 5% in 2024, according to the DOT.
To do this Rodriguez said, the city must support its TLC licensed drivers with more infrastructure to charge their EVs. “There’s not enough chargers nearby when you need it,” Rodriguez said.
The station will also feature four so-called “Level 2” charging stations, which will fully charge electric vehicles in 6-8 hours.
State Senator Gustavo Rivera said at the opening of the new station that convenient access to Level 2 chargers was the determining factor in upgrading his personal vehicle to a BMW all-electric i4. Because state representatives have access to chargers in the lawmakers’ parking lot in Albany, Rivera said that he can keep his German-made automobile named “Ursula” fully powered and ready to take on his duties at the capitol.
Still Rivera, who represents the 33rd district, stretching from Riverdale to parts of Morris Park, said that he struggles when he’s not in Albany.
“Charging around here is a difficult thing,” he said.
This site directly addresses a long-standing infrastructure gap. The Bronx has historically had the fewest fast chargers of any borough, with the overwhelming majority concentrated in wealthier neighborhoods closer to the city’s central district, according to DOT.
Wednesday’s opening is part of NYC’s broader initiative to ensure that all residents regardless of their income, live within 2.5 miles of a fast charger by 2035 — a goal that DOT said the new Bronx-based station will advance significantly to include 88% of New Yorkers — up from 81% ahead of the opening.
All DOT operated chargers are priced at 39 cents per kilowatt-hour, with a 15% discount for TLC-licensed drivers to help support rideshare electrification, according to a DOT spokesperson.
Officials gave a hardy thanks Wednesday to entrepreneur and taxi driver advocate, Fernando Mateo, who is the chairman and spokesperson for the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers. Mateo is also a former Bronx restaurateur and a personal friend of Mayor Eric Adams.
Mateo stressed the importance of EV infrastructure in New York City as more than just an effort to support cab drivers, but as an investment in a sustainable and healthy future.
“This is the only city that I know,” Mateo said. “And I know that there are so many children that suffer from Asthma and so many people that suffer from diseases from just the smoke that they inhale every single day. We all agree that electric is the way to go, but I don’t understand why its taken us so long for us to get to where we’re at.”
He challenged New Yorkers to think about EV charging stations the way they think about gas stations and how necessary a robust charging infrastructure within the city and the Bronx is to reach its sustainability goals.
“We need lots like this to have 100-200 charging stations so that the residents and the drivers can charge,” Mateo said.
Mateo added that the push for electrifying vehicles in NYC is a crucial initiative that the next mayor — whoever it is — continue.
“We need more electric charging stations, or guess what?” Mateo said. “Our city will never be clean.”
