New York City announced an expansion of its curbside electric vehicle charging infrastructure, moving forward with plans to deploy 600 additional charging stations across the city. The expansion builds on a pilot program that currently operates 88 Level 2 curbside charging stations, bringing the total to approximately 700 units once the project concludes.
The initiative targets neighborhoods with specific characteristics, including high-density residential areas with concentrations of taxi and rideshare drivers, as well as lower-income communities that have received limited investment from private EV charging providers. The rollout will begin in selected neighborhoods across five boroughs: Soundview and Unionport in the Bronx; Rego Park, Forest Hills, and Far Rockaway in Queens; Red Hook, Carroll Gardens, and Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn; the Upper West Side and Washington Heights in Manhattan; and Stapleton on Staten Island.
The project has been assigned to it’s electric, a Brooklyn-based startup specializing in curbside charging infrastructure. The company’s equipment will be manufactured in Queens by Boyce Technologies, creating a supply chain that remains within New York State. The initiative represents a response to documented challenges faced by rideshare and taxi drivers in the city, approximately 80,000 of whom lack access to private garage or driveway charging options.
The curbside charging expansion aligns with New York City’s Green Rides Initiative, which mandates that all for-hire vehicle trips through Uber and Lyft must transition to electric power by 2030. Compliance targets escalate throughout the remainder of this decade, with the requirement reaching 40 percent in 2027 and increasing by 20 percentage points annually thereafter. The city has also noted that some new curbside infrastructure will accommodate battery-swapping stations for e-bikes, integrating multiple transportation modes into its planning approach.
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