NEW YORK – The City Department of Parks and Recreation added nine new electric cars to the Astoria Park fleet, according to the Queens Gazette. Thanks to a $90,000 grant from Clean Air Communities in partnership with NYPA, seven diesel or gasoline vehicles will be replaced by nine electric-powered ones that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15 tons per year. The new vehicles — two passenger and seven utilities — will be used in Astoria Park.

The funding from Clean Air Communities and NYPA was part of the $2 million Queens Clean Air Project that began in 2005.

The Parks Department is the first New York City agency to use biodiesel (B-0) for all diesel vehicles. Parks operates more than 1,300 parks vehicles using alternative fuels. Currently, 800 of Parks’ 2,500 vehicles use biodiesel, and more than 500 others operate on energy that ranges from electricity to solar power.