Two area parking lots get grant to go green

Manhattan College recently received $420,125 to go green. 

One of 15 winners of the 2011 Green Infrastructure Grant program run by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the college will use the money to retrofit two parking lots. A lot near Leo Hall on Corlear Avenue and another at West 238th and Tibbett Avenue will be resurfaced with porous concrete to reduce the amount of storm water and sewer overflow being diverted into the Harlem River. 

The project will replace 35,000 square feet of traditional asphalt with new concrete, allowing rainwater to pass through it and enter the groundwater. The water will never enter the city’s sewer system. Manhattan College will accumulate one million gallons of storm water, the largest of all 15 projects, according to a press release.

The college’s engineering students will have the opportunity to participate in and monitor components of the project.

“Manhattan College is extremely excited to receive this grant, and it comes at the perfect time for the College,” Scott Lowe, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Manhattan College, said in a statement.