BREEZY POINT — The MTA has installed an additional generator on the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge after an incident last November in which the span got stuck in the "up" position for hours, officials said.
The agency also recently installed another generator at the Harlem River stretch of the RFK Bridge, which is also a lift span.
The generator in Rockaway will be able to deliver power to lift the Marine Parkway bridge, which connects the Rockaway peninsula to Brooklyn, in case of emergencies, according to the MTA and Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder.
Traffic was halted on Nov. 24 for more than six hours due to a power problem that caused the bridge to stay in the up position after it was lifted to allow marine traffic to pass, officials said.
A spokeswoman for the MTA said in November they had a problem with a Con Edison feeder cable, and didn't "have enough juice to bring it down."
While most MTA bridges and tunnels have their own generators, two — the Harlem River portion of the RFK Bridge and Marine Parkway Bridge — need a separate one for their lift spans, MTA spokeswoman Judie Glave said.
"Following lessons learned from Superstorm Sandy when we had to rely on those generators to keep power on at the tolls plazas and administration buildings, we ordered two generators specifically for the lift spans," she said.
The Marine Parkway Bridge received the second generator on Nov. 25, she said.
It was not clear when the generators were ordered.
In response to why it took two years to install the generators since the 2012 storm, she said the agency had to go through reports and other meetings before they could procure the generators.
Goldfeder said the generators are necessary for those living in Rockaway, since the bridge is one of three ways off the barrier peninsula.
"Installing generators at the Marine Parkway Bridge comes as a great relief to the thousands of families who rely on the bridge every day to travel to work or school," he said.
