Thursday, April 24, 2008

Energy Conservation, New York Style

Earth Day has come and gone, celebrated on one day in April every year and a way to remind our gluttonous selves that energy use should be curtailed. Of course for many it goes in one ear and out the other. Meanwhile here in Europe, everything is energy-efficient (especially the predominantly small car society) and in our hotel room here in Rome, you need the room key to turn the lights on. So when you leave for the Colosseo or the Fontana di Trevi, the lights stay off. Back in NYC you'd never see that, or even a good example by our city government.

From The NY Daily News:

Last year, Mayor Bloomberg promised an effort to keep the lights turned off in city buildings after the Daily News documented buildings with scores of bulbs burning brightly in the wee hours of the morning.

One of them was the Bronx court building, which wasn't yet open - and yet was brightly lighted at 3 a.m. Little seemed to have changed in the past 12 months.

"It looks like Christmas," said Keith, the maintenance worker, who declined to give his last name.


Despite the city issuing memos to employees to turn the lights off, many administrative buildings and icons stay on. I remember the Chrysler Building staying on last year until at least three in the morning. And what does the city have to say for itself about their continued wastefulness?

Mayoral spokesman John Gallagher said most of the late-night lights were attributable to the business of operating the nation's largest city.

"The 300,000 people charged with running this city don't work 9 to 5. It is a 24-hour-a-day job," he said.

"The lights don't go completely dark at City Hall and 1 Police Plaza because committed city employees are working around the clock to serve the people of New York."


Thats right, bug off because we are all working to serve everyone else. All 300,000 are slaving away day and night to keep NYC running. Give me a break, who does Gallagher think he is? Time for him and the city to shut up and do something about the gluttony of light.