New York CIty Council Member Ben Kallos

Transportation

Introduction 1575-2017: Fully Shielded Light Fixture Requirement for City Street Lights

Light pollution can harm wildlife and make it hard to stargaze let alone for New Yorkers to get a good night’s sleep. Under new legislation from Council Member Ben Kallos, street lights would be “fully shielded” to stop them from shining up into the sky or the windows of nearby residents, instead only illuminating the sidewalks and streets intended.

“New York City may be the city that ‘never sleeps’, but that shouldn’t be because of a street light outside your bedroom window. Fully shielded light fixtures will brighten up the day with fewer sleep deprived New Yorkers walking around in a bad mood,” said Council Member Ben Kallos. “Fully shielded light fixtures will reduce light pollution to conserve energy, protect wildlife, improve stargazing, and help New Yorkers get a good night’s sleep.”

                                      

                 Unshielded                         Partially Shielded                      Fully Shielded      

Types of light pollution include:

  • Glare – excessive brightness that causes visual discomfort.
  • Over-Illumination – providing too much lighting and wastes energy.
  • Clutter – bright, confusing, and excessive groupings of light source.
  • Skyglow – brightening of the night sky over inhabited areas reducing visibility of stars.
  • Light Trespass – light falling where it is not intended, needed and often unwelcome.

Impacts on wild life includes removing necessary rest periods for plant life, interfering with migratory patterns of birds, reducing activity areas for nocturnal insects and animals, and more.

Introduction 574-2014: Open API and App for eHail

This bill would require the Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) to develop an e-hail application which would allow customers to electronically hail a yellow taxicab or a green street hail vehicle. The application would be the only application used by yellow taxicab or green street hail drivers to accept electronic hails. The bill would require that the application be capable of allowing customers to electronically hail an accessible vehicle. The bill would also require the TLC to develop a program to allow third-party applications to submit electronic hail requests to drivers through the application.
 

Introduction 840-2015: Accessible Sidewalk Ramps

The bill mandates that if property owners fail to perform needed sidewalk repairs, the city will issue penalties and then step in to provide the fixes and bill the party responsible. The legislation is specifically focused on the ramps that connect crosswalks to sidewalks, many of which have fallen into a state of disrepair. In a study, the Center for the Independence of the Disabled New York has found that 75% out of 1,000 curbs in lower Manhattan were hazardous for disabled residents.