Eternal Sunshine of New York Skyscrapers: Why and Who Needs It

New Yorkers are used to admiring night landscapes. However, not everyone knows about the reasons why the light burns all night, and how much energy the city spends on night lighting of buildings. The publication writes about this in detail. The New Y Times.

Why is the light on

Manhattan resident Aya Corliss is proud to live in New York. The soaring buildings of this city personify her desire to move up through life. But one night, while on the subway on her way home, she wondered: “Why is the light still on?”

For a response, 24-year-old Corliss turned to The New York Times. She noted that despite the fact that she’s “in love with night views of city landscapes,” she is worried about how much energy the city spends on this.

Con Edison, which supplies power to all of New York, has estimated that Manhattan's night lighting provides 5200 megawatt hours of electricity. “The reality is that about 99% of this lighting should be on at night,” said John Katuogno, director of resource planning and forecasting for the utility.

Reasons why the light burns all night

Lighting performs not only a decorative function. It is also necessary for people to “live, trade and work,” Katuogno explained.

Below you will find answers to the question why the light in New York is on all night.

Ordinary people live in skyscrapers

Many towers serve as office premises, but others are residential buildings. In both types of skyscrapers, emergency exits usually remain lit, even when many New Yorkers are asleep.

Lights needed to prevent plane crashes

The Federal Aviation Administration usually requires buildings above 60 meters, or about 20 floors, to be lit or indicated with light. For example, some larger Manhattan towers have long antennas with a red light blinking.

For new buildings that exceed 60 meters, the FAA asks developers to complete an aeronautical study to determine if they need luminaire designs to avoid potential danger to airplanes and helicopters.

It is beautiful

Instagram is teeming with photos of New York night lights. Tourists seem to enjoy this view especially when viewing billboards in Times Square or taking a helicopter or boat excursion to view the skyscrapers from a bird's eye view.

Anthony E. Malkin, CEO of Empire State Realty Trust, which manages the Empire State Building, said the tower’s outdoor lighting system was reconstructed in 2011 using energy-saving LED lamps and a new control system that can display 16 million color combinations.

According to Malkin, these lamps turn off at two in the morning, with one exception. “If the studios are filming New York and they are filming at 2, 3, or 4 in the morning,” said Anthony. “They are asking to leave the light on.”

The interior lighting of the Empire State Building was mainly equipped with motion sensors, Malkin added. If the light comes from one of the windows of this building, most likely someone is inside.

Problems with the constant illumination of skyscrapers

Despite the fact that nightly New York is beautiful, there is a flip side to the coin. One of the problems associated with this is CO2 and light pollution, the source notes. Of course, today lighting is more energy efficient than 5-10 years ago, but the night horizon still accounts for about 1,5% of the annual greenhouse gas emissions in the city, the author writes.

It is worth recalling that in June 2019, the state of New York promised that by 2050 all its electricity will come from carbon-free sources.

On the subject: New York changes building standards due to mass death of birds

Light pollution is also a problem for nocturnal animals, which impedes reproduction and migration. For example, birds that fly toward the light can crash into buildings, especially those that have transparent or reflective windows. According to the New York City Audubon, such clashes annually kill up to 230 thousand birds in the city.

Some fought to dim the lights

Donovan J. Richards, a member of the Queens City Council, has been sponsoring a bill since 2015 that says thousands of buildings must turn off or dim the lights at night. “I think one of the most important strategies we can have as a city is to save energy,” Richards said. “There is nothing wrong with the fact that if you do not use the light, then turn it off.”

Then he added: “I have a 3 year old son who practices this. He knows that he needs to go to bed and turn off the light. If a 3-year-old has the discipline to turn off the light when he is not using it, then there is no reason why New York cannot find a way to do the same. ”

The 2015 bill was “sent to the mailbox," and its opponents, including leaders in the real estate and food industries, said the dimmed light would threaten public safety.

In 2016, the city began to require owners of medium-sized buildings to re-equip their lighting systems in non-residential premises. They were also required to turn off the lights if no one was in the room, and set standards for the effectiveness of outdoor lighting.

“New York leads the world in reducing emissions, and we will continue to do so to achieve our goal of carbon neutrality by 2050,” said Julia Arredondo, City Hall spokeswoman. “Our modernization programs reduce emissions, make our air cleaner and provide a healthier lifestyle for New Yorkers.”