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As It Happens

New LED streetlights make Brooklyn feel like "strip mall in outer space", says resident

New York City's plan to replace streetlights with energy efficient LED's may be good for the environment, but some local residents say the new bulbs are simply blinding.
CBC News ·
A view of the new LED street lights in New York City. (Jolanta Benal)

Jolanta Benal used to be able to sleep with only a thin translucent curtain covering her bedroom window. Now she's forced to lower her blinds, and pull a heavy velvet layer on top.

The problem is the city's new street lamps, which are being tried out in her neighbourhood, that use energy efficient LED's instead of the old sodium lamps.

"It's a very penetrative, harsh light. You can read fine print by the light in our bedroom from the street light," Benal says. 

(A picture taken from Jolantta Benal's bedroom window)

Out on the street, Benal says the new lamps actually make it more difficult to see at night. 

"As long as I keep my gaze lowered and my hand over my eyes, I'm fine. You glance up at the wrong moment and the glare really hits you. It's actually painful."

According to the New York Times, the city plans to replace all 250,000 streetlights with LED's. And some approve of the lights. The Times quoted one bartender who said, "I feel so much safer walking to the train now. What are you doing staring at the lights anyway?"

On the street near Jolanta Benal's Brooklyn home (Jolanta Benal)
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What's not in doubt are the lights' green credentials. Replacing them is part of a city-wide plan to reduce its carbon footprint 30 percent by 2030.

Benal agrees that there's a need for change, but not with how it's being done.

"I'm not a Republican. I believe in the science of climate change. I am all for conservation. But these lights were not thoughtfully implemented." 

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