ALBANY, N.Y. \u2014 Social media claims this week suggest a potential new law would force New Yorkers to shut off outdoor lighting after 11 p.m.<\/p>\n
News10NBC investigated whether the rumor is true. There is legislation under consideration \u2014 Assembly Bill 04615<\/a>, called \u201cThe Dark Skies Protection Act.\u201d According to the bill, it\u2019s intended to protect wildlife, conserve energy, reduce carbon footprints and preserve views of the night sky.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just about trying to limit the light pollution that we\u2019re all experiencing,\u201d said Assembly Member Deborah Glick.<\/p>\n Glick, from Manhattan, is the sponsor of the legislation.<\/p>\n \u201cThis started with people complaining about not being able to see the night sky,\u201d Glick said. \u201cBut the bill just requires shielding light and having it directed downward.\u201d<\/p>\n Non-conforming light fixtures would have to be shut off from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. unless they are motion activated. The bill lists lots of exceptions, including lighting for highways, airports, emergency services and worker safety.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are sporting events or concerts,\u201d Glick said. \u201cSo until those are completed \u2014 while they\u2019re in progress \u2014 nobody is saying you have to shut the lights off at 11 o\u2019clock when you\u2019re still engaged in the activity.\u201d<\/p>\n Certain landmarks \u2014 like Times Square \u2014 could also apply for a special exemption. Holiday decorations would also be exempt.<\/p>\n News10NBC reporter Brett Davidsen asked how the bill would be enforced and what the penalties would be.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are no fines,\u201d Glick said. \u201cThis is really about encouraging the Department of Environmental Conservation to provide educational materials to raise awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n Right now there\u2019s no telling if \u201cThe Dark Skies Protection Act\u201d will see the light of a full vote. But as to whether lawmakers are considering it \u2014 that\u2019s a fact.<\/p>\n The legislation passed the Environmental Conservation Committee by a vote of 20 to 9. Local Assemblywoman Jen Lunsford voted in favor of it. Assembly members Andrea Bailey and Brian Manktelow voted no.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFor Related Stories:\u00a0Dark Skies Protection Act<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Deborah Glick<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0NYS Assembly<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Light Pollution<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALBANY, N.Y. \u2014 Social media claims this week suggest a potential new law would force New Yorkers to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[68909,69609,69610,9,11,10,20329],"class_list":["post-169947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-dark-skies-protection-act","tag-deborah-glick","tag-light-pollution","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-nys-assembly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}