Gothamist: Bright Lights in the Big City

Joe

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 10:05:19 -0500

The image is a composite, but it is based on real data from the Defense Mapping Satellite Program's Optical Line Scanner, which was designed to observe clouds by moonlight but can also detect lights on the ground at night. I don't think anyone expects the city to be dark, but with a little design and foresight we can light things that need to be lit, like streets and signs, and not light things, like apartment interiors and the sky, that don't need to be lit.

Guy

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 09:41:32 -0500

I know it's Herald Sq. but a couple of years ago they installed these gigantic floodlights on top of the Manhattan Mall (A&S Plaza) and a couple of other building around it. I suppose it's not residential so it doesn't bother anyone too much, but man are they excessively bright. Not much crime going on around that area as far as I can tell.

huh?

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 08:43:28 -0500

Why do people who live in the city expect it to be dark?

jt

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 07:44:54 -0500

The NASA image is not "100%" real -- it's not dark out around the whole globe at the same time. It's a composite of real images.

wholesale

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 05:20:50 -0500

Hope she gets somewhere and sets some kind of precedent - London is always covered with an awful orange glow as the unnecessary lighting lights up the car fumes every night.

Chris

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 01:05:22 -0500

Yeah, jason, that image is totally fake. If by fake you mean 100% real and funded by your tax dollars.

maid in ny

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 22:27:28 -0500

How much of the pollution is attributed to the Mayor's tax break for Film Production? I kinda had a hint that image could be fake, it seems to pop up when North Korea is in the news. big whoop.

jason

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 22:10:54 -0500

That image is a fake. It's been around for years.

Peter

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 18:54:54 -0500

That NASA image is so cool. One of the best features, which you need a larger image to make out, is the huge difference between South Korea - almost completely illuminated - and North Korea - almost completely dark. The Nile River valley is pretty cool, also.

esm

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 17:23:33 -0500

what i don't understand is why so many of the "safety lights" point directly out into space (say, our 3rd floor window across the street) instead of downward, illuminating said danger area. the flood lights on the huge apartment building across from us are an unseemly pink red color that illuminates our bedroom (thank goodness for the light blocking blinds - too bad we can't tell when its morning), and if we leave the door open, we have a hard time seeing the t.v. from the glare. yuck. i am all for better lighting design - which doesn't have to mean darker streets.

sa

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 14:29:25 -0500

4th st between bowery and broadway - lights fill in from every direction from a car park, construction site and paranoid residents - night for day all the time - new yorkers are basically afraid of the dark.