Photo credit: Paweł Zdziarski licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
by Arline L. Bronzaft, Ph.D., Board of Directors, GrowNYC, and Co-founder, The Quiet Coalition
As readers The Quiet Coalition might remember, I had written earlier about a bill introduced by New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes calling for a noise camera pilot program similar to the noise camera pilot programs in Taiwan and London. Noise cameras function similar to speed cameras, which have been used to reduce speeding in school zones.
Now we have learned that the Westchester Board of Legislators has approved funding for a noise camera pilot project in Westchester County. The technology employed records a car emitting a sound louder than “75 decibels and takes a photo of the license plate.”
Westchester County is now moving toward buying the noise cameras and deciding where to place them. The county estimated that the pilot program should take about 6-to-9 months, but no violations will be issued during the test period because that would require state legislation.
Question: While waiting for state legislation to approve a noise camera pilot project, could the New York City Council on its own fund and undertake a pilot project similar to the one being considered by Westchester?
