I work for the Department of Education and recently approached my new principal about the excessive idling in front of our Brooklyn school. I was unsure how she would react; most people’s reactions to idling cars is a shrug. Her response was amazing; She agreed that idling had no place outside our school building. However, she did not even know that the law states that you can’t idle for more than one minute outside a school.

“The New York City Administrative Code, Title 24, Section 24-163 establishes that no person should allow the engine of a motor vehicle to idle for longer than three minutes while parking, standing, or stopping. However, there are two exceptions to this rule. The exceptions apply to the following:

1. Legally authorized emergency motor vehicles, and
2. Vehicles whose engine is used to operate a loading, unloading or processing device.

In addition, the legal idling time is reduced from three minutes to one minute around public and private school facilities as set forth in the Local Law of the City of New York Number 5 for the year 2009.”

Why are principals not informed of this law? Why, in 2009 when the law was passed, was every school in the city NOT given anti-idling signs in front of their school building? A group of us (including my principal) are trying to uncover if the city will give signs to school leaders who ask. It is a task that keeps us going in circles, but it should not be this hard. Principals love their students, and keeping student healthy is part of their job, they should have all the tools they need at their disposal to do so.

Some people have been shouting about the climate crisis for decades to deaf ears in the government, it is only recently our officials are catching on. But they are doing very little to educate, enforce or even acknowledge the law. None of us are asking for a new law, we are just asking that New York City comes up with a real plan to make this law effective. During this most recent election cycle, politicians were coming up with plans for more bike lanes to eliminate the need for cars, windmills for energy. However, whenever I asked them what their plan was to enforce the idling law (if police won’t do it, why can’t meter maids etc.) they would re-direct the discussion to the future plans they had–instead of solving a current problem.

Besides starting this blog, I have been reaching out to groups on the internet to help put pressure on elected officials to enforce this law at every level. It is the easiest law to follow, just turn off your car. Done.