This week has actually been pretty good! These wins are super small, but I am going to take them. Though as I go through this, my goals are getting bigger. My first goal was small–lessen the idling by teachers by my neighborhood school, and I have noticed that some of them have stopped idling. (Yes, I check up on my way to school.) So yay! Win! One less person is a win. The Green Team at one of my schools is reaching out to the Department of Transportation to ask for anti-idling signs outside the school. The email back from the DOT did not say no! So win!

In another post, I mentioned that a Senior Inspector from the Department of Environmental Protection had reached out to me to apologize for a missed idling complaint. This week he called again to say he had been out sick, but he has my complaint and will be moving forward on it. (Win!) Yet an even bigger win was the conversation we had regarding the process these NYC311 calls go through. NYC311 alerts only the DEP that there is a car idling. This makes sense for those teachers who are habitual idlers in front of schools every day, but less sense for the truck I saw on Fourth Avenue that idled for two hours as I was in and out of buildings one one day. (Not a win.)

There are so many pressing items police have to deal with in this city. I am not so obsessed that I can’t recognize this fact. However, this week I called 311 for an abandoned car on my block. I was instructed that the police would investigate when they had time. I got a call in 10 minutes. It felt great. But it made me wonder, why for extreme cases when cars are running for more than 30 minutes (sometimes without a driver in them) the police or even the traffic cops can’t be alerted to the 311 call. The Senior Inspector informed me that he has 60 agents for both Brooklyn and Staten Island. He mentioned that even school security officers can write these tickets, if they were encouraged and maybe even informed to do so. There are four agencies that could help combat pollution at least in front of schools, but it falls to just one smaller agency.

Whom do I start to bother about this change? I don’t know. Is it going to be an easy change? Do I think I will get there? Probably not. But I am not going to stop. I can’t stop. Not for my sake, but for the other humans around the world. I would like to quote Martin Luther King Jr. in a respectful way and with the best intentions. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” There are many fights to be won in this world. Obviously some are more important than mine. But when those fights are won, by smarter people than myself, I hope I have done my part to keep the air clean for them and their children. One small change can make a difference.

I have so many songs running through my head right now: “Baby, it’s cold outside,” because it is freezing this morning in New York (but will take a crazy turn later today); the song from the Troll movie, “I’m not giving up today
There’s nothing getting in my way. And if you knock, knock me over
I will get back up again.” As corny as the second song is, I have to keep singing it to myself.

There is a school on my block in Brooklyn. Every morning, regardless of the season, the weather, the day of the week, there are several teachers who run their cars while waiting to get into work. Not for a minute or so, but I have watched them idle their cars for up to an HOUR before they go into the building.

The New York City Administrative Code, Title 24, Section 24-163 was amended in 2009 to state that no vehicle can idle in front of a school for more than one minute. It does not stipulate that the school must be open. It is at ANY time that a vehicle cannot idle in front of a school for more than a minute. Yet, day after day these teachers are doing it.

Whose job is it to enforce this law? It does fall under the Department of Environmental Protection, but they don’t have feet on the ground everywhere. The best you can do is to call it into NYC311 and hope for the best. But that is not working. Seriously.

You can call NYC311 and report it. (NYC311 does now take these calls more seriously–so that is a win!!). I have called these cars in multiple times, and despite them carrying a hefty fine of $350 for a first offender, New York City is not doing anything to enforce this law or make some much needed funds for the city. I contacted the principal who said she would speak to her staff, but they are still out there running. I have called this person, and that person, sent emails and I have gotten knocked down over again and again.

For a few weeks now, I have been in contact with my state Senator’s office. A very nice individual responds to my emails. Recently they said, “Don’t forget there is COVID, and that is slowing everyone down.” Don’t I know it. I have COVID fatigue, everyone has COVID fatigue. However, there are so many ills in our society, I get that–but it doesn’t mean that saving our planet can’t be a priority at the same time. (This same person also encouraged me to keep slogging away–and I am).

I have said it once, and I will say it again. I am NOT asking for a new law, or a change to the law. I am simply asking New York City, Brooklyn, my local state Senator, my local precinct and the principal at the corner to enforce this law that is more than a decade old; maybe that means the duty is given to traffic cops, or a new department is made from the funds of issuing these tickets. I don’t know, but there has to be a solution. I have no horse in this race, except for the hope that maybe OUR planet will be allowed to heal itself.

I will get up again, even on the days when the climate crisis seems soul crushing. Giving up is not an option because everyone needs the earth to work properly, not just me. Special shout out to my friend Alice Van Tassell Bowman, who texted me this morning to say that even in 15 degree weather, she did not idle her car (next post will address freezing temps and idling).

Since The Troll song is stuck in my head, I Googled Troll and environment.
Thomas Dambo is a world-renowned artist building trolls all over the world to raise awareness for the environment. It is beautiful.

It is a rough start to 2022 (hence the lack of title), with COVID, working in the schools and so many unknowns. But I am SUPER proud of myself for starting this blog.  I mentioned it to a co-worker, who graduated recently from a Master’s program that requires cadaver dissection;  he offered something very interesting to me for this blog, “people who live in cities automatically have lung damage.”

Before I share what I found, I have always been aware of the risks of living in a congested city–and New York City to boot. I am not lamenting that this city should become more like the country so that my lungs are better off. Yet, either making a choice to live in the city, or living here because you were born here, or your family is here and moving is hard; should not automatically mean our lungs should be more damaged.

If you look at this picture is is pretty dramatic. And sad. And I get it. I am not getting rid of all the cars, trucks or buses in Brooklyn. They have to run. People have jobs to do, places to go and families under their care. However, we can get rid of the excess pollution. 

A quick google search of city lungs vs. country lungs (which came up immediately) found me several quotes, all similar. Here is the one that struck me the most, “Long-term exposure to air pollution can exacerbate lung disease as much as a daily pack of cigarettes, a study has found. Researchers looked at how exposure to four main pollutants affected lung health in 7,071 adults aged 45 to 84 living in six US cities.”

I have a story. I was at my children’s dance class last May. Right outside was a running van. There was no person in the van, but it was running and the black soot coming out of the tailpipe was visible on a warm day. We got there 20 minutes before class started, and that van was running. It was still running when we left over an hour later. No driver in sight, but loads of angry people. I called 311, and I knew they could not do anything about it. But I also know that I can’t call 911 for such an offense. I am a realist. BUT, 90 minutes of driver free idling???? It is disgusting and unacceptable.    

As citizens of this city, we should NOT be ok with this. My lungs matter just as much as yours, or the person down the street, or even the person who disagrees with me about idling. So, our officials–how can we stop this? I am not suggesting that every time I see a car idling for five minutes I should call an agency. BUT 90 minutes? In front of studio where children are coming in and out, they are not even being given a fair shot for clean lungs.

The human body is an amazing thing. It can self heal when we stop loading it with toxins. So is the environment. When the world stop for the pandemic, we got snow–snow we had not had since my older child was one or two; snow my younger child had never seen in her lifetime. The only thing damaging the self-correcting properties of earth and our bodies, is our human minds. The solution to pollution is really just a simple twist of the wrist. If you are not going anywhere, turn your car off. Please. Not for me, but for you and your love one’s.

 I won’t lie. I don’t really understand the world of blogging. My free therapist (wonderful friend) and my paid therapist have both suggested it as a way to a) help me with my climate depression and b) maybe pass on some helpful information to someone. I absolutely believe that the information that I will share already exists, and someone probably said it better. HOWEVER, the horrible changes in our climate paralyze me in fear.  For years I have been saying that my kids won’t know snow, and it is become scarily true. Yes most of the ruin of the climate due to large corporations. But like exercise or learning, it is all additive, and on the lowest level we can all do something to improve out world. I get frustrated when those near me (co-workers who won’t give up straws, parents who don’t recycle, in-laws that believe every light need to be on all day long) act like me pressuring them to change their behaviors is because I will benefit. I don’t get paid if you do something positive for the environment. The environment is not mine, I am just fighting for it (alongside millions), for me, for my kids and for millions of people I don’t know. 

So this is the start of me blogging. I am not entirely clear how anything works once I press publish, and perhaps this is just my online journal. But doing nothing is not an option. I am starting this blog along side forming groups in my Brooklyn neighborhood to pressure our government to enforce the laws against idling cars that already exists.  I would love to start at the corporate level, but I don’t know their phone numbers so I have to start outside my door. 

I will note that the co-worker did give up straws: ). But ultimately, I did not benefit from her life change AT ALL.  

It has been an entire 6 days since I started writing this blog. I have written three entries and change is happening!! Is it big change? No. I still have not figured out how to convince local government to put traffic cops in charge of ticketing idling cars. I have not figured out how to get an audience with our new mayor to convince him to put some effort in enforcing this law so that we can get winter back. BUT, did two THREE friends who read the blog turn their cars off this week?? YES!!!!

More proof that me trying is working; people are thinking and asking me (!!) questions about the law, about the environment and about cars. I don’t know everything they ask, but it is encouraging me to a) continue on and push myself for the change I believe in and b) making me learn things I had not thought about. So thank you friends, for not just reading but acting and asking!!

One questions that was asked, “do hybrid cars or electric cars idle and cause the same pollution?” The short answer is yes, these cars do still cause pollution, but at a much lower rate than a gas car. The longer answer can be found here. It turns out it is not an easy answer, and if we all switched to electric cars tomorrow we would still have pollution since we are a coal based society. But one fight at a time. It is the easiest law to follow, just turn off your car. Done.

One thing I have noticed is that new cars (the gas ones) do shut off when at a stop light or if you are double parked (something that is everyday here in Brooklyn), so that is a nice thing if you can afford a new car; or my dream, an electric car.

It would be amazing if everyone had an electric car. I WOULD love an electric car, but I can’t afford one. Plus, I live in the city and am not fortunate enough to have a driveway so it makes it difficult to charge. There are certain neighborhoods in Brooklyn where chargers are plentiful, but not mine. So I am asking you to just turn your car off, because WE DO have the power to cut air pollution right outside our doors.

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.

Technology has come such a long way in such a short time. When I watch t.v. with my kids, they can’t fathom that phones didn’t have cameras, you couldn’t just watch whatever movie you wanted whenever and for my youngest, why people are not wearing masks.

For me, watching old Law & Order, SVU has become increasingly difficult. I am watching a New York that doesn’t exist anymore. A New York where there is constantly snow on the ground during winter. A New York where you can see Detective Munch’s (played by Richard Belzer) breath and you know it is winter. That is not the winter we are having this year, and at the current rate it might not be the winter we have again in New York City.

There are many reasons for this change in our New York winters, but one of the smallest reasons is idling cars. Yes, most of the climate change is due to large corporations, airplane travel etc. I am not hoping that we reverse our modern way of living, but we can make changes to our existing way of life. Turning off your car is the easiest thing to do, but yet people don’t do it. Right now I am trying to talk to as many people outside my circle to learn why this is such a prevalent thing to do. Is it just to keep warm in the winter, and cool in the summer. Is it some old belief that cars run better if you let them run for 20 minutes before you leave for work?

One fact that people don’t know, that the air inside the car, if you are not moving and just idling, is actually worse than the air outside the car. I can’t imagine how much worse it can be since it seems disgusting outside the car.

“Sitting in an idling car means you are breathing in more of the dirty exhaust that leaks into the car cabin. Any warmth you may get from a car heater is not worth the damage to your health.” https://www.edf.org/Zo38 via @EnvDefenseFund

Would people still continue to run their cars if they knew this? I mean people not care about things greater than themselves, but they do care about themselves. Maybe that is the marketing campaign the earth needs; “Don’t do it for the birds, the climate or the future-Do it for yourself.” Clearly my full time job is not in advertising.

But if you read this, you know more now and you can pass it along to others!! And one small drop can fill a bucket.

 I won’t lie. I don’t really understand the world of blogging. My free therapist (wonderful friend) and my paid therapist have both suggested it as a way to a) help me with my climate depression and b) maybe pass on some helpful information to someone. I absolutely believe that the information that I will share already exists, and someone probably said it better. HOWEVER, the horrible changes in our climate paralyze me in fear.  For years I have been saying that my kids won’t know snow, and it is become scarily true. Yes most of the ruin of the climate due to large corporations. But like exercise or learning, it is all additive, and on the lowest level we can all do something to improve out world. I get frustrated when those near me (co-workers who won’t give up straws, parents who don’t recycle, in-laws that believe every light need to be on all day long) act like me pressuring them to change their behaviors is because I will benefit. I don’t get paid if you do something positive for the environment. The environment is not mine, I am just fighting for it (alongside millions), for me, for my kids and for millions of people I don’t know. 

So this is the start of me blogging. I am not entirely clear how anything works once I press publish, and perhaps this is just my online journal. But doing nothing is not an option. I am starting this blog along side forming groups in my Brooklyn neighborhood to pressure our government to enforce the laws against idling cars that already exists.  I would love to start at the corporate level, but I don’t know their phone numbers so I have to start outside my door. 

I will note that the co-worker did give up straws: ). But ultimately, I did not benefit from her life change AT ALL.