Light Pollution: Hackensack, NJ
February 24, 2006
By Bob Leafe
(See pictures below)Introduction
Whenever there's a rare nocturnal celestial event, The Record will, invariably, write an editorial about the loss of the night sky and how we have to go a hundred miles into the country to have any chance of viewing a comet or some unusual planetary alignment because of all the light pollution in this area.
After the event, however, nothing changes, so you can be sure the same editorial will continue to be published, year in and year out.
What exactly IS the problem? How can we identify it - let alone fix it - so that our grandchildren won't have to drive to Ogden, Utah, just to see a shooting star?
I think I may have found a major, previously-unsuspected and unaddressed source of light pollution that not only affects me where I live in Hackensack, but can be found all over the city and, in fact, all over the country.
And the fix is surprisingly simple.
First, some background. There are some cities in the US that have light control ordinances - not Hackensack, unfortunately. The common theme in virtually all of these ordinances is a sensible one: no light from any outdoor installation is to be visible above the lighting element's plane.
This means that if you install an outdoor light at a second-story level, there is no reason for ANY light from that installation to be seen ABOVE that second-story level. Common sense, right?
If you haven't already guessed the sky-polluting culprit, it is almost every single angled "security light" in existence! You see them everywhere - mostly used by businesses to light up their property/parking lots.
These lights are commonly installed at a second-story level and are actually aimed downward at about a 45-degree angle, usually by your local electrical company..........PSE&G, in Hackensack's case.
So how can lights pointed downward light up the sky? It's not possible, you say? It IS possible and that's why no one ever suspects these lights as being a sky problem.
I'm qualified to make that judgment. I live in a separate rooftop apartment atop a 6-story building, meaning that I'm 7 floors up - WAY beyond the reach of the beam of any second story security light aimed downward.............or so you'd think.
I'm also a professional photographer who knows how to shoot at night. Some people may complain about similar light problems, but few can properly document them photographically at night.
What I've found is that each of these boxes that contains the lighting element have totally-mirrored internal surfaces - behind, above, below, and to the sides of the element. If ANY part of those mirrored surfaces is visible above a second-story level, it is the same as if the element was visible and just as bright. If you can see that brightness, you're in the beam of that light.
My seventh-floor living room, which should be totally dark at night, is lit up by multiple second-story, downward-tilted security lights from as near as the next block to as far as a half-mile away. Because my unit sits by itself on the roof, every room in my apartment gets bombarded nightly.
I've stood on my unit's roof - 8 floors up - and have been able to see these lights. That means that all that light is going past me at a somewhat upward angle and into space because there's nothing else to stop it.
I'm able to better observe the problem because up here at night, it's still much darker than what exists at street level. When there is a slight fog, I can see exactly the amount of coverage each security light's beam actually throws out. It's rather astounding, as you'll see in the photos below.
Naturally, the pictures and descriptions are of MY particular situation, but you can rest assured that many people residing above the third floor in any urban area have the same problem. If you DO, please respond with YOUR comments/particulars.
Maybe then someone at PSE&G will wake up and actually test where their beams go instead of simply doing a daytime installation and then leaving, unaware of the problem they cause at night, and then insisting that all installations are "in compliance" when someone complains.
Initially, I thought it would be a simple matter to personally inform the property owners about their light-trespass. There was no way for them to be aware of the problem if no one told them, right? And then they would just re-aim their lights and all would be fine.
That was the case in only a few rare instances. Surprisingly, other property owners acted as if they were being accused of a major felony and refused to lift a finger to correct the situation - even after being shown photographic proof!
The following photographs (except one) were taken from 7 floors up - a fact that I will continually remind you of in the descriptions.
Image 1.jpg)
Historically, car dealerships, for some reason, are the worst light polluters around. This photo was taken from my living room of All Brands Auto Sales (400 River St) - one of the worst violators around and pretty unfriendly to boot.
If they only want to light up their lot, then why are the TREETOPS fully-illuminated by their downward-facing security lights? Other pictures below will show the astounding width/height of their mini-sun of a lighting system.
When I was able to finally get someone in authority on the phone, I was told, "We've lit this way for 50 years without a complaint!"
All that tells me is that their lighting technology is a half-century behind the times.
By the way - that brightest light on the back left corner of the building comes on between 12:20 and 12:30 am EST for some reason and casts extremely bright light on my living room walls 3 blocks away.
Image 2.jpg)
These 2 blazing lights also belong to All Brands Auto Sales. There is no reason for their lights to illuminate anything other than their lot. They shouldn't even light up the ground across the street, yet here they light up the smoke coming out of the chimney on the top of the apartment building on the Corner of Main and E. Ward - only a short block away!
Image 3.jpg)
Image 3 was also taken from my 7th-floor living room. The apartment building is on the southwest corner of Main and Anderson (Sears is on the northeast corner and is partially visible behind it). The smaller, house-like structure in front of the apartment building belongs to Internal Medicine Associates of Bergen County at 15 Anderson.
These people installed 2 security lights on opposite sides of their little lot. You can see the one on the right, which shines very brightly on my living room wall.
The light on the left faces the apartment building and illuminates the entire side wall...and a lot more, which you'll see in the following picture.
When shown this photograph, these caring medical practitioners acted as if I had accused them of some incredibly horrible act, ignored my request, and did absolutely nothing.
Image 4.jpg)
This wide-angle photo is slightly over-exposed to show all the detail. You should be able to locate (going from left to right) the Sears tower on the left, the well-lit wall of the small apartment building catty-corner to Sears at Main and Anderson, the taller apartment building at 417 Main, the bevy of bright lights emanating from All Brands Auto Sales, and, to the right of center, the YMCA with its lit side wall.
Let's begin with that small apartment building, whose wall is lit up by its next-door "neighbor" - Internal Medicine Associates of Bergen County at 15 Anderson. The lights from this little postage stamp of a lot also illuminate the entire back of the apartment building at 417 Main!
But the gold medal once again goes to All Brands Auto Sales, whose downward-pointing security lights have managed to light up the side of the Sears tower(!), the right side (and probably the non-visible front side) of 417 Main, my living room, the left side of the YMCA, and - believe it or not (and not shown here) - the east side of the NINE-STORY-TALL white steeple of the First Presbyterian Church on the corner of Union and Passaic, which is at least 4 blocks away!
That means that All Brands' beam, which is not supposed to reach the ground across the street from them, is MUCH wider and taller than the 3 blocks wide and 9 floors high that I'm able to illustrate here!! And, being on the river bank, All Brands is on somewhat lower ground to begin with.
Remember - this is just from MY perspective. Lots of other people/places are affected by this same auto dealership.
Image 5.jpg)
This is my 7th-floor living room wall at 1am, courtesy of Internal Medicine Associates of Bergen County (orange light and one block away) and All Brands Auto Sales (white light and 3 blocks away).
The camera on the tripod (left of center) casts a very strong and slightly higher shadow (right of center), showing the upward direction of the beam.
Part 2 continues below below (scroll down)...
