Lights out in New York
It is expensive to keep the lamps on, bad for the environment and the starry sky. The night should become night again. Even the owners of some famous skyscrapers are participating.
Das Empire State Building in Farbe
Jake Nouel is the Empire State Building’s chief electrician. He has to make sure that the symbol of his city shines in the right color every evening. A tough job because everything is done by hand.
“The Empire State Building is illuminated by 186 headlights, we change their color filters 133 times a year,” explains Nouel. “Each color combination symbolizes a certain occasion: Today is the anniversary of learning and teaching, so the facade will shine red, blue and yellow!
No stars in the sky
Empire, Chrysler, Time Warner, Woolworth Building: In New York there are around 200 skyscrapers that are brightly lit at night. And Alice looks at her with skepticism. The 29-year-old lives in a small one-room apartment in Midtown Manhattan. Many envy their prospects. But Alice is homesick. She grew up in the country. Every look outside shows her what she’s missing:
“This city is a very bad case of light pollution, it is so bright here that you can no longer even see Orion, although it is the most dominant of all constellations. In natural areas you can see up to 50 stars in this constellation.”
Alice is one of a growing crowd of New Yorkers who want to turn night into night again. She only turns on her lamps when absolutely necessary, only uses 20 watt bulbs and ensures that their light cones never shine outside. That evening, Charles, a fellow soldier, is visiting. The two sit by candlelight.
Light trap for birds
Charles is studying environmental science at Columbia University in New York. The city that never sleeps – this slogan has its own negative character for him: “Studies show: After just 40 minutes under a light bulb, the melatonin content in your body drops by half. That is bad for your sleep rhythm. Also people seem to be more likely to develop breast or prostate cancer when, for example, the lamps at a gas station shine in their bedroom at night. “
In his free time, Charles is involved with the Audabon Society. This nonprofit is dedicated to the feathered residents of New York. 90,000 birds die every year because they lose their bearings in the glaring light of the megalopolis.
“Our organization is knocking on business associations and the city to reduce their night lighting,” says Charles. “They often say that night lighting is necessary for safety, but that is a wrong argument because bright lamps only dazzle, making the dark side rooms more difficult to see.”
Closed season in autumn
The Audubon Society can already point to its first successes. New York is supposed to get a little darker at night, at least in autumn, when numerous migratory birds fly over the city. More than 50 skyscraper facades are no longer illuminated at this time. The Empire State Building is also participating.
Chief electrician Jake Nouel is in principle for it, and yet nobody knows better than him that a brightly lit city has always stood for prosperity, dynamism and power – even when everyone is asleep.
“I’ve been doing this job for 30 years,” says Nouel. “For me, there is nothing greater than coming out here on the terrace and changing the lights. I love the mystique of this building, it’s just wonderful.”
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