Unidentified Drones Over Staten Island, Elected Officials Call For Answers in December 13 Press Release

The following was transcribed from a press release posted by Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis’s Facebook. It was transcribed by everyone’s favorite Staten Island stenographer, Christopher Day.

(He was not, in fact, anyone’s favorite stenographer.)

In full disclosure, I’m not paid by any of these people, and they probably find my usual brand of activism repulsive. But I felt this a matter of importance that people should be allowed to read through without having to watch the entire 17-minute video. Shout out to r/StatenIslandPulse on Reddit and Staten Island Neighbors on Facebook. I would like to voice the opinion that we should not be suggesting people be allowed to shoot down the drones, as Mr. Fossella appears to suggest. If they’re to be shot down, let them be shot down by the authorities that be in some controlled, calculated manner. People shooting into the sky in a city and borough as populated as ours has too much potential to hurt or kill people.

Transcriptions of factual events are not copyrighted. Share this wherever you want.

A PDF download will be made available followed by a plain text version below.

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12132024 Press Release Posted by Nicole Malliotakis Download

ATTENDANT SPEAKERS:
VITO FOSSELLA, STATEN ISLAND BOROUGH PRESIDENT
NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JESSICA SCARCELLA-SPANTON, NEW YORK STATE SENATE
MICHAEL TANNOUSIS, NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
DAVID CARR, NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL
KAMILLAH HANKS, NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL
JAMES CLINTON, RICHMOND COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
On behalf of District Attorney Michael McMahon

DENISE PACHECO, NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
On behalf of Assembly Member Michael Reilly.

MR. FOSSELLA: Um, good morning, everybody. My name is Vito Fossella, and I just want to pose a question I think is on millions of people’s minds around here. What if there were 3,000 reports of drones or manned aircraft sightings over the U.S. capital, or the White House, or the State House in Albany? What would happen? There would be an immediate and intense response to figure out what they were, and to solve the problem. And yet millions of people around here, New Jersey, of course here in Staten Island, and beyond, are getting nothing but, “don’t believe what you see.” You know, there’s a saying we had after 9/11, “if you see something, say something,” I think that’s become “if you see something, don’t worry about it, ’cause we saw it too.”

And the people of Staten Island deserve answers. The people of this city, and state, and region deserve answers of what the heck is going on. Just last night, in my neighborhood, my neighbor sent a video of whatever it is flying over our house. And yet we’re told “don’t believe what you see.” It’s shocking to us that here we are almost a month later, 3,000 sightings, drones, manned aircraft, at least — and our folks don’t have an answer.

We’re calling upon not just the New York City Police Department, but others, to get involved, get aggressive, figure out what these things are, and help at least alleviate some of the frustration, anxiety that many people share. This is 2024, they’re either lying, or they’re incompetent, or they’re both. How can we, the United States of America, have this going on, and we’re told just look the other way, ignore it, it’s no big deal?

We know for a fact that there may be some who, you know, are performing some type of surveillance. Well, let’s be honest with the American people and treat them like adults and tell them what it is. Yet here we are standing because we know recently the reports over this asset, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, here we are with Fort Wadsworth, oldest military installation in the country. There was, we believe, a drone flying above the bridge. We also know on the other side of the island there was a drone flying over New York container port and the Goethals Bridge. And we’re supposed to just let it be?

Come on, folks, step up to the plate and be honest and truthful with the American people, the people of Staten Island, and solve this problem once and for all. We’re in this together. I know we have many folks around this region who are weighing in now. It’s about time. We started a couple of weeks ago asking, along with the Congresswoman, to include at least Staten Island in any investigation going on with the FAA and FBI. This is not to take away from them. They didn’t start this problem. But they have an obligation to let us know what the heck is going on.
As I said, we’re all in this together. And representing us in D.C. and Congress is our Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis.

MS. MALLIOTAKIS: Thank you, Vito. 20 years ago they filmed War of the Worlds on Staten Island, and now we feel like we’re characters in that movie. What is happening is outrageous. Thousands of drones and unmanned aerial systems flying above us, and our government is not telling us who’s operating them, and for what purpose.

I don’t believe that the United States of America, with its military capabilities, does not know what these objects are. And what I’m asking, and what we’re all asking, is for you to be straight with us, and just tell us what is going on. As Vito says, this is — this is creating havoc. People are confused. They’re concerned. They have anxiety. They don’t know what’s going on. There’s all sorts of theories that are out there. And the best way to address this is to just be honest and tell the American people what is going on. These are not recreational drones. These are not, I don’t believe, commercial drones, because if they are, they are violating existing rules and regulations which say that they need to be under 400 feet and they can’t be operating in the middle of the night between sunset and sunrise.

So that leaves two options. It’s our government, or there’s a foreign nexus. And so either our government is doing some type of surveillance activity or surveying, or, what really would concern, I think, everyone, there’s a foreign government that is doing this type of activity and surveillance, and they’re doing it above sensitive infrastructure, Verrazzano Bridge, this U.S. Coast Guard base, the army installation across the water, power plants, ports, and so, again, just be straight with us. Tell us what it is. And let’s address it the best possible way so we can calm everyone down and make sure that these don’t pose a threat to our national security and public safety. Because even if it is not nefarious, the fact that these things are flying all over is a public safety issue. There can be an accident. There could be an explosion. There could be a crash. This is a very densely-populated area. And going back to the FAA restrictions, you cannot be flying these things above and around buildings if it’s commercial or recreational.

So something’s not right here, and we need our government to give us answers, and also put in place restrictions so that this does not continue, and enforce the existing regulations and restrictions. And that means our government needs to follow those rules as well. Thank you.
MR. FOSSELLA: Thank you, Nicole. You know, recently we had — just a few days ago, we had announced the city, in partnership with the MTA, Port Authority, and others, actually took 70,000 ghost vehicles off the roads, bikes, E-bikes, mopeds, motorcycles, and cars. And yet here we are helpless with these ghost drones flying above. We also know, as Nicole said, this is a public safety issue, because of the reports out of New Jersey, how somebody who needed to be medevac’d to a hospital was prevented from doing so because of the drones. And we’re just supposed to take this lightly?

With us at the state level is State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton.

MS. SCARCELLA-SPANTON: Thank you. Good morning. You know, one of the best sayings is that sunlight is always the best disinfectant. And leaving people and our community up to their own devices to decide what these drones might be, could be, and not giving the people answers from the top, from the government officials who are way higher up than any of us here locally, it’s not right to us as we get hundreds upon hundreds of constituent requests and questions asking them what this is about, that we have no answers.

So this is us standing today demanding an answer. We need to be able to tell our constituents what is going on, and even if you just could provide a little bit more information. Is this something of ours? Is this something that you need to do for security purposes? Even if it’s vague, an answer is better than “look away. Don’t look up.” That’s unacceptable.

And the people of New Jersey, which I have friends who are complaining that there are dozens upon dozens above her house. She lives by a military installation in Jersey. Every single night. And nobody is doing anything. We need answers and we need them now. Thank you.

MR. FOSSELLA: Thank you, Jessica. Now, there’s also reports of “why don’t you shoot them down?” Perhaps the President of the United States, or the Governor of the State of New York or elsewhere should say or issue an executive order to allow people to shoot the things down. There are those who have said in public life, “well, don’t — don’t be concerned.” Some of those people actually said they don’t know what they are, but don’t be concerned. You can’t have it both ways. How can you not know what they are and say you shouldn’t be concerned? So we’re getting to the point of reckless. Reckless rhetoric. Reckless behavior. And basically, as I said before, you’re either lying or incompetent to the people. State Assemblyman Michael Tannousis.

MR. TANNOUSIS: Thank you to the borough president for holding this press conference today. You know, tons and tons of constituents have contacted my office. I know they contacted the offices of my colleagues. And we just don’t know what to tell them. We just don’t know what to tell them because we’re not getting any answers. And it’s completely inexcusable. They owe it to the taxpayers. We owe it to the taxpayers. We, as representatives of the taxpayers, need to be able to inform our constituents of what the investigation has yielded, and we have none of that. We have none of that.

They’re either lying or they’re incompetent. It’s 2024. You mean to tell me that we don’t have the means to find out what these are within our own borders over New Jersey, over Staten Island, over the tri-state area? Completely inexcusable. And I call not just from the federal government. I call on the New York State Police. I call on the NYPD to get involved, coordinate, investigate, so we can finally get some answers for our constituents. Thank you.

MR. FOSSELLA: Thank you, Michael. Well, point of personal privilege, at 10:02, I just became a grandfather.

(Cheering).

MR. FOSSELLA: First grandchild, Miley Parker (names phonetic), so congratulations to Kierstan — sorry about that — sorry about the baby. Anyway.

With us, a great fighter locally in the City Council, a great — not just a great representative, great person. Councilman David Carr.

MR. CARR: Thank you so much, Borough President. Congratulations. And we appreciate your leadership. Even when family duty calls, you’re here with us today fighting. And I particularly want to thank also the Congresswoman who has been on top of this since this issue first emerged. She’s been absolutely a fighter for us in DC and here in New York.

The truth of the matter is that the people just want to know what’s going on. Communication breeds confidence. Silence breeds insecurity. And if this is really nothing, right, then just get us the answer and tell us what it is. When sightings of this nature happen of this magnitude and above sensitive locations, above people’s homes, they have a right to want to know what is going on. They have a right to answers, and that’s all we’re seeking. We’re seeking answers so that we can calm the situation down, if indeed it is something that is not a big deal. And if it is a big deal, the people also need to be secure in the knowledge that whatever it is, that their government at every level, federal, state, and city, is acting in their best interest, is acting to protect them and their families. And they’re never gonna know that unless they get the answers we’re all here seeking today. So I thank my colleagues here in Staten Island and throughout the region for their leadership in seeking those answers, and we commit to our constituencies that we’re going to get them the security they deserve. Thank you.

MR. FOSSELLA: Thank you very much councilman. And joining us from the West Shore, a great person indeed, a good friend, Council member Kamillah Hanks.

MS. HANKS: Congratulations. Thank you so much. Once again — once again — you have the entire Staten Island elected officials standing before you today, because these times are uncertain. And in these uncertain times, every day adds a new issue that affects our public safety. So the latest are now drones. So I’m not going to belabor the point, for time and warmth, to repeat everything that my colleagues have said here behind me. But I am here to make sure that the hundreds of constituents that reached out to our office, that I am here with you, Staten Island elected officials are here with you, we are here demanding answers from the NYPD, our government, and anyone and everyone who can let us know what’s happening.

Again, these times are uncertain and people are afraid. Every day there’s a new calamity, a new thing that is threatening our public safety. So I thank our Borough President, our Congresswoman, and my colleagues standing behind me. It’s wonderful to have such colleagues that are always on call and always there fighting for the betterment of Staten Island. Thank you so much, stay warm, and happy holidays.

MR. FOSSELLA: Thank you, Council member. Michelle, you’re not going to speak?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

MR. FOSSELLA: From Council member Borelli’s office, Michelle. And from DA McMahon’s office, James Clinton. James, you want to say something?

MR. CLINTON: Sure. Thank you. Good morning, folks. James Clinton here on behalf of Staten Island district attorney Mike McMahon. I want to congratulate the Borough President. Also thank him for gathering us here today. Now, you heard some of the potential public safety risks associated with these drones. It’s very easy to imagine a worst-case scenario here. But we deserve to know what’s flying in our skies. We deserve to protect our airspace. Staten Islanders deserve answers. So too do our neighbors in Jersey. All right?

And there’s another concern here, which is we’ve seen this over the past four years, really, is that when the federal government is not readily forthcoming, or even local government is not readily forthcoming with critical information that Americans are demanding, it’s very easy for misinformation, disinformation, and fear to spread, which is something we all want to prevent. Right? So the best way to prevent that is transparency. And right now we’re not getting those answers. So yes, as the Assemblyman stated, we’re calling on the NYPD. We’re also calling on federal law enforcement to empower local law enforcement, make sure that we get the resources, technology, and necessary people power here on the ground to conduct a thorough investigation, find out what is going on here, and get those answers back to the American people. The DA’s office is here today because this is a nonpartisan issue. This is about government transparency and public safety. Thank you.

MR. FOSSELLA: All right, James. Thank you. From Assemblyman Michael Riley’s office, Denise Pacheco.

MS. PACHECO: Good morning. I am Denise Pacheco. I represent Assembly Member Michael Reilly. I apologize, the Assembly member could not be here this morning. Like his colleagues before us, he is deeply concerned about the recent drone activity reported in our community. As you’ve seen today, we are committed to working with our partners in government and law enforcement to investigate this matter and will continue to monitor the situation as it develops. The safety and security of our community — I apologize for that. For our community, of course, is our top priority. Assembly member Reilly encourages Staten Islanders to report any suspicious drone activity to local authorities by calling 311 or 911. Thank you and have a great day.

MR. FOSSELLA: Thank you Denise. Anybody else? Got everybody. So here you have it. You know, we’re speaking with one voice. I think we’re speaking on behalf of the voice of people — half a million people in Staten Island, millions across this region. I dare say, for those who dated ourselves, perhaps it’s time to call in the drone ranger.

(Laughter).

MR. FOSSELLA: I know. I’m ridiculous. Sorry about that. Anyway, the mommy and the baby are doing great. That’s most important to me right now, so.

(END OF VIDEO POSTED ON NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS’S FACEBOOK.)

Transcribed by Christopher Day, Stenonymous.com

NYC Local News NYPD Caught Fabricating Complaint Responses and Using Ghost Plates to Break the Law

My writing on cops seems bipolar, doesn’t it?

But maybe that’s the nature of organizations. They are made up of people and people are complex.

The ghost plates thing is really sad. They make fun of it here, but there’s video of them in a police lot inspecting ghost plates. Ghost plates, for those that don’t know, are when people take off, deface, or guard their license plate in such a way that they can speed without being detected by New York City’s many cameras.

New York City’s real-life ghostbuster busts some ghost plates in the media.

Meanwhile, the parking placards, often abused by government officials, are enforced at a rate lower than other 311-type complaints. Not only that, but when DOI staged integrity tests, half the time, the NYPD didn’t both to respond. This came out in a recent DOI report that was mentioned in reporting by both Streetsblog, a website that has been following transportation-related issues in New York for a while, and the New York Times, a website and media outlet that routinely ignores corruption and that is arguably racist and protective of “broken system” systemic abuse.

Then they wonder why journalists are tightening the noose around NYPD.

Let me just put it out there what the problem is.

Cops have an amazing sense of esprit de corps. This is what I admire about them, funny enough. I wanted to be a part of that culture once in 2014, but was not physically healthy enough to go for it. I believed in it as a citizen. I understood things were imperfect, but I also believed that overall things were going in a good direction based on stuff I was reading.

That esprit de corps also causes them to cover up stuff for each other on a systemic level. And cops that don’t believe in using that esprit de corps to break the law are ostracized a la “lamp lighter” Frank Serpico right on up to Adrian Schoolcraft and Mathew Bianchi.

In some ways, I’ve viewed myself in a similar light in our field. Willing to speak out against the darker side of our esprit de corps. Particularly the side that tears each other down while ignoring things like agencies training reporters to edit verbatim testimony or agencies using their considerable influence to manipulate the field away from the profession they ostensibly love.

But the bottom line is that these systems interact with everyday people like you or me.

The NYPD as an organization needs to be better. It’s the individuals that are part of the system that will make it better, no matter how powerless one may feel as a lone individual. I still have hope for the future.

But we don’t solve problems by hiding them. I’m the poster child for that. We must evolve beyond simple esprit de corps and practice moral esprit de corps.

(After this was written but before I could publish, a massive sting on ghost plates was conducted, with the arrest of 66 lawbreakers.)

66 in a sting.

I mourn the death of my faith in the system daily. But my belief in the people within it remains.

What systems are you a part of, reader?

First Draft: Stenonymous’s Proposal for Addressing the New York State Mental Health Crisis – March 2024

The mental health crisis in New York is a big topic of discussion online and off. I had an online interaction recently that sparked that more activist side of myself. So many of us are busy working people with not much time to protest or make our voices heard. Consequently, so many voices go unheard, and problems we experience go unsolved.

The core of my idea is creating a lawful process by which police are not just allowed, but required, to investigate problem incidents and people. As I’ve admitted in the past, I’ve seen the NYPD not show up when people call for help. I’ve read articles about how the NYPD ignores things it considers beneath it. A lot of cops, I’ve admitted in the past, I feel are heroes. But I’ll throw a bone to the ACAB crowd. Consequences are a universal human language. If there are no consequences, people will often opt to do the easiest thing. The easiest thing, by far, is to denigrate low-level complaints as “not worth the time,” or “a civil matter,” or whatever, and swear up and down that there are more important crimes to investigate, and then do nothing. Just how it is. I get it. This is a really nuanced issue, thinking of cops’ attitudes towards district attorneys declining to prosecute, and if I go into it any more this is going to be 9 years long. Let’s continue.

After you create a process by which the police MUST act on community complaints and create a process by which the police may detain or arrest for the purpose of assessment, amend the law to create consequences for people who stop treatment after having been assessed as requiring. Basically, if you don’t handle your problems, the consequences compound. And I don’t want to compound anyone’s problems, but this is just how it works. If you’re showing the system that you want to be a nuisance as opposed to just being someone in need of services or help, it ramps up consequences on you until you comply. Or you never comply, and eventually, bad things happen to you.

Now, there are definitely flaws in my idea. There may be case law that makes this difficult or requires this to be tweaked. On some level it might be redundant. We have initiatives for mental health. We’ve had initiatives like this challenged recently, though I don’t know the outcome as of writing. There are valid concerns about weaponizing mental health laws to allow police abuse versus “just” funding healthcare. But as I see it, this is silly binary thinking. We are human. We are imperfect. Our law is imperfect. You do the best you can to ascertain the impact of a law. If it seems good, you pass it. As the results come out, you tweak it to better suit the needs of the population.

Sometimes leadership is about making the best of a sea of bad decisions. Our leaders can’t say that because they like to be elected and the media likes to make them look ridiculous. The media’s terrified of me because I do not give a fuck if I look ridiculous. The more followers I get, the more I get to play leftist Elon Musk and use America’s obsession with the rich and powerful to fuck with the rich and powerful (in my case, the lawbreakers.) Today, I don’t have a lot of money. But I bet you there are millions of people who would throw down one or two bucks for the chance at creating a media personality that would make anti-retirement talking heads like Ben Shapiro beg for universal healthcare. Go ahead. Publish about me. Grow my follower count.

Maybe if we’re so concerned about the NYPD harassing people with mental health issues we should create a process by which those who feel they are experiencing harassment can bring it to the attention of a court, whether it’s an Article 78 proceeding or some other similar petition, and then maybe even get a court-issued order for the institutional harassment to stop, with penalties charged that go right to the aggrieved if they don’t stop. I’ll say in the NYPD’s defense that when I spoke to a sergeant recently about my 61 Broadway claims, he was professional, nice even, and as of yet, nobody’s harassed me. Again, nuanced, I have some benefits thanks to systemic issues in our society. There are arguments to be had a court process wouldn’t be accessible to the poor. I can go on for 9 years. I won’t.

Anyway, so what I’ll do now is share what I’m writing the public officials. Then I’ll put a download to the docx. If anyone wants to join me in trying to attract some attention, please do. I’ll be mailing these next week.

A download of what I’m sending the public offices is below.

New-York-State-Mental-Health-Crisis-Proposal Download

Addendum:

Just a note, I am reminded of something horrifying I saw today, which I believe is an old video out of New Mexico of a cop basically being butchered. It’s something I would think cop haters should see. Criticisms of police are valid enough, but let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that these people are not putting their lives on the line for us.

EXTREMELY GRAPHIC, DO NOT WATCH if you cannot handle extremely graphic violence, including blood. Video.

If you would like a non-graphic video, check out these simulated shooter drills where they had a police critic try to determine when to shoot and when not to shoot. It really helped balance my perspective when a lot of the cop brutality stuff was coming out years ago.

…nine years of nuance.

3/19 update:

Christopher Day laments the state of law enforcement in the United States, where it is effectively legal for the nation of laws to harass working people with tolls, taxes, and everything else, while the degradation of our quality of life goes unabated and out in the open thanks to politicians afraid to admit difficult truths. Christopher Day has no opinion on any individual case because his duties demand he remain impartial, but feels this is a great example of the things New Yorkers are reading, discussing, and sharing. Just wait until you find out why this is in the third person.

New York State Courts Celebrate Court Reporting & Captioning Week 2024

This one wrote itself.

New York State Unified Court System issues a statement on Court Reporting & Captioning Week 2024

This follows other positive statements about court reporters from the New York State Unified Court System.

Statewide NYSUCS positions are posted here . Court reporter postings are under the court operations section. Previously, every 1 to 4 years a civil service exam was posted by law, but is my understanding that is being done away with for JG-24 court reporters. As of writing I believe JG-27 Senior Court Reporters still require an exam.

Asked for comment about what jobseekers can expect from a career with the New York State Unified Court System, ASSCR Union President Eric Allen issued the following statement:

“Any court stenographer seeking a job within the Unified Court System of the State of New York can expect to be working in an environment where they are respected and sought after. The pay scale in New York is one of the highest of the big states. In addition to that, the New York State court system is always actively seeking court stenographers. New York wants officials. They have made that abundantly clear.

Each and every official court reporter in New York is represented by a union which will offer them many benefits above and beyond what their employer offers. Working in the NY Court system will have you feeling you are where you belong. If you are wanting to be an official, New York, especially New York City, is where you ought to be.”

That says it all, reporters. Take the next step and make moves to become a New York State official court reporter today!

Addendum:

This post will be advertised on Facebook until February 15th. Donations to Stenonymous.com in the next 7 days will help extend that time period.

Stenonymous Submits Public Testimony to New York City Council Transportation Committee for Solar Crosswalk Study

I saw that the New York City Council plans to have a committee meeting about the installation of at least 100 solar-powered traffic control devices on December 4, 2023. People are allowed to register to testify via oral or written means. As you’ll see from the testimony I submitted, I have reason to be skeptical of solar initiatives despite my general agreement with adding some solar to our energy grid, so I feel my testimony is on point and raises questions and concepts that the committee should consider.

I had also given 2022 public testimony to the New York State Attorney General with regard to mental health after my medical issue in late 2021, but that testimony may be disturbing or unsettling for some to read, so I urge you not to seek it out if you are feeling fragile, vulnerable, etc. Perhaps this can be an evolution of my political writing. Guess we’ll see.

I did slip a point about the court reporter shortage fraud in there. Hope you all get a laugh on that one.

TEXT & PDF DOWNLOAD OF TESTIMONY:

Testimony Meant for the December 4, 2023 hearing by New York City Council, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

“My name’s Christopher Day. I’ve been a citizen of New York City for over 33 years. I also run a blog called Stenonymous that is dedicated, in part, to documenting and explaining corporate lies and propaganda. I am troubled by the premise of this meeting, installing at least 100 solar-powered traffic control devices and studying their efficacy, because I have seen how solar promises are used to mislead decision makers in much the same way that decision makers were misled by big oil to push everybody into recycling, only for us to find out in a 2020 NPR report that only a laughably small percentage of plastic is truly recycled. The public ethos is such that once we’ve accepted something as “good for us,” we stick to it no matter the merit of the idea, wasting countless dollars and hours in the process. What’s worse? Post-purchase rationalization keeps decision makers defending all but the most indefensible positions.

To drive home the point of how solar specifically can be used to generate big headlines without delivering on its promises, one need only look to the case of Solar Roadways. In brief, the idea was to replace roadways with solar panels designed for roadway travel. I had the privilege of following a scientist named Phil Mason (Thunderf00t) online, and that scientist explained over a series of videos why the idea had no merit and was a waste of time and money. In substance, it was clear that damage to the glass and the flatness of the panels would severely reduce the energy generation of the panels. Subsequently, millions of dollars were thrown at Solar Roadways, because society cares what scientists think about as much as Congress cared about Carl Sagan’s 1985 testimony. If you haven’t heard of that, you know what I’m talking about.

The point I’m trying to make here is that there should be an obvious benefit to doing this before we start spending money on “trying it out” or “testing it.” There should be clear, powerful, and articulated benefits BEFORE we waste – let’s say “invest” – the time and energy. The political landscape in America is such that we try things out, find reasons to justify them after the fact, and then never ever correct the error, even if given decades to do so (see trickle-down economics). Therefore it is our duty as Americans and New Yorkers to acknowledge that and take extra steps to ensure we do not buy into bad ideas. Prevention is a whole lot more practical and a lot less expensive than cure.

I am going to include some things I believe the council should find answers to or take into consideration.

Are these devices going to be more expensive than the mass-produced non solar ones? Will the proposed cost savings beat that increase in cost? If there aren’t cost savings, what are we doing? What’s the projected best-case scenario? What’s the projected worst-case scenario?
Are there a large variety of manufacturers to choose from, or will the city be stuck dealing with a small pool of suppliers that can easily manipulate the price through collusion or tacit parallelism with impunity in the same way the court reporting & stenotype services market was manipulated by a small group of competitors?
Are these devices feeding energy back into the grid and theoretically returning money to the city, or are they simply being used to power the traffic control devices? Do the savings and/or earnings compensate for any increased cost per unit (see 1)?
How will the solar panel be angled? Solar panels generate the most electricity facing south, titled 15 to 45 degrees. This seems like kind of a difficult thing to do with a traffic control device. So right out of the gate, we’re likely talking about wasting potential energy generation for the feel-good statement of making our traffic lights solar.
If we’re talking about the panel going above the device with the tilt, we are likely talking about drastically increasing the surface area of the device. What kind of complications might that cause in heavy wind conditions? This might seem like a doomsday prepper thing to ask, but let’s face it, if having a big flat panel on top of your traffic device makes it more susceptible to the wind grabbing it and throwing it somewhere than a device that doesn’t have it, maybe we should talk about it. We are likely to have increasingly severe weather events over time as more energy from the sun is retained by the Earth’s atmosphere, this means we need practical designs that will withstand increased wear, tear, and weather.
What kind of calculations have been done on the efficacy already? As stated, Phil Mason and other educated people were able to perform calculations that showed the idea of Solar Roadways was not worthwhile without a single device being installed (forget that the idea was subsequently funded anyway). Similarly, we should have a good idea of the efficacy before we even install, and if we don’t, it means somebody just wants this to go through because “yay, solar.”
What percentage of the city’s energy bill is dedicated to traffic control devices? Are there other larger line items that would make more sense to complement or supplement with solar?

In the interest of fairness I did ask on the AskNYC subreddit whether anyone had any ideas contrary to mine, and before the mods shut down that discussion, one person stated they believed a lot of good could come from these small studies. I see the merit in this line of thinking, but given the financial status of the state and city, I think it’s important for us to be choosy, specifically on something with a positive political charge like solar.

I am hopeful that my testimony and the concepts I’ve raised therein are genuinely considered. If there is a clear benefit to our city, then I stand in support. But if we are doing this just to do it and make our city seem more modern, progressive, green, or whatever the case, then let it go. We have had far too many leaders in America jump on an idea because it sounds good. We need you all to do what’s best for the City of New York, not what you think we want to hear. Thank you.”

https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled

https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/solar-roadways-engineering-failure

Christopher-Day-Testimony-12-4-23-Solar-Powered-Traffic-Devices Download

Public Records

Knowledge Can Be Power.

Agency owner talking about a sweet new deal they got with the City of New York? How exciting! But wouldn’t it help your negotiation position if you knew what they were pulling in on that contract? Yes! But how could you do that? Check it out: You can go to the Mayor’s Office of Contracts Public Access Center at 253 Broadway, on the 9th Floor, in New York, New York, and you can print out data on their contracts with the city. You’ll need the proper business name, which you may obtain from the New York Business database. Once you get a printout of the general contract information, such as the city agency the company does business with and the amount of the contract/contract number, you can make a FOIL request to the city agency they do business with for a copy of the contract. Knowledge is power if you do something with it. Use information to negotiate for yourself, bid on contracts, or share it with others so that they might negotiate more effectively.

FOIL Requests.

FOIL requests are easy. You find the FOIL law that applies. If it’s a New York Executive Agency, it’s covered under the Executive Law. The State provides tons of free resources for learning about FOIL requests. If the agency you are looking to find information from is a court, then it is likely covered under the Judiciary Law.

Writing your request is even easier than reading the law. Locate the address of the FOIL officer of the agency you are seeking to find information from. Often this information is available online. For example, as of writing, the FOIL Officer of the New York City Law Department is Andrea Fastenberg, 100 Church Street, Room 6-244, New York, New York 10007; which is information easily accessible through the Law Department directory.

Now sit down to write your FOIL request. Simply write hello, my name is so and so, and under such and such section of law, I make the following Freedom of Information Law requests for the following records. You list the records you want information about. You should ask for a full copy the record or contract, and any and all documents/records related to that record or contract. You should name the record or contract, and describe it as fully as possible so that the agency can locate it for you. Ensure that the agency has good contact information for you, and offer to accept the information by e-mail, because it may reduce your FOIL request costs. Succinctly, the government is entitled to a small fee for production of records. Often, receiving the information by e-mail eliminates this cost.

If you are seeking information generally from a state or city agency, you may also consider adding a time period to your FOIL request. For example: I request a copy of any and all contracts for stenographic reporting services, court reporting services, recording services, or electronic recording services from January 1, 2016 to January 1, 2017. This will help the agency with your request, because then they would only be looking for records in that year, as opposed to records going back a decade or more.

Always be professional and polite. If you do not receive a response within a month, you should consider following up with another FOIL request!