Elected officials are pushing to curb the antics of some New Yorkers accustomed to making a quick buck from filing complaints against others who violate the city’s noise and air codes.
The new measures were introduced after some residents exploited the programs, engaging in “abusive behavior toward city employees,” which included “verbal harassment, attempted assault and unauthorized access to secured government office space,” Councilmember James Gennaro said during a Council hearing on Wednesday.
Under current city law, residents can submit evidence to the city Department of Environmental Protection of vehicles idling for more than three minutes, which violates the air code, or of businesses emitting sounds that exceed noise ordinance limits. If the perpetrators are fined, the people who reported them get a cut.
But some overzealous citizen complainers have taken it too far in the past. The city Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings previously suspended clerk Hunter Severini, an anti-idling vigilante, who allegedly submitted a doctored video as evidence for a complaint.
Gothamist previously reported on another Queens man poised to earn a six-figure income by filing thousands of noise complaints, leaving business owners burdened with hefty fines
“These aggressive and dishonest behaviors are not acceptable and need to be addressed by the Council, in my opinion,” Gennaro said.
The city previously passed a measure – sponsored by Gennaro – that reduced the payout for noise vigilantes to just a couple of dollars. The law, enacted in January, also capped fines for noise code violations at $50, down from hundreds of dollars.
Gennaro is now sponsoring bills that would disqualify citizen noise complainers from the program if they don’t comply with a new code of conduct and revise the process for submitting evidence of air code violations. The former would task the DEP with setting the new code of conduct, which would include “requirements that persons conduct themselves in a dignified, orderly and decorous manner.”
During the hearing, DEP officials said the bills had the agency’s support.
“As this program has grown, we have found many shortcomings in its design, which we believe these bills could address,” DEP Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala said.
Other councilmembers are introducing measures this legislative session to increase civil penalties for drivers who violate idling laws and to translate the air complaint program portal into languages other than English