For years, a group of determined New Yorkers has quietly cashed in on a old anti-idling law, collecting 6-figure payouts by reporting trucks that have been left with their engines idling. The lucrative practice dates back to a 1971 law that prohibits non-emergency vehicles from idling for more than three minutes, aiming to curb pollution and noise. Enforcing the law had proven to be a challenge for decades, until residents became armed with smartphones capable of recording video. The city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) rolled out the Citizens Air Complaint Program in 2019, which allows members of the public to send video evidence to the city of idling trucks. If a ticket is issued, the person who reported it is entitled to up to 25% of the ticket’s value. The reward jumps up to 50% of the fine if the reporter pursues the case through Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings without the city issuing a summons. Patrick Schnell, a Brooklyn pediatrician, has made more than $580,000 doing this since 2019. He says he reports idling trucks because breathing in polluted air can lead to serious conditions such as asthma, lung cancer, pneumonia, ischemic heart disease and strokes. Ernest Weide, a Manhattan resident, has earned a staggering $895,737 reporting idling trucks, which equates to more than $100,000 a year, and that’s on top of his full-time job as an environmental attorney. Another top earner is Michael Streeter, a Brooklyn Heights resident who has racked in $709,975 so far. Streeter revealed that there are about 20-30 people who literally make a living reporting idling trucks. Elsewhere, Lower East Side residents Wanfang Wu and Ephraim Rosenbaum are also among the top earners in this unusual field, making $748,825 and $725,025, respectively. Critics of the citizen program say that the air pollution vigilantes don't realize that truck engines sometimes need to idle in order to power refrigeration systems, power systems, computers and lift-gates. Queens City councilman James Gennaro introduced a bill last year that would cut the payouts in half for residents who report illegal idlers.
