Readers Write: TV station sees light on LED issues

The Island Now

When a closed-minded mayor refuses to listen and refuses to read, what is a concerned citizen to do?

CBS local News came to the rescue.

For the past two years, Village of Great Neck resident Amy Glass and I have recognized there were serious health implications for our community if our current mayor signed on the dotted line for LED streetlamps.

If you’re one of those people, like Mayor Bral, who holds the belief that if the mayors of Great Neck Plaza and Saddle Rock have approved and completed their own lighting project — surely it must be safe for the Village of Great Neck.

If everyone else jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge — would you follow along?

Following a trend without following the facts exposes liability to our village and long-term risks to our residents.

There is already overwhelming evidence from respected researchers at Harvard Medical School.

Then, we have the united scientific and research community.  It is accepted as fact that blue light at night is dangerous to human health.

LED streetlamps are a fixed source of blue light for many hours at a time, thus they present a serious risk.

Nocturnal birds and wildlife are already known to be negatively impacted.  Plant life and our food chain may be impacted as well.  Lighting manufacturer GE issued a white paper on the hazards of blue light at night.

How can our Great Neck leaders continue to stick their heads in the sand?

Aren’t we supposed to be a smart, enlightened community?  Don’t we pride ourselves on the excellence of our public schools?

CBS local news listened.

And CBS agreed that the trend toward LED streetlamps was a newsworthy story.

Even if VGN Mayor Pedram Bral didn’t agree — CBS2’s Carolyn Gussoff and Jennifer McLogan did.

Truth be told, I had hoped the air time would be more generous in opposition of the LEDs.

I had hoped the two Long Island physicians who study the dangers of blue lights (and were interviewed for this segment) had not been reduced to a single remark.

But the reporters at CBS News, being consummate professionals, were obligated to produce a balanced news story and so they did.

A random couple strolling Middle Neck Road was approached and spoke in favor of the new streetlamps in Great Neck Plaza.

But the Great Neck couple who spoke in favor of the new LED streetlamps, hadn’t personally examined the health risks and drawbacks for over two years.

They never invested hundreds of hours examining complex science and research articles.

Our own Village of Great Neck resident, Amy Glass, Ph.D., has done all those things.  And she wants you to know — there are safer, less toxic and more natural-looking, cutting edge LED products already in various stages of development.

OLEDS and QLEDS are coming to name a few innovations.  The responsible decision is to wait for them.

Let’s please not jump off the Brooklyn Bridge just because our fellow Great Neck leaders didn’t take time to research the facts.

Of all the words in Webster’s dictionary, no two words are capable of producing more impulsiveness, more seriously bad decisions in, otherwise, intelligent men and women.

We are talking about the promise of cost savings.

Let’s not be deceived by deep discounts offered by lighting manufacturers in order for them not to be stuck with warehouses full of product they can’t get rid of.

Lighting manufacturers are keenly aware that new and improved LED products are coming.

Come on, Mayor Bral — we’re counting on you to get it right.

We’re not suggesting our village remain in the Dark Ages — we are suggesting that your legacy to our community should matter to you.

Beyond that, every resident’s health is precious.  Please respect it — please protect it — and please wait for a better, safer, more reliable and more natural looking, cutting-edge LED product.

And yes, there will be cost savings.

By waiting a bit longer, you will also be protecting our village’s investment.

If you missed the previously aired CBS News segment featuring the Village of Great Neck, the narrative text and video for the May 16, 5:00 p.m. story can be viewed on-line.

Please Google: CBS News, the Village of Great Neck, LED streetlamps.

Judy Shore Rosenthal

Village of Great Neck

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