The other night, I decided to go for an evening summer stroll through one of my favorite Brooklyn neighborhoods. Just as I was settling into the quiet streets and summer breeze, I turned the corner onto Green Avenue and was flooded with hot, bright, white light from a nearby surveillance flood light. In addition to the glare caused by the light, the palpable hum of the generator cut through the night like a hand-saw from a construction site.
As a New Yorker, I am familiar with the surveillance floodlights installed near public housing, in what Bill De Blasio has called “problematic” areas. But this time, I couldn’t simply pass by. I photographed and recorded the stark experience generated by urban lighting that had me asking, "is this for safety or surveillance?" According to Peter Nickeas of ABC news, “these fixtures produce 600,000 lumens of light, while a standard street light generates between 5,000 - 35,000 lumens and the brightest light at Yankee Stadium generates 150,000 lumens”.
The visual and audio experience of surveillance lighting is challenging for neurotypicals (a term referred to people whose brain functioning falls within the society standards of what is deemed as “typical”). But have you ever wondered how someone who is sensitive to visual and auditory stimuli might cope with the discomfort, anxiety and stress produced by such inconsiderate urban lighting?
As a special education teacher and neurodivergent (term referred to people whose mind diverges from what is “typical”, considered by the society standards) advocate, I have learned a lot about how decisions made by governments and society can cause extreme discomfort for neurodivergent individuals. Research shows that 90% of autistic children experience sensory processing differences. (Balasco, Provenzano, Bozzi 2019) And time and time again, society fails to design for inclusion. "Crime-reducing lighting" in "problematic areas" is a clear example of this failure. A policy that is negatively affecting people who experience hypersensitivity.
