New York City: Light it Right

What light is right? How much is too much? These questions don't typically get asked in cities, as they simply rely on what they've always done. But now the Municipal Art Society in New York is bringing these issues to the table.

1 minute read

March 29, 2009, 5:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg


"Sodium-vapor-or high-pressure sodium-lighting was Brandston's bad guy, what he calls "the lamp of least choice." He and the Municipal Art Society, under whose aegis he was conducting the tour, object to the color of the light-unlike whitish metal halide, high-pressure sodium burns yellow-orange. "There is this negative subliminal response," Brandston said. "The connotation, mainly, is crime." This month, the M.A.S. launched a campaign against the sodium lights. In a press release, Vanessa Gruen, from the M.A.S., asserted, "Yellow light muddies the colors of the surrounding neighborhoods and causes trees to look brown. It makes people feel less secure, because the colors around them are not true." Asked for comment, Seth Solomonow, a Department of Transportation spokesman, said that high-pressure sodium lights are durable and cost-efficient, and have been the city's default lights for thirty years.

In Brandston's view, an overreliance on instruments, instead of instincts, mars contemporary urban lighting plans, which should be determined not by how technically bright an area is but by how well someone standing in it can actually see. "We have, over time, overlighted everything in America," he told the tour group. Cities, he said, should be thought of as rooms without ceilings."

Friday, March 27, 2009 in The New Yorker

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Map of Haussmann's redesign of Paris in the 1850s through 1870s under Napoleon III.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking

Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

June 30, 2025 - Tom Sanchez

Boston Red Line train with skyline in background.

Massachusetts Budget Helps Close MBTA Budget Gap

The budget signed by Gov. Maura Healey includes $470 million in MBTA funding for the next fiscal year.

30 minutes ago - Smart Cities Dive

View down center of street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee Launches Vision Zero Plan

Seven years after the city signed its Complete Streets Policy, the city is doubling down on its efforts to eliminate traffic deaths.

1 hour ago - Urban Milwaukee

Street with parking protected bike lane and parked cars in downtown Portland, Oregon.

Portland Raises Parking Fees to Pay for Street Maintenance

The city is struggling to bridge a massive budget gap at the Bureau of Transportation, which largely depleted its reserves during the Civd-19 pandemic.

July 8 - Willamette Week

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Associate/Senior Planner

Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development

Senior Planner

Heyer Gruel & Associates PA