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NYC clear-air vigilantes reveal how they’re making up to $225,000-a-year by reporting idle trucks

NYC clear-air vigilantes reveal how they're making up to $225,000-a-year by reporting idle trucks 2

Sneaky New Yorkers taking advantage of a city clear-air initiative are making up to $225,000-a-year by reporting idling trucks to the city, then claiming a cut of the $350 fine. 

Leaving a truck engine idling for more than three minutes is an offense in NYC, with anyone who submits video proof to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) handed an $85 bonus by the department, for every proven violation they submit. 

Environmental lawyer Ernest Welde, 47, says he submitted proof of thousands of violations last year, which are yet to be processed, but which he estimates will earn him between $200,000 and $225,000.  

And busybody former Marine Paul Slapikas, 81, says he netted $64,000 in 2021 by doing the same thing. Truckers caught with idling engines have been known to lash out at anyone they suspect of filming them – so Slapikas, who lives in Queens, has devised a clever routine to throw them off the scent.

He stands in front of an idling truck acting like a lost tourist- equipped with a camera hanging from his neck and a city map and a flip phone. But he is secretly recording idling trucks with a concealed iPhone and once he’s done he walks away satisfied, potentially just earning his cut of the fine. 

Welde bragged: ‘The money, it’s awesome!’ with Slapikas agreeing while joking that ‘They say the streets are paved with gold.’   

In 2018 NYC’s Department of Environmental Protection launched Citizens Air Complaint Program allowing everyday New Yorkers to file ‘citizen complaints’ of idling vehicles.  

In 2018 NYC's DEP launched Citizens Air Complaint Program allowing everyday New Yorkers to file 'citizen complaints' of idling vehicles

In 2018 NYC’s DEP launched Citizens Air Complaint Program allowing everyday New Yorkers to file ‘citizen complaints’ of idling vehicles

Once the company operating the trucks pays the summons, the person who files the complaint earns 25 percent of the $350 fine, which typically comes out to $85.

In 2021 the city coughed up more than $724,000 in bounties and a total of $1.1 million since 2019 while officials collected $2.4 million in fines last year, up 24 percent from when the program began in 2018, the New York Times reported.

Welde also highlighted the dangers involved. He said: ‘I go out thinking I’m going to get assaulted.

‘I’ve had my bags stolen by truck drivers. I’ve been physically assaulted. I’ve had to call the police a couple of times.’ 

As well as the risk of injury, there is also the frustration of bureaucracy, with Welde yet to receive much of the six-figure amount he thinks he is owed for documenting last year’s violations. 

The clean-air vigilantes say the system can also be idiosyncratic in approving violations.

Sometimes, a claim will be refused because a firm’s logo isn’t visible on the truck, even though its registration is.

And investigators will sometimes insist that footage sent over does not prove that a truck was idling, even if its engine can be heard rumbling while it is parked.   

According to DEP deputy commissioner Angela Licata the delays may be due to it being a new system that is still evolving and because of the strict requirements in order for a complaint to be successfully prosecuted in court.

‘We also can appreciate that these individuals are spending a lot of time and energy on this,’ she said. ‘We don’t want them to become frustrated.’ 

The environmental attorney, who told the Times he does this because he is actually passionate about improving air quality, admits the profit is also a great incentive.     

Participants must submit a 3-minute time and date stamped video that shows an audibly running engine and the name of the company on the door

Participants must submit a 3-minute time and date stamped video that shows an audibly running engine and the name of the company on the door

The environmental program is meant to reduce emissions from gasoline and diesel motor vehicle engines, which are contributors to health related impacts, including asthma, respiratory and cardiovascular harm, DEP says. 

In New York City it is illegal for a commercial vehicle to idle for longer than three minutes and illegal to idle more than one minute while adjacent to a school.

But while the program is meant to help the environment, only a small group of people participating in the program are taking advantage and they say they are motivated by the easy money to be made. 

In order to get their cut, participants are expected to submit a 3-minute time and date stamped video that shows an audibly running engine and the name of the company on the door, DEP said.  

According to DEP deputy commissioner Angela Licata (pictured) delays in payment may be due to it being a new system that is still evolving

According to DEP deputy commissioner Angela Licata (pictured) delays in payment may be due to it being a new system that is still evolving

By all measures the program has been a huge success- since its launch the city went from getting a handful of complaints to more than 12,000 last year, the New York Times reported. 

In fact, there are only about 20 New Yorkers who are actively participating, submitting nearly 85 percent of the complaints to the city, according to a 2021 data analysis of the program.  

Another activist, Eric Eisenberg. told the Times that last year an Amazon driver and two colleagues noticed him recording their idling truck and knocked him to the ground and held him down, with one of the men telling him ‘Yeah, it’s like that, papa,’ according to a suit he filed in January.

But the gig is not as easy as it seems, with some citizens saying they get threatened and even assaulted by angry truck drivers.  

But the money is well earned. After filing the complaint it is on the reporter to track them through the system and they are also responsible for requesting their rewards months later once the fine is paid because the city does not pay the reporters automatically, the Times reported. 

The complicated nature of the gig is why there are only a handful of participants.

Welde says his friends are interested but they almost never follow through.   

‘Everyone I say this to is like, “That’s awesome, I want to do it,” and no one does it,’ he said. 

Slapikas said his once his friends hear about what it entails, they don’t even consider it.  

‘They don’t have the motivation to do it themselves — it’s a full-time job,’ he said. 

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