News release: “Mayor Bloomberg and Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan [October 24, 2013] announced all 250,000 standard street light fixtures in New York City will be replaced with energy-efficient, light-emitting diodes (LED) by 2017, reducing energy consumption and maintenance costs. The Administration’s comprehensive, long-term sustainability program –PlaNYC – aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from City government operations 30 percent by 2017 and the LED replacements will help towards achieving that goal [see the visual impact of a project already undertaken in Los Angeles, CA]. Additionally, the LED replacement plan will build on the Department of Transportation’s strategic plan, which outlines steps to green transportation operations, while improving efficiency and reducing costs. The project is the first to receive funding through the Accelerated Conservation and Efficiency initiative or “ACE,” a $100 million competitive program that the Department of Citywide Administrative Services launched this fall to expedite projects undertaken by City agencies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. LEDs already have been installed in street lights along key corridors, most recently for Eastern Parkway’s pedestrian lights between Grand Army Plaza and Ralph Avenue in Brooklyn, on Manhattan’s FDR Drive, along Central Park’s pedestrian paths and on the “necklace” lights that adorn the cables of East River Bridges. Compared to the current standard high-pressure sodium lights currently on streets, which last six years, LEDs can last up to 20 years before needing replacement, potentially producing up to an 80 percent savings on maintenance. All together, the 250,000 new LED streetlights are expected to be the largest LED retrofit in the country and save approximately $6 million in energy and $8 million in maintenance a year for a total of $14 million in longer-lasting, more efficient, greener lighting. The Mayor and Commissioner made the announcement on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, where the already completed replacement of the pedestrian fixtures alone is expected to save more than $70,000 and nearly 248,000 KWH a year.”