Some individuals are making nearly $1 million each by recording videos of trucks and buses idling and releasing pollution, prompting local police to address these hefty payouts.
“The era of the six-figure bounty hunter is finished,” remarked Queens City Councilman James Gennaro, the head of the environment committee.
“We don’t do that anymore,” he commented. “This program has evolved into a profession, which it was never designed to be.”
The Idling Citizen Complaint Program in New York City began in 2019, and the following year, they enlisted punk rocker Billy Idol to promote the initiative.
“Billy never idles. Neither should you. Idling is polluting. Turn off your engine,” he encouraged in the campaign.
Under this initiative, civil enforcement officers receive 25% of the fines set by the Department of the Environment, as verified by the New York City Office of Administrative Trial and Hearings (OATH).
If complaints go directly to OATH, individuals get 50% of the confirmed violations.
Idling fines can range from $350 to $2,000, and with 95% of complaints validated, the rewards can add up fast, essentially turning the city into a treasure trove for these enforcement officers.
Records from DEP highlight top earners among environmental enforcers, with estimates exceeding $500,000 and nearing $1 million:
- Ernest Welde of East Village, Manhattan: $895,737
- Wangfang Wu, Lower East Side, Manhattan: $748,825
- Ephraim Rosenbaum of the Lower East Side: $725,025
- Michael Streeter of Brooklyn Heights: $709,975
- Patrick Schnell (Boerum Hill, Brooklyn): $582,800
Essentially, all it takes is filming a truck idling for three minutes or a school bus for one minute and sending that evidence to DEP and OATH.
The allure of this money has resulted in a surge of bounty hunter applications, jumping from 49,000 in 2022 to 124,000 in 2024, with over 100,000 filed this year alone.
However, DEP officials pointed out that these anti-idling whistleblowers tend primarily to focus on areas like Midtown and Lower Manhattan, rather than “environmental justice” neighborhoods such as Harlem, the South Bronx, or East New York.
“We can and should incentivize people to report crimes, but we don’t need to make them millionaires,” said Environment Ministry Secretary Rohit Agarwala during a parliamentary session last year.
Schnell, one of the enforcement officers, disputed having received the allegedly reported $582,000 reward.
“Where did you get that number?” he questioned a reporter from behind his Brooklyn front door. “That’s not the money I’m seeing,” he insisted.
“It’s a lot of work,” Schnell added before shutting the door.
Representatives from anti-idling groups responded on behalf of notable complainants approached by the Post.
“Air pollution is lethal, leading to cancer, dementia, asthma, and 3,200 early deaths each year in New York. So, it’s understandable that the truck and bus sectors want to shift the focus,” stated George Pakenham of the New York Clean Air Collective.
“The Department of Environmental Protection should simplify the process for more people to report illegal air pollution, by updating its old website, making it accessible for non-English speakers, and hiring more staff to hold polluters accountable.”
