Anti-idling vigilante Hunter Severini was tired of waiting.
He’d sent the city numerous videos allegedly showing drivers unlawfully spewing exhaust from their idling trucks and buses. But he believed the city clerk in charge of processing his cut of fines imposed on those drivers was dragging her feet, according to documents obtained by Gothamist detailing his “unexpected and unlawful appearance” in April 2022.
The clerk worked in the city’s Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, or OATH – the normally staid administrative law court that adjudicates summonses for violations of some laws and city rules.
Severini estimates he’s filed more than 2,000 idling complaints since 2021 – more than two per day.
But his presence in the office that day sparked panic among staffers. The clerk had received threatening emails and voicemails from Severini and “was alarmed and feared for her safety,” according to OATH records Gothamist obtained through a freedom of information request. Severini had accessed an employee-only floor. Security was notified and Severini eventually left the Manhattan offices on John Street. The NYPD investigated the incident but did not make an arrest.
The intrusion was part of a yearslong dispute between Severini and the city’s administrative law court. The episode highlights alleged abuse of the idling law, which the City Council and Mayor Eric Adams want to expand.
Under current city law, a citizen can submit a video to the Department of Environmental Protection showing a vehicle idling for more than three minutes – or more than one minute near a school. If the city determines a violation occurred and OATH collects an idling fine, the citizen complainant gets a 25% cut. Fines range anywhere from $350 for a first-time offender to $2,000 for a serial idler. That means complainers like Severini could earn anywhere from $87.50 to $500 per complaint.
But in December, Severini was suspended from appearing before OATH for 180 days for…
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