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Volume of Noise Complaints Goes Way Up
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 10, 2008
Modified Mar 10, 2008
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By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 10, 2008
Modified Mar 10, 2008
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The rowdy drunken yahoos stumbling out of nightclubs on the Lower East Side and East Village have some residents nostalgic for the old days of pre-gentrified lawlessness. 47-year-old Frances Ayers, who lives at Rivington and Ludlow streets, tells the Post, "At least with the drug dealers there wasn't any noise." Since July 2007, when the city’s stricter noise code went into effect, complaints recorded by local community boards have boomed.
Between July 1st, 2007 and January 31st, 2008, Community Board 3, which covers the two neighborhoods plus Chinatown, documented 1,872 complaints about nightlife-related noise, the most in New York for that category. The total amount of griping for the area during that time period was 6,133, which includes complaints about other noises like construction, obstreperous neighbors, voices in head, etc. That’s second only to Community Board 12, which covers a much larger area, including Washington Heights.
The West Village came in second in the noise complaining department, while Williamsburg was #1 in Brooklyn bitching, racking up 1,072 noise complaints about bars and clubs – placing them #3 citywide! Williamsburg also had the most construction-noise complaints of any Brooklyn neighborhood, a grand total of 698. In Manhattan, Upper West Siders lead the construction complainers with 1,937. You can call 311 to complain about any noise except helicopters; direct those complaints to the Economic Development Corporation hotline at 212-619-5000.
Check out the Post's map of the noisiest neighborhoods, after the jump.
Photo: the idealist
Tagged
complaints
east village
loud
Lower East Side
night clubs
noise
williamsburg
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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