New York Noise

[passdoubt]

I hate the sound of buses-- accelerating, idling, just their general rumble is a sound I could do without. I wish the MTA would invest in electric buses. They're so quiet. I think it'd be a really worthwhile investment (and better for the environment as well).

[jt1033]

For me it is not the ambient noise like traffic and such which you have to expect in any big city. It's the volume of the speakers on the subway trains, things like that, that border on ear damaging some times, which I know could be turned down easily.

[Rachael84]

Where I live in Astoria it's very quiet, and I live just like 3 houses away from Ditmars Blvd. I have a semi-basement apartment, so my windows are on street level. I have people walking by and I barely hear them. I'm a light sleeper too.

On the other hand, my friend lives in the East village, where half of her apartment faces 1st avenue. She said she hates hearing garbage trucks at 1am, sirens all day and night...she's moving to Battery park city and can't wait because she claims it's way quieter there. I can believe it.

I teach 21 Kindergarteners in the south Bronx, and THAT'S loud LOL. I have no idea why they feel the need to raise their voices so darn loud. I've never heard kids talk this loud anywhere else.

[Carbro]

Originally Posted by Irish Eyes

When they were expanding the subway downtown by the ferry - I think it was last summer - they had to set off dynamite. There were signs everywhere telling you what the sirens meant. 1 toot for this, 2 for that. So you would hear these sirens and then a giant explosion and a little ground shaking. I kept thinking WHERE AM I???

When they were clearing a lot on my block some years ago, my dog learned the signals -- the 30 second warning, the 10-second warning and the all-clear. She learned to ignore the first, become apprehensive with the second and relax with the third.

I also endured dynamiting across the avenue on the south side of the street, followed a couple years later by dynamiting on the north side of the street.

It could be said that living here has been a real blast.

[Irish Eyes]

Ha! See, even the dogs in NY are different.

[amcguire1]

I live in Tribeca around Chambers Street (Downtown area near World Trade Center) and I can tell you that the noise is the reason I'm going to go mad if I don't leave this city. I've been here for 6 years and I now realize that I will never get to the point where I don't hear what's going on outside my window. Even through double pane glass the city screams though my window on a daily basis.

For example: When I first moved in I was led to believe that Tribeca was a quite, family-oriented neighborhood. Well, true, the PEOPLE are mostly quiet, but nothing else is. First, there came the Con Ed workers who worked with drills throughout the night. When I complained, I was told that they were doing emergency work. This was not always true however, and they were sometimes fined for working through the wee hours on week nights. Then I found out what all the drilling was about - there would soon be a 40-story building and a 10 story building directly in front of mine, blocking out all possibility of sunlight to my apartment. Soon, the pile driving began - if you have never heard this, you are a very lucky person. Basically, they drive enormous metal spikes into the ground to form the foundation of a building. It's like Chinese water torture, except a thousand times louder.

This went on for 3 straight months during the day, then another 3 for the next building - then 2 more buildings went up across the street and adjacent to the other 2 to continue the fun. I work primarily at home and thought I would go out of my mind throughout this period. Earplugs only dulled the pain and my pets would run around in circles from the noise, poor little guys. Then the building process began, to add to the start-stop building process of the World Trade Center one block away. Just when I thought I was going to catch a break from the noise, Aramark food service workers began to picket outside of the building directly across from mine - with bullhorns and whistles which they used to broadcast their demands into microphones! They have chanted repetitive, sing-song slogans for 8 hours a day now for the past 4 months without end.

In addition to the noise of my neighborhood, I have to deal with the subway which is a noise fest in itself. The screeching, squealing sound of the cars as they come into the station and the incredible din from cars and people once inside is just incredible. I usually have to go out to the far end of Queens several times per week and I've taken to wearing earplugs. Now, I'm sure I'm coming off as some sort of noise-intolerant freak, but I assure you that I've lived in several other cities without a problem - Salt Lake, San Francisco, Philadelphia. There is absolutely no comparison. There is also virtually no consumer protection here. Complain all you want to 311, but basically, this is a city for businesses that people are allowed to pay through the nose to live near. I'm out of here at the soonest possible opportunity!

[Goldwing]

amcguire1
Thanks for the great reply, wow I think I'll stay in quite Utah

[quelinda]

My first post here, so hello to my fellow New Yorkers .

I live on a very quiet street on the upper west side, by the river so not much through traffic for one thing. In fact, my family is probably the noisiest on the block. I always wonder if they hear H and I yelling at each other at the top of our lungs LOL.

But I lived on E 14th St for about a decade and ya just start not to notice the shouting people, the car radios, and the trucks rolling by at rapid speed. Compared to where I am now, it was LOUD (it wasn't too far from the entrance to the drive either). But do ya think I noticed the noise any more than I do now? NOT! I'm a native New Yorker so what do you expect?! We are a rare breed LOL.