Noise issue from Dry Cleaners in the next building (renting, co-op)

[vision33r]

All I can say is welcome to NYC, the reason why long time NYers all leave because in the long run everyone can use peace and quiet. You won't find that living in NYC. I used to wake up tired because all the noise in the city eventually wears you down. That's why I no longer live in NYC, in the long run it's not good for the health.

[nightcrawler]

Originally Posted by imageWIS

I did buy some noise canceling headphones, they didn't do much. Also, there wasn't any noise coming from there before, as I aforementioned (this was confirmed by my downstairs neighbor), so if they changed something (which they must have, as again, this noise didn't occur before), it's their responsibility to fix it.

they are not going to do anything, trust me on this.

[SeventhFloor]

It's a city - it's hard to find peace and quiet when living in a building. As sympathetic as I'll try to be toward this topic - even my upstairs neighbor makes noise sometimes late at night. I have kids, they make noise. My next door neighbor makes noise. We all make some type of noise - sometimes it just cannot be avoided. If absolute quiet is a necessity, the suburbs can provide that. In Manhattan it's near impossible.

Unfortunately, in your situation, your options are extremely limited, furthermore because you do not own the apartment and you are a renter:

-move (need $$$)
-hire a lawyer (need $$$)
-install soundproofing (you do not own the apt so you need the ok)
-talk to the business (you've already done this)

And that's pretty much your options.

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by SeventhFloor

It's a city - it's hard to find peace and quiet when living in a building. As sympathetic as I'll try to be toward this topic - even my upstairs neighbor makes noise sometimes late at night. I have kids, they make noise. My next door neighbor makes noise. We all make some type of noise - sometimes it just cannot be avoided. If absolute quiet is a necessity, the suburbs can provide that. In Manhattan it's near impossible.

Unfortunately, in your situation, your options are extremely limited, furthermore because you do not own the apartment and you are a renter:

-move (need $$$)
-hire a lawyer (need $$$)
-install soundproofing (you do not own the apt so you need the ok)
-talk to the business (you've already done this)

And that's pretty much your options.

Clearly, I have other options: contact 311, every day if need be, speak with the downstairs neighbors and get them to back me up. Have the building management contact the other buildings owner, I'll or the building management can contact the city and state authorities due to business noise violations. Again, this isn't the case of a little occasional noise. This is everyday, mon - sat of a business making a constant noise when previously they didn't.

[Kefir King]

image,

From what you first posted I got the impression that you shared only a diagonal LINE with the dry cleaner. If that is indeed the case, you would be wasting money trying to insulate any of your walls since you are getting sound transmission through the concrete floor slab.
Is there any likelihood that your floor continues as the dry cleaner's ceiling? Are you both in the same building???

But if:

and one of my walls is next to the other building that houses a dry cleaners
on the first floor

That implies that the sound is penetrating TWO layers of masonry with no common floor/ceiling. That is WEIRD that you would hear ironing machines.

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by Kefir King

image,

From what you first posted I got the impression that you shared only a diagonal LINE with the dry cleaner. If that is indeed the case, you would be wasting money trying to insulate any of your walls since you are getting sound transmission through the concrete floor slab.
Is there any likelihood that your floor continues as the dry cleaner's ceiling? Are you both in the same building???

But if:

That implies that the sound is penetrating TWO layers of masonry with no common floor/ceiling. That is WEIRD that you would hear ironing machines.

No, we aren't in the same building, it's the building next door. And yes, as far as I know, there are two brick walls between us (I could be wrong, and there might be less than two). As I mentioned, the noise can also be heard in the first floor. As I mentioned previously, the noise recently started, so clearly something changed...

[SeventhFloor]

Originally Posted by imageWIS

Clearly, I have other options: contact 311, every day if need be, speak with the downstairs neighbors and get them to back me up. Have the building management contact the other buildings owner, I'll or the building management can contact the city and state authorities due to business noise violations. Again, this isn't the case of a little occasional noise. This is everyday, mon - sat of a business making a constant noise when previously they didn't.

Noise Codes & Complaints

Let us know what happens.

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by SeventhFloor

Noise Codes & Complaints

Let us know what happens.

Will do. Hopefully an equitable solution can be found, if not, the management company + landlord will have to exert other pressures and / or solutions.

[Cida]

This sounds like exactly the type of problem that the city might look into. I can't remember if it's the Department of Environmental Protection, or what, but there is some city department that deals specifically with regular mechanical noise coming from a business. In other words, they won't deal with a barking dog, but they will look into rackety machines. So try to track them down.

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by Cida

This sounds like exactly the type of problem that the city might look into. I can't remember if it's the Department of Environmental Protection, or what, but there is some city department that deals specifically with regular mechanical noise coming from a business. In other words, they won't deal with a barking dog, but they will look into rackety machines. So try to track them down.

Awesome, thank you!

I don't complain for the sake of complaining (for example as I type this, my next door neighbor is being rather loud on the phone, but I'm not going to say anything as it's a rare occurrence), but this is interfering with my work and daily stress level and if they weren't doing this noise before, surely they have a way of fixing it.