Keep It Down! A Map of Noise Complaints in New York City
Feb. 2, 2015 — With its bright lights and bombastic reputation, New York City is a bustling place. It's the last place you'd expect to have peace and quiet. But that doesn't stop the noise from rankling many of its residents. It may well be called the city that never sleeps with good reason, but that doesn't change the fact that many of us have to be up at 6 a.m. or earlier (ouch) to get ready for work. And if New Yorkers are good at something, it's complaining.
Michael Lentin, owner of CitiQuiet (soundproof windows), has mapped the neighborhoods with the most 311 calls and why people complain.
Based on data that compiled last fall 2014, the neighborhoods with the most noise complaints included the East Village, Battery Park City/Lower Manhattan, Soho/Tribeca/City Center/Little Italy and Midtown/Midtown South. Midtown/Midtown South had the most complaints with 104.51 complaints per 1,000 people. In comparison, areas further from midtown Manhattan, like Starrett City and Co-op City, had 2.25 and 1.10 complaints per 1000 people, respectively.
Taking a broader view, Lentin and his crew discovered that the majority of noise complaints (37%) came from loud music or parties, construction before/after hours (16%) and loud talking (13%). Sounds that were lesser sources of the noise problem included: cars and trucks and banging or pounding, each contributed 2%. Overall, noise complaints peaked at 11 p.m. weekdays and midnight on weekends.
Final calculations revealed 140,664 noise complaints in NYC in the past year. Check it out: