With Noise Cap, Mayor Seeks Sound of Silence

By Los Angeles Times
July 10, 2007

He got New Yorkers to stop smoking in public buildings, bars and restaurants, and the city's dining spots soon will be free of trans fats. But can Mayor Bloomberg deliver on his vow to make the city less noisy?

Last week, a noise-control ordinance went into effect, aiming to crack down on some of the worst offenders in the cacophony of everyday urban life: The targets include ice cream trucks, whose tinkling, irritating jingles play over and over; nightclub operators, whose rowdy music blares in otherwise quiet neighborhoods, and dogs barking at all hours.

The goal of the new law was to give the city that never sleeps "much-deserved peace and quiet," Mr. Bloomberg said when he signed the law 18 months ago. Under the new ordinance, the fines for violating noise levels have been increased, ranging from less than $100 for a barking dog to thousands of dollars for repeat nightclub offenders.

Noise complaints, the mayor continued, are the "no. 1 quality-of-life issue for New York residents," and the new legislation is needed to update a 30-year-old law.

"I think it's great they're trying to do something about all of this," a retiree out for a stroll in midtown, James Titus, said. As he spoke, two cars passed by with radios booming salsa music, a fire engine roared up the street with its siren blaring, jackhammers echoed from a building under construction.

"But I don't know if they can solve this problem," Mr. Titus added. "There's noise everywhere."

To give the law some teeth, the city's Department of Environmental Protection is assigning 45 agents to screen chronic complaints about noise, especially in clubs and homes. They'll be armed with some tough new guidelines: Nightclubs may not blast music that is "plainly audible" (defined as 7 decibels) more than 15 feet from their front doors.

Public sentiment appears to be on Mr. Bloomberg's side. Noise complaints topped the list of problems called into the city's 311 hotline in the past 12 months; more than 278,000 were logged since last July, most about loud neighbors.

"The idea is that we'll see a gradual difference in noise over time, not right away," a spokesman for the department, Michael Saucier, said. "This is a complaints-driven system about noise, and the public serves as our ears."

DEP agents will be responding to chronic long-term complaints, he explained, but police will respond to complaints as they happen.

There have been strong anti-noise initiatives on other cities in recent years, from Alameda, Calif., to Sarasota, Fla. And unlike his 2003 crusade against smoking, Mr. Bloomberg's noise regulations have generated little controversy.