Photo credit: Pixabay
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
New York Magazine published an article this fall about how to soundproof an apartment. Noise from neighboring apartments can be a problem anywhere, but it is especially a problem in New York, where almost a quarter of residents live in apartments. In West Virginia, fewer than 5% do.
Apartment living is even more prevalent in the borough of Manhattan, where about 35% of people rent apartments. About 10% live in condominiums and 20% of residential units are cooperatives or “coops,” a unique property ownership arrangement in which a large apartment building is owned cooperatively. Together, this means that about two thirds of Manhattan residents live separated only by walls, ceilings and floors from their neighbors.*
Reporter Laura Fenton interviewed The Quiet Coalition’s Arline Bronzaft about how to approach one’s noisy neighbor. “Do it nicely. Do it with some humor. Do it politely and decently. Sometimes a person’s not aware that they are loud,” Arline said. Fenton mentions someone whose upstairs neighbor got a treadmill and had no idea what it sounded like to the apartment below. When the upstairs neighbors heard what the treadmill sounded like to their downstairs neighbors, they solved the problem by buying a rubber mat to go under the machine.
The basic principles of noise control start with eliminating noise at the source. For example, apartments, coops and condos could have recommendations or guidelines about sound insulation for treadmills other exercise equipment. Other helpful suggestions include rug pads, cork tiles and weatherstripping insulation to block out noise from hallways. Blocking out noise from windows is more difficult, and costly window inserts may be the only solution.
The situation for noise coming from outside the apartment is more complex. In New York City, noise comes from restaurants, bars and clubs, all of which are meant to be regulated by the city. Neighbors can complain to city authorities using the 311 system. I suspect, however, that most noise pollution is from road traffic noise. Electrification of vehicles will help reduce exhaust noise. Enforcement of engine noise laws will reduce noise, as will enforcement of horn use laws. Trees and shrubs can absorb noise, but there isn’t room to plant these on most Manhattan streets. The solution may be requiring different tire compositions, and for the city to use different paving materials to reduce road traffic noise.
Reducing noise in New York City, and especially in Manhattan, won’t happen overnight. We know that cities can be made quieter from the urban quiet that settled on the city during COVID lockdowns. We also know that a quieter world will be a better, healthier and certainly happier world for all.
*It’s not clear to me if the statistics I found are for apartment units or for residents living in apartments, whether rented, owned cooperatively or owned as condominiums. Regardless, the fact is that a majority of Manhattan residents don’t live in single family homes.
