Photo credit: Kevin Baird licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
by Arline L. Bronzaft, Ph.D., Board of Directors, GrowNYC, and Co-founder, The Quiet Coalition
Noise complaints centering on loud speakers in parked autos along New York City streets has been a traditional New York City warm weather complaint. This complaint is only one of the nearly 300,000 noise-related complaints received by 311 so far this year. According to Dorian Geiger, Bushwick Daily, Bushwick “registered at least 147 noise complaints related to music blasting from cars.” The question Bushwick residents are asking is whether police officers will “crack down” on the owners of these loud audio systems.
Geiger tells his readers that police in Bushwick recently arrested two individuals blasting their music and confiscated their speakers. The 104th precinct hopes its increased night patrols will provide residents in this community with a “better Quality-of-Life.” With the summer expected to expose many New Yorkers to increased noises, can they expect their local police precincts to respond to their noise complaints? Even if they do, Phyllis Criscuooi, who was interviewed for this article, states that after the police chase away the “noisemakers,” they come back and blast their music again.
On the other hand, Muhammed Haddabah, a car audio technician, whose father owns an Auto Sound business, worries that the police crackdown on car audio systems could impact his father’s business. Furthermore, there are residents in this community who consider playing music outside part of the charm of the neighborhood. One resident said “[w]e sleep fine, we sleep peacefully.”
As Geiger notes, the police are “ramping up audio speaker busts” even as some locals say the loud music is “a form of celebration.”
