Photo credit: Enrico Perini
by Arline L. Bronzaft, Ph.D., Board of Directors, GrowNYC, Co-founder, The Quiet Coalition, and Honorary Chair, Quiet American Skies
Generally, residents complain about noise sources in their own communities and ask their public officials to assist them in abating these noises. Although residents in Westerleigh and several other communities on Staten Island have been complaining about loud music from “boom parties” in their own communities, many have told Kristin F. Dalton, silive.com that loud music heard on Staten Island is coming from across the water, namely from Elizabeth, New Jersey. Residents in New Jersey are also being impacted by the loud music from these boom parties.
The loud music is causing one Staten Island resident to lose sleep. “The whole neighborhood is losing sleep,” the resident said. And residents are also stressed out and frustrated.
Diminished quality of life is a health issue and this must be underscored. Noise is hazardous to health!
District Attorney Michael McMahon and other Staten Island officials had written to Elizabeth, New Jersey Mayor Christian Bollwage about the noise issue last month and received a prompt response promising that action would be taken. But even though the Mayor’s office, the Elizabeth police department, and the Code Enforcement Division have made an effort to disperse the boom parties, they continue, and efforts to stop the noise have not been successful.
DA McMahon promises to address the noise issue with higher authorities in New Jersey if the noise problem cannot be resolved by the Elizabeth officials. Dalton’s article doesn’t go further into the loud music emanating from Staten Island boom parties, but I would like to know how Staten Island officials are dealing with local boom parties. With noise ordinances in place in both states, and with the sources of the noise being identified, one would assume that enforcement is possible and likely.
Apparently, not yet.
We are dealing here with a noise problem that has crossed state lines. May I suggest that New York’s Governor Hochul, who early on in her term signed two bills centered on lessening transit and loud car noise in New York reach out to New Jersey Governor Murphy to discuss how the boom party loud music issue can be resolved? This isn’t just a matter of annoyance–we are dealing with an issue that impacts negatively on our health.
