Noisy New York City

The fire trucks have been driving me nuts lately. I have never seen smoke from a fire since I've lived here. . . where are the trucks always going?

Oh, and the weird crashing that some heaters make. It's like thunder and it's beyond irritating.

One day I woke up to a jack hammer tearing up the sidewalk right outside my window. It doesn't get any worse than that, it just doesn't.

@JenMac Those steam pipe sounds used to freak me out when I first moved to NYC in addition to these sounds in my apartment building sometimes you can actually hear sounds of people using the bathroom upstairs in the dead of the night. The sounds are not that noticeable during the day when the NYC city sounds drown them out.

We have actually installed a second set of windows I think they are called City windows to drown out the noise of the city as we live near the FDR though I do agree nothing absolutely nothing can block the sound of the FDNY trucks they really seem to make a racket as they go by. Though I often wonder if they always did or is it something they started post 9/11?

The only sounds I ever complained about was that of my neighbors. I've been lucky so far in that I have not heard sounds from the street.

@JenMac @uptowngirl I've actually turned my radiator off because the popping noise became so extreme that I couldn't sleep. Also it's a bit scary to have to listen to that all night.

@hhusted really? do you live in a real quiet, leafy area in the Bronx? I overlook the East River and the FDR so there's no escaping the noise especially in the summers when the windows are open and cars drive by with blaring music.aah summer.. love summers in NYC. Was talking to a friend in NYC yesterday.. she has lived there for over 15 years but this winter seems to have done her in.. she wants to leave and move somewhere warm.

@broadwaybk: that scared the bejeezus out of me as well! I kept waking up thinking someone was trying to break in.
I'm pretty fortunate that I don't have much city sounds either. My street is really quiet for some reason (some reason probably being uppity old people). But, I can hear our building elevator all day and all night. Less than desirable.

@Uptowngirl: When you get a bunch of riff-raff who are either kicked out of their country, or leave on their own, because they are too hot-headed, or to violent, and you place them in an environment that favors them, what can you expect, but violence. I'm just glad I'm no longer there.

I also got woken up once by a jackhammer right outside my window, at 7 am. Scared the daylights out of me when it started, for one. And I couldn't call 311 because - *I couldn't hear myself speak!* Great day I had that day, fleeing from home bleary-eyed to escape the noise.

Aren't there laws against construction work before 9 am?

@JenMac I was just about to ask that myself! I know our co-op has strict laws about hours for interior work being done in the apartments. So much so when we had ours painted we gave the job to our super who is a great workman. He was able to do it because since it was a paint job there was no noise and he was able to work at night after his building duties were done.

You can't so much as sneeze in my building without people notifying someone. Uranium, any recent jackhammering or was it a one time offense.

The jack hammering incident I went through awakened me around 10am on...a Saturday, I believe. I was incredibly hungover and I can't really remember this city putting me through anything worse. Knock on wooooood.

@JenMac Yes indeed there are laws against construction before 9 am. Clearly these jerks hadn't been sent the memo. This was back when I was a student and had an apartment facing Broadway. Not an area where people were especially consciencious about such things. It was a noisy, chaotic summer, fo' sho'.