Gothamist: Mayor B Tells NYC To Shush

Sleazy Santa

Thu, 10 Jun 2004 23:47:30 -0500

I'm just Waiting for Bloomburg and Gulianie to team up against Loud Jaywalkers.

Mase

Wed, 09 Jun 2004 11:37:44 -0500

Regarding car alarms, the City already limits them in that they are only supposed to alarm for three (3) minutes. Obviously, though, alarms go off for a lot longer than the mandated three minutes. The proposed code would apply to the alarms with the new "plainly audible" standard. Personally, I agree with those wishing to ban car alarms outright because, as one comic has put it, the car alarm has become the 'urban cricket' of New York City. Have you EVER seen anyone do ANYTHING when a car alarm goes off except look pissed about the noise?

Jimmy Legs

Wed, 09 Jun 2004 10:06:41 -0500

i'd like to point out that's not a Mr Softee truck that does the 'hello' thing, it's 'Kool Man' or something. my old apartment was above a chinese restaurant and every day during the summer Mr Softee parked outside my window to run in and get his dinner. he'd leave the song playing for 20-30 minutes while he got his food. little else has pushed me so close to insanity. kool man will never bug me as much as that damn mr softee song.

Max

Wed, 09 Jun 2004 09:14:04 -0500

Simon, I am with you on that weird "Heeellloooo" thing. I heard it for the first time last week in FT Greene and it is very disturbing on a variety of levels. The music could be seen as annoying, but playing on our Pavlovian responses to a woman's (?) voice saying hello is just wrong. Very distruptive- we had to get off the porch. You think it is a parrot, I thought it was just an odd accent.

Tim N.

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 17:28:26 -0500

You know, I don't think I've ever been to Williamsburg. And I can count the number of nights I've been on the LES on one hand. So Josh, you're still my friend, but I'm not sure what you're referring to. I'll say again, and then close: quality of life is a relative term, but I think it hurts a persons quality of life more if they die in a fire than if they can't smoke. And many people, who never make it to the papers, agree. Talk to people (instead of just quoting tabs and blogs) if you disagree. BTW, one more clarification: I'm talking only about authentic Mr. Softee trucks, not those weird bastardizations with bad sound that troll through the streets.

Simon

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 17:12:02 -0500

I am working from home today, and theres one of those Mr Softee trucks parked in front of my building. If I could I would blow it up with a bazooka, Grand Theft Auto style. Its loud and annoying. Its not the old bell song, its some kind of weird electronic casio keyboard sounding shit, on a loop, with a parrot voice that says "HELLOOOO" at the beginning and these barking dog and qucking duck samples, running over and over and over. FUCK MR SOFTEE

Max

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 15:56:52 -0500

Oddly, I have a bird in my (v quiet) nieghborhood which must have taken the brown birdseed cause it starts singing at night and does not stop. I thought they all went to sleep at night? Hey Mr Mayor, can I kill it?

KeithS

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 14:20:18 -0500

"Most people I talk to hate the smoking ban but aren't ticked off by Mr. Softee." I hate Mr. Softee. I'm not ticked off by the smoking ban. In fact, I love and celebrate it. I'd buy the smoking ban a drink if I could.

Josh

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 14:11:11 -0500

here is most people (not living in williamsburg or the lower east side): http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/123083p-110561c.html http://www.nydailynews.com/03-28-2004/news/local/story/177974p-154834c.html http://www.thedailystar.com/news/stories/2003/10/04/poll.html http://www.10nbc.com/index.asp?template=item&story_id=9015 http://albany.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2003/01/20/daily67.html

corie

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 13:50:58 -0500

I agree with the overregulation part, though I don't think that anyone here can speak for the opinion of "most people."

Tim N.

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 13:24:20 -0500

It s/b http://adsformyself.blogpsot.com

Tim N.

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 13:20:03 -0500

It didn't go to the Bible thing, did it? Oh, not again! Seriously, don't know why this keeps happening...it could make a person pa-pa-paranoid.

Josh

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 12:47:13 -0500

Tim, is that really your web site?

Tim N.

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 12:32:12 -0500

Josh, amigo, first of all...Victims of firehouse closings: 5/22/04 fire in Williamsburg... four dead, firehouse nearby recently closed. Second... In the opinion of most people? Are you speaking for most people? Most people I talk to hate the smoking ban but aren't ticked off by Mr. Softee. Most people I talk to also think that since the Mayor ran on the argument that since he's a Republican and the gov is a Republican and the prez is a Republican that he can be more effective in dealing with them he should be held to a higher standard... and start being more effective... as opposed to turning citizens into lawbreakers because they want a cigarette. Look, I'm just tired of every time I turn around the Mayor is wagging a finger in the face of the people he's supposed to be serving. Quality of life is a relative term, and as an uabashed fan of smokes in a bar - and Mr. Softee - the city is starting to feel vastly overregulated.

jb

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 12:25:16 -0500

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamen to the car horns and car alarms. Anybody that sits behind a garbage truck making collections on a residential side street and leans on the horn needs a beating.

SP

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:44:47 -0500

car alarms should be banned outright. there should be a tax on dogs to discourage people from having them in the city. dog barking and honking horns in residential neighborhoods should be fined at $500 per bark / honk, doubled between 10 pm and 7 am. city buses should be converted to silent 100% electric motors.

corie

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:28:05 -0500

There is a taco truck in the UWS, around 106th Street. But I've never seen it drive around with music playing.

Josh

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:27:45 -0500

Oh, please. This city is so large and complicated, and it has issues on a scale that rivals most other countries. These huge, complex issues are being dealt with every day. Don't think that the city stops functioning just because the mayor wants new noise regulations. A smaller, more personal issue like the noise ban or smoking ban--quality of life issues that make the city a better place to live, in the opinion of most people--get more attention than larger issues sometimes because they are easy stories to understand and write about and they affect everybody. Just because the mayor is trying to improve the quality of life in this city does not mean that he is forgetting that the city is a major target of terrorists, or that many schools need overhauling, or that the federal and state government have not given the city the money it was promised. And by the way, firehouses aren't closing (and people aren't "burning to death"--where'd that come from?) because there isn't enough money or because the mayor is a Republican. The few firehouses that have been closed recently were closed because they were not necessary. It was an unpopular move, and a lot of firemean and community groups screamed bloody murder, but it saved the city a lot of money and it was a smart decision. see here: http://www.nydailynews.com/04-05-2003/news/story/72916p-67518c.html

tien

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:14:02 -0500

taco trucks?!? where the hell can i find a taco truck?!? and if i find one, do i have to have access to a toilet nearby? do anyone else remember something about bloomberg giving a press conference last year on noise at city hall when a motorcycle with a loud muffler roared by. if i remember correctly, bloomberg whispered to an assistant and had the guy pulled over as he got off the brooklyn bridge.

Tim N.

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:01:04 -0500

Josh, Mayor Bloomberg's NY is overregulated and underfinanced. While firehouses close and people burn to death, we're worried about Mister Softee trucks. There's a huge difference between not being able to step out your door for fear of your life and pitching a fit over a barking dog or an ice cream truck. Would we like to hear less car alarms and jackhammers? Ablsolutley. But there's some stuff you deal with when you move from the burbs. And if people can't deal with it, then maybe city life isn't for them. That five-foot-fool in city hall claims to be a Republican. What happened to the Republican ethic of government out of our faces?

corie

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:52:49 -0500

While I do not support mandating things like noise (which is inevitable in a city), I have to admit that I'd probably welcome the silencing of Mr. Softees and yapping dogs. But really, people, who gets to determine what's loud? That's pretty subjective. Then again, if they begin to fine parents who bring wailing toddlers into fancy restaurants, then you're talking...(kidding, just kidding).

Josh

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:48:17 -0500

What is up with these idiotic comments--move to Westchester if you want quiet?? You people probably would have said ten or fifteen years ago, 'move to Westchester if you want less crime, or if you don't want to be assaulted on the subway, or if you don't want to be accosted by smoke in restaurants and bars, this is New York City, man.' Well, grow up. These are all quality of life issues that affect most people, and it is the role of the mayor and the city to confront them, and I'm glad that these problems are being solved. The mayor is not trying to make it illegal to talk above a whisper,he's just getting rid of some obnoxious noises that make it annoying to live here, and it is a problem when you can't sleep because you have construction going on all night, or cars honking outside your window, or a stupid ice cream truck parked in one spot, playing its music endlessly. Whatever. I'm glad he's doing it. Now go and take some more pictures of the subway.

Ryan

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:47:26 -0500

It depends on the neighborhood you're in. Banning ice cream truck songs may be the thing that keeps me from going on a killing spree.

Laurie

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:32:59 -0500

I seriously doubt anyone moves to New York seeking pastoral quiet, but A-frickin-MEN about the Mister Softee song ban.

rudayday

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:23:03 -0500

If people want quiet, move. If you moved to New York for quiet, yer stoopid.

Chris

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:17:42 -0500

I wouldn't miss Mr. Softee at ALL. It's not so bad where I live now, but in my old neighborhood there were lots of kids, and several competing ice cream trucks regularly trolled our block. Sometimes there would be as many as four or five in an hour, and this went on until well after 10pm every night. They were so loud that they interfered with conversation, with whatever you had on t.v. or your stereo - and *forget* ever taking a nap!

Jimmy Legs

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:09:46 -0500

mr softee drives me nuts with that irritating song, but i'd miss it if it was suddenly removed. the words to the song: http://www.mistersoftee.com/music.asp

Tim N.

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:55:35 -0500

Dear Mayor School Marm: Here's how you can kick-off your anti-noise campaign: Just shut up. BTW, great point, Jen, regarding noise and city life... if it's too noisy for you, move to Westchester.

Pato

Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:14:11 -0500

Maybe he can get started addressing the HORRENDOUS noise of subway cars: the trains on the tracks, the distorted sound systems, the conductors screaming at the top of their lungs to "let go of the freaking door"... But that may not be a particular neurosis of his, seeing as that seems to be the basis for his "innovative" leadership. Jesus, this dude is obssessed with the lamest, most irrelevant shit.