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Since the introduction of 311, the ease of complaining about noise is certainly greater; but the frenetic pace of building in New York is also contributing to a skyrocketing number of complaints by residents that construction noise is out of control. The New York Post reports that complaints for after-hours construction work grew ten-fold between 2001 and 2006, from 635 to 6,160. After-hours construction is defined as work done before 7 a.m. or after 6 p.m. In a city where some occupants raise disputes over too-heavy footfalls by neighbors to epic residential battles, the introduction of power tools and the noisy work of construction is making some New Yorkers nuts.
"I got woken up at 1 a.m. the other night. A jackhammer or drill like a machine gun," complained a bleary-eyed Stacy Rauch, 48, a resident of 30 Park Ave., which has been under near-constant renovation since October 2005."I've gone through a bottle of Advil in three weeks, a 250-pill bottle, and that's not good for you."
We've endured months-long construction projects that had plaster dust falling from our ceilings, so we can certainly empathize with that woman. There's not much that can be done. The average response time to construction noise complaints was just under 40 days in 2006. That figure was reduced in the first months of 2007 to just over a week. Beginning in July, a new code is going into effect that requires "noise mitigation plans" when construction is being done in a building. We can't wait to hear more about that, or less.
(Construction on 4th Ave Park Slope, by Squid Ink at flickr)
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speaking of 311 (and this may be a good story idea for g'ist), does anyone have any positive experience with this service? i've never had to call but my perception whenever i hear the mayor or some city official on wnyc say "call 311" is that any complaint or concern would just fall into this giant black hole of bureaucracy and ineptitude.
As usual the Post is wrong (at least partially) on this one.
It may take the Buildings Department 40 days to respond to one of these complaints, but the Department of Environmental Protection will respond to a noise complaint in less than a week. The dumb reporter doesn't mention that.
I've had to use 311 several times, and had a good experience with it each time.
Apologies if this turns into a double post: I've had to use 311 several times, and had a good experience with it each time.
311 is great but they just transfer you to the appropriate government department so then you're at the mercy of that agency's effectiveness/efficiency.
I called to complain about diesel smoke belching out of a rootop generator below my apartment window that was filling my old place with blue smoke. It took a few weeks for someone from the city to come out to check on it. Fortunately the generator only came on intermittently.
That much advil will destroy your kidneys.
Well didn't wasn't it construction noise that started the deadly altercation between Adrienne Shelly and a construction worker?
You'd think the City would be a little more on top of this stuff especially when fines can be a revenue generating source of income.
I haven't noticed increased construction noise, but rather a huge uptick in the number of construction vehicles going past my apartment on lower Allen Street. We're talking about those dump trucks with exhaust pipes up front that make a HUGE amount of noise when they downshift. It's absolutely deafening, and they go by at all hours of the day and night.
A week or so ago they were jackhammering on 8th Street and Fifth Ave at 11:30 at night. I remember the time because I couldn't hear the Colbert Report. One more reason to hate construction noise!
Off hours construction is a given in FiDi, with absolutely no recourse, it seems. But what really gets us is the loud-as-heck noise of powerwashing machines that Wall Street building owners use at least once a month. They seem always to start after work hours and go on until 6am or so. Can anything be done to stop that???? Seems building owners/management, if not the city itself, refuse to recognize that half these Wall St buildings now are residences.