kiddie-bedtime-07-2008.jpgThe most frequent noise complaint real estate lawyer Stuart Saft hears nowadays concerns kids. “Fifteen years ago or so, it used to be that the noise complaints were all about loud stereo and TV equipment,” Saft is quoted as saying in a Times story about the pitter patter of tiny feet driving neighbors crazy. “Now it’s kid noise more than anything else, and I think it demonstrates the changing demographic of the city. You have more kids living in the apartment buildings, and parents who feel their children have the right to be children.” The story focuses on people like a Slope couple with two kids who try to keep their children from running around before 8 a.m. because their downstairs neighbor finds the tots’ noise “exhausting. Even my boyfriend doesn’t ever want to come over — it’s so horrible.” Another Slope mom says she “probably tried a little too hard” to keep her kids quiet and not upset neighbors when, at the end of the day, “They were not doing anything outrageous. They were just doing normal kid things. But small children, especially toddlers, have this clumsy flatfooted walk. It’s impossible to control.” The article says noise carries in a lot of prewar construction, especially in smaller buildings, and when apartments are renovated or combined, the end result is often the loss of some insulation. Some co-op boards install sound meters in apartments to determine if neighbors’ complaints are warranted, though the most frequent solution appears to also the most time-trusted when it comes to New Yorkers and their tight quarters: Compromise. “We do indeed walk on eggshells, and I find myself on tiptoes if I have high heels on, even when I’m not home,” says another Brooklyn parent.“I’m a trained monkey. But my 19-month-old is not.”
The Noise Children Make [NY Times]
Photo by Joey Harrison.


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. I like to make noise. And im not even a child. It was actually one of my criteria on my home shopping list. I bought a semi detached house… There are apartment buildings on my block. There is street noise on my street. That was important to me. I hate feeling like I have to sneak around my own house. I hate the ‘threat” that some hyper vigilant crazy neighbor is going to start knocking on my door lecturing me about how morally righteous they are and how defective I am.

    I feel sort of entitled to make noise. I planed for it. And I don’t do absurd things… but if im home I like to play music, and clean… maybe sing along while doing that…. and sure… if I feel like it re-arrange the furniture and talk loudly on the phone… and have friends over and laugh… and do jumping jacks…. And….Come to think of it… all of the fun things I do with myself require noise. Maybe kids are onto something. Maybe we would all be happier if we “ran” to the kitchen for a glass of water…. And skipped to the bathroom….

    Oh- and I like to hear noise. I like the sound of voices and music on the street. I don’t mind the sound of footsteps… it reminds me of people. I like people. I like the way they sound even when it’s coo coo. And I live in a city with a lot of people. And a lot of noise so I guess that’s lucky for me. It has to suck really bad to live in some apartment building in NY and crave solitude and silence.