Noise Annoys, Rugrat Edition
The 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…
The 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.
hey, this is the store owner with the video. you can believe it or not, but i work in the business 60+ hours a week and have to deal with the parents who refuse to parent their children. i have two children myself, under the age of 6, who are not angels by any means. however, i do discipline them and follow through with the consequences if they do not behave. we have left many an establishment to make sure we don’t annoy everyone around us and to let them know who the parent is. i know and am friends with many parents who feel that i take a hard line attitude in regards to discipline, but my children want and need boundaries and direction. THEY ARE CHILDREN, NOT ADULTS.
“where a little blonde turd of a kid was jumping on tables…”
I call B.S.
5:13: Here’s a tip. If you are bothered by noise, don’t frequent cafes that have f_cking MS PAC MAN MACHINES.
5:13pm
You’re an old, fat kid hater because you are a loser.
What’s next, you’re going to complain about the blue sky, the wet water, the dirty dirt, the barking dog, the loud thunder from the storm, and everything else that makes noise in the night?
Your problem is you don’t interact with people on a social setting with “friends”. You need those – now go out and make some.
5:13, why would you hang out at Tea Lounge? That’s Sinveling Central. Oh….
Really, 5:01?? You weren’t in Abilene’s on Saturday where a little blonde turd of a kid was jumping on tables and running around like a maniac. The dogs in the bar were more behaved than he was. And his parents were ‘just having a glass of wine.’ And you weren’t in the Tea Lounge yesterday when some obnoxious brat was playing the Ms. Pacman machine in the back and yelling to his handler sitting halfway down the shop how high his score was.
Screaming. Yelling. Obnoxious. Sniveling. Brats.
See, 4:47, that’s just the thing. The kids in France were totally well-behaved. Just a couple of kids, after school, in the neighborhood place, drinking cocoa while the rest of us had a glass of wine. But what would you know about it? Only people barely out of their teens themselves refer to all children generically as “screaming brats”. Really, I am so tired of all the people moving here from the ‘burbs and thinking this entire place should revolve around their anemic idea of age-appropriate fun. The world would be a much less interesting place if everyone thought like you. And your children will, no doubt, be screaming brats, because that is what you will expect them to be, and you will likely treat them as such, whether they are or not. Sad.
Agree with 4:50, kids need rules. Good parents provide them. But keeping children out of all adult events, ever, doesn’t train them to socialize properly.
No European I know would let their children run around and act like a barabarian the way American parents do. American parenting is truly shocking.
Oh bull-Not having children doesn’t mean I don’t have eyes and ears. Frankly, it’s not hard to see that letting your kid do whatever he wants really isn’t that great for the kid in the long run. Having no kids doesn’t mean I can’t remember what how we were raised- not a idyllic situation but there were boundaries and rules. That bs that if you don’t have kids you can’t know what you are talking about is a big fat cop out to really addressing the fact that some people’s kids are not pleasant to be around. It’s not the kids fault- it’s the parents. Every mom with a kid in a play group has plenty of stories about the mom who ignores some seriously bad behavior.
Two of our friends w/ 2 kids came to a recent wedding with their 4 week old in tow but not the 18 mo old because they knew the little one would most likely sleep where the older child couldn’t be expected to behave in that setting. It would too much for any kid that age. They also knew if the baby really decided to wail, that they would leave. I don’t need my own kids to know that just seems logical. They didn’t need to be my friends-I could’ve just met them and seen they have common sense. I’m sure many parents have it but you don’t notice their kids because they are not bugging anyone.
Awareness and respect start with who’s in charge. The people with the annoying kids were probably the same ones with their dogs jumping all everyone, running away or pulling them down the street. It’s not just non-owners that think that’s rude. I have dogs and I do too.