Turn It Down! Church Blasts Bed Stuy Neighbors
Whenever I’m awake, it’s on. Whenever I’m asleep, it’s on! They put the speaker on and rock it out, says Destorm Power, encapsulating the problem facing neighbors of the Universal Outreach Ministries at 961 Bedford Avenue. Locals have tried 311 only to be told that noise complaints can’t be filed against a house of worship…
Whenever I’m awake, it’s on. Whenever I’m asleep, it’s on! They put the speaker on and rock it out, says Destorm Power, encapsulating the problem facing neighbors of the Universal Outreach Ministries at 961 Bedford Avenue. Locals have tried 311 only to be told that noise complaints can’t be filed against a house of worship during service hours. And volume’s not the only problem: If it sounded good, it would be okay, but they can’t sing, said Power.
A bad neighbor is a bad neighbor. Hiding behind religion is not an excuse for shirking the laws that the rest of us are required to follow. It makes the offense worse no?
When I lived at 5th Ave and Bergen in Park Slope years ago, some street preacher got out his equipment one Saturday morning, set it up on the corner, and started doing his thing. I had worked all the previous night and needed some sleep. I tried to ignore it, then called the local precinct twice to complain. They said they’d send a car but didn’t. Finally, I got really pissed, put on some clothes, went downstairs, and confronted the preacher. I told him face-to-face somthing like “That’s enough…I’m trying to sleep, man!” I think I was getting my point across when the cops finally came and made him pack it up. Good thing they did. I was starting to imagine I’d end the day in jail for slugging a preacher.
I can sometimes hear the call to prayer from the mosque on Bedford and Fulton. I guess because I’m probably at the end of speaker range, I find it hauntingly beautiful and exotic, as the sound kind of wafts across from a far distance and just undulates. It’s only a couple of times a day, and depending on time of year and weather conditions, I don’t always hear it.
I think if I lived across the street, I’d be less poetic about it.
the “house of worship” across the street from my apt on bergen between smith / court is so loud, and so so bad. they can not sing worth sh!t. they use a live band, keep the doors wide open, and sometimes continue until after 11pm. And it’s on totally random nights, no regular schedule that i have noticed. So, one never knows when to expect a quiet evening at home, or the total opposite.
I’ve often wondered what it would be like living near the Mosque on Fulton(btwn Wash. and St.James)-they have a speaker/megaphone pointed out of a window. It seems to me to be too touchy of a subject to bring up but it would really anger me if I lived in audible distance.
Snappy, I’m agnostic so technically speaking, I may or may not be scared of gods wrath! I’m waiting until death to find out.
And since when do houses of worship get a pass on noise complaints?
Religious terrorism, plain and simple. Noise like that is used as a means of torture by the US military. The city should re-visit it’s policies on this as I don’t see how any person or group has the right to inflict its “message and mission” on the neighborhood at any time of day.
LM
MM, even the church doesn’t get it oftentimes. Two words: Spanish Inquisition.
I had an interesting conversation with my brother and sister-in-law over the weekend about the disparity in annulment charges to get married in the Catholic Church after one of them was previously married.
I guess it ranges from $35 (my divorced protestant sister-in-law) to $6,000 if you’re a Kennedy!!!!