Noisy Neighbors
Okay, so in this case, we’re the “noisy neighbors.” We recently moved from Manhattan into a brownstone in Park Slope. Our new place has outdoor space (that we pay a premium for) and we’re definitely planning to utilize the space during the summer months. My husband and I both work until 7pm so the only…
Okay, so in this case, we’re the “noisy neighbors.”
We recently moved from Manhattan into a brownstone in Park Slope. Our new place has outdoor space (that we pay a premium for) and we’re definitely planning to utilize the space during the summer months. My husband and I both work until 7pm so the only time to take advantage of the backyard is in the evenings as we tend to travel on the weekends. Over the past week we have been out back gardening (trying to beautify our new outdoor space) until about 10pm and one weeknight we had friends over until just before 10pm. I would say that 99% of the time it will just be me and my husband out back and when we’re out there we often play music, but at what I would consider a reasonable level (for example, I can’t hear it when I enter the apartment and close the door). Coming from Manhattan, we’re used to playing music and in most cases being some of the quieter people in our old building. We understand that we live near a lot of families with young children now and we’re trying to find a balance between enjoying our outdoor space and being respectful of our neighbors.
We received a complaint from one of our neighbors that we are being too noisy and that music is meant to be kept indoors in our new neighborhood. As I said, we want to be respectful of our neighbors and certainly don’t want to start off on the wrong foot, but we also want to enjoy our space. When we signed the lease on our apartment nodoby mentioned a “music indoors” rule.
So, here’s my question, is playing music at reasonable levels until 9 or 10pm disrespectful? If so, what would be a reasonable time to play music until?
We would like to come to some sort of arrangement with our neighbors where we stop playing music at some designated hour, but that we still have a right to play music until that point in time without complaints or dirty looks on the street. We think that requesting that music stay indoors at all times is somewhat unreasonable. Would love to hear your thoughts…
OP, i would like to lend you a Cannibal Corpse record to play at your next shindig.
quiet enjoyment is a lovely thing, but commenters here seem to be assuming that because a person isn’t making noise they have more a right to enjoy their lives than someone who makes a little. this ‘until it invades my space’ argument is a little precious for new york, doncha think?
i do agree that brining up your Manhattan pedigree is not likely to gain the upper hand in the argument 😀
Backyard music/entertaining is a very sensitive subject. I appreciate your consideration and thoughtfulness in bringing up the subject, but please keep in mind that you are surrounded by families with small children, elderly people, people who may be ill (of any age), people who retire by 10:00 pm (or earlier) and get up very early, etc. One of my neighbors had a party in their backyard until 4:00 am the other night, and the more people drink, the louder they get, and the less they notice or care about the noise, including the hosts.
I have a backyard garden on 2nd street in the Slope and new neighbors recently moved in – I’m wondering if it’s you! I didn’t complain about them but I’ve felt awfully tempted to. I can hear the neighbors behind us when they are talking about a very low level because the sound carries. If everyone did what you’re doing, playing music at a “reasonable” level, it would become unbearable so there seems to be an unwritten code that you just don’t play music outside unless you are having an occasional party. Enjoy yourself but be respectful of how your neighbors probably have their windows open and don’t want your music invading their space.
Again, I understand noisy pain in the arse neighbors…have had them myself before and I certaintly don’t want to be one of them. That being said, I do think the standards in Park Slope are different from those in Manhattan…at least the W. Village where I used to live. There was constant noise around us at all times and at some point you get used to it. Now obviously we recognize that things are quieter in the Slope and that there are different levels of noise and music that are appropriate given the close quarters and the use of outdoor space. We just weren’t aware of how much sound carried in the outdoor spaces…particularly since the anonymous letter we received was labeled as being from a neighbor who lives 2 blocks away…I’m truly shocked that our music could have carried that far and realize what that must mean for those neighbors who live right next door. We’re definitely going to make an effort to be more considerate we’re just trying to figure out the boundaries. Does being considerate mean forgoing music altogether? I don’t think it does, I think it just means being aware of those around you, being aware of the sound you’re putting out there and recognizing when you may have guests over that are being too loud and trying to move things inside…all things that we plan to do going forward.
I have to agree with Anonymous 4:00pm also…
Hey, I lived in Manhattan too, LES, for years…
I didn’t need guidelines from others to comprehend what consideration was all about.
A noisy pain in the arse of a neighbor is the same wherever any of us live… Manhattan,Brooklyn, etc.
Again, tweak the backyard behavior a bit on those
weeknights and you should be in fine fettle with all of your new neighbors, and with your landlord.
My point was that when living in Manhattan for the past 4 years we never had a single complaint about our music…we try to keep our music at reasonable levels…and definitely no Coldplay or Christian Country. We lived in a building with elderly couples and families and never had a problem, the main difference is that in that space we didn’t have a backyard. So, now we’re just trying to figure out what’s a reasonable use of our new outdoor space. As you mentioned, if we’re having some sort of party we would definitely give our neighbors a heads up in advance.
As some posters have mentioned, everyone has different taste in music so you can’t make everyone happy, but maybe when we’re outside we’ll try to keep it to something softer like Norah Jones to try to offend as few people as possible…and just because things don’t translate that well over IM, I’m being serious, not sarcastic.
Jimmy Legs, every other party I go to in Bushwick gets busted by the cops for noise, it’s like they’re the Bushwick neighborhood watch or something. no one is safe.
Lame excuse, OP. I’ve lived in Manhattan all my teenage and early twenties life, including soho and lower east. the only annoying music I ever had to deal with was dominican on weekends, and that was afternoon-ish.
this has nothing to do with kids. maybe they just hate whatever you’re spinning? Cut down on the Coldplay or Christian Country or whatever you’re playing.
Another suggestion, though, is that if you do want to play music later into the eve for some specific reason (party, etc) just send out little letters to everyone giving them a heads up ahead of time. Then if they complain, they better do it to your face and before said event, otherwise you can just say: TOO LATE.
I have these stoners who live right below me in Alphabet City and they smoke pot all night (wafts right into my bedroom) and talk outside so loudly I can hear them when I’m taking a shower. I can’t tell them to take it inside, because it’s their balcony, you know? But god, I hate them so much. And if I had kids, I would def call the cops on them.
My personal rule: till 9, whatever you want. after 9, be cool. after 10, be verrrry cool.
But my guess is that no matter how low you turn down the music, your neighbors will be snotty little whiners because you’re the noob who’s invaded ‘their’ mental space. No way to win this one so just be as respectful as you can, without caving in completely. Two way street and all that.