Street Loiterers & Their Music
I recently bought a co-op, and my unit happens to be very near a small park and deli – both of which are apparently gathering places on nice days. I actually don’t mind the gathering so much, but there is always a soundtrack accompanying these gatherings. People either open up their cars and blare music…
I recently bought a co-op, and my unit happens to be very near a small park and deli – both of which are apparently gathering places on nice days. I actually don’t mind the gathering so much, but there is always a soundtrack accompanying these gatherings. People either open up their cars and blare music for all to hear, or they bring boom boxes. I am subjected to music all day and evening, all weekend long. I’ve even heard the music coming from the windows of the building next door (which I do not think is a co-op). I call 311 all the time, but what else can I do to get this under control? The little park is actually designated as a “Quiet Zone.”
Thank you again to Rick, dirty hipster, and bohuma for being supportive. witchdoctor: i never, ever said heavy latin *problem*. Please read again: I said I live in a neighborhood with a heavy Latin *culture*. Saying I live in a neighborhood with a heavy Latin culture does not make me a racist. If I had a problem with it I wouldn’t have moved here.
So please, commentors, this is not a race issue. I suppose I never should have made the Latin comment – that was a semi-irrelevant detail. The incessant music is selfish and rude no matter what kind it is – it would irritate me even if they were blasting playlists from my own iPod.
This is just plain and simple a quality of life issue. This weekend I am joining some of my new neighbors to plant flowers outside, and I’ll see if I can breach the subject at that time. I also found out who takes care of the little park which is the source of the problem, and will be getting in touch with them soon to see if they are aware of this issue as well.
We had this problem last summer, and I am hoping that it won’t be a problem this summer. I actually think that it is partly an intimidation tactic used to express some sort of proprietorship over public land. We reached out to the local precinct, having everyone in our condo call constantly until they actually did something. Calling 311 is usually a more effective option because 311 calls are officially logged into Compstat and the complaints have to be resolved. Calls to the local precinct are not necessarily logged.
I reject the notion that a neighborhood has to be static. New people come in all the time – after all the land in Brooklyn was farmland and before that the range of Native Americans. We all have to live together and respect each other, and that includes respecting the right of others not to be disturbed by your music. I hate going to the beach and being blasted by someone’s boom box, why should I put up with it in a public park in NYC?
quote:
Little people feet are just as irritating as bass. More irritating, IMHO
lol awesome. and SO true.
*rob*
a) purchase 1000-watt stereo
b) aim out window
c) tune in to “A Prairie Home Companion”
d) turn up to 11.
done and done.
rmf2175: you might need to sell and move to arizona with the way you have responded! in your new state, the police will take care of “the heavy latin problem” you describe. adios amigo.
“You can change your attitude – You can have some patience.”
HAHAHA!! Sorry, if you can hear someone’s music playing from another building, that’s just obnoxious and it’s obvious the offender has no respect for their neighbors.
Can you do anything? Doubt it, unless you go all Clint Eastwood in ‘Gran Torino’ and start bussin’ skulls.
We have many renters in PLG who are very invested in the neighborhood, involved in community activities and who care very much about improving quality of life. I think if a renter doesn’t feel involved or included in their NYC neighborhood that says more about the renter than the neighborhood and its homeowners.
OP, many blocks have dealt successfully with this kind of problem. For all those who say just deal with it, there are a hundred other people in NYC who refused to put up with it and were able to improve the quality of life on their blocks. Is there a block association? If not then start one. In the meantime on your own you can reach out to people in your bldg and other bldgs and houses about this issue, and contact local representatives and meet with the precinct.
I deal with the same problem in my area all the time. Out here, In the Summer many people really enjoy loud music on the streets, in cars and in their apartments with their windows open. I think it’s a form of expression for them. However, it’s very self centered and inconsiderate to others who don’t enjoy this activity. I have come to understand that I’m in the minority and there really is very little I can do about it. Unless you have really deep pockets there will always be some sort of compromise in buying in the city. I say do what you can by talking with others but you may want to invest in some really good windows to block the sound out. I have friends that live on a noisy street and they installed an extra set of windows in their apartment and it really helped.
CrownIFC, I think that you are speaking volumes, eloquently, about the fears everyone has about gentrification. It would be a terrible world if renters were perceived as lesser citizens of any block because they rent instead of own. It is wrong to assume that one kind of noise is OK and another kind of noise is unsavory. Little people feet are just as irritating as bass. More irritating, IMHO.
I am not an expert on race or class relations or gentrification, but I am grateful that I live on a block where these issues are sorted out with grace. On my block, anyone who cares is welcome to keep caring. There are a number of renters at block association meetings here, I think because there are a few houses where tenants are the primary caretakers and responsible for sanitation tickets and such. The people who paint over the graffiti on the side of the warehouse on the corner, plant the daffodil bulbs, sweep the sidewalk–these are the people who get to make the informal rules that we all wind up living by. If that means that the loud kids living for free in the foreclosed house get fifty 311 calls in a week, then so be it. And they can feel conspired against and like lesser citizens of the block if they want, or they can come pick up a broom and try to convince the eighty-year old women and white gay couples who rule our block that loud music is a cultural difference and that they need to accept it.
I think that this is fair. It’s a meritocracy anyone can join. If I were a tenant, I probably wouldn’t. I don’t enjoy sweeping my sidewalk, it’s something I do so that I don’t get a ticket. I like planting things, but am not sure I’d get it up to do the tree pits if I wasn’t involved in this little group.
So as a homeowner do I get more of a say in my block than the renters do? Yes. Home ownership forced to begin participating in the informal and formal governance of it. Ownership put me out on the street with all the other homeowners with a broom or a shovel in my hand, and this led to gossiping about who’s selling drugs and who’s having trouble with the noisy kids and learning about the 311 phone tree and going to the block association meetings and planting bulbs and whatnot.
But this greater say is so not a function of entitlement. It’s a function of labor and responsibility.