Noise at Any Hour Can Be Unlawful
QUESTION: I live in a six-story apartment building in Bedford Park. For the last few months, my new downstairs neighbors have been playing the piano every evening from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. This constant noise has interfered with my thinking and rest. At this point, it is my quality of life that is being disturbed, to the point where I must leave my apartment for some peace of mind. Cathy Mahoney ANSWER: In 1972, after having been on the books for four decades, the noise law governing the situation you speak of was repealed. The law was essentially a noise curfew that prohibited: "the operation of any radio, phonograph or use of any musical instrument in a manner or with such volume, particularly between eleven post meridian and seven ante meridian, as to annoy or disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of persons in any dwelling, hotel or other type of residence." [emphasis mine] Interestingly, violation of this law would bring, upon conviction, a maximum fine of $25 or a maximum of 10 days' imprisonment, or both. In other words, this still very dear, though very dead, law -- unlike our present-day Noise Code -- carried criminal penalties. This no doubt, along with the greater civility of bygone days, discouraged noise makers. The City Council's repeal of the eleven-to-seven law was not to appease late-night racket-making. Far from it. In place of the noise curfew and a hodgepodge of other antiquated noise regulations, the City Council in 1972 enacted a forward-looking noise code premised on the concept that noise can be unreasonable -- and thus unlawful -- at any hour of night or day. In an interview two years ago, state Supreme Court Justice Michael DeMarco, a former Bronx councilman, completely agreed. "That was definitely the reason" the noise curfew was revoked, he said. "Noise can be unreasonable at all hours. Not just at night." As a councilman from 1970 to1997, DeMarco had been a member of the Committee on Environmental Protection that drafted the Noise Code and spearheaded its passage. The potential unreasonableness of noise, around-the-clock, is a much more sensible approach. New Yorkers' major activities have long ceased to take place predominantly between nine and five and dawn to dusk. Just as many of us sleep during the day and work at night as work during the day and sleep at night. In addition, our city has millions of students, senior citizens, and sufferers of mental and physical health problems, who especially need, and are morally entitled to, a home-front as uncontaminated as possible by unreasonable nighttime and daytime noise. Is your neighbor's piano-playing unreasonable noise? Unlike the old noise curfew, the Noise Code does not single out the playing of a musical instrument. So, this activity would fall under the Code's general prohibition: "No person shall make, continue or cause or permit to be made or continued any unreasonable noise." Enforcement would fall to the police, not the city Department of Environment Protection (DEP). A DEP spokeswoman said that situations such as yours "qualify as a neighbor-to-neighbor complaint and would be best handled by the Police Department." To determine unreasonableness, the police could refer to two standards. One prescribed by the NYPD consists of five elements (e.g., the time of day, number of persons complaining about the noise). The other, set forth in the Noise Code, defines unreasonable noise as "excessive or unusually loud sound that disturbs the peace, comfort or repose of a reasonable person of normal sensitivities." Bear in mind, however, that, many police officers (like many civilians) feel that people have as much a right to play a musical instrument in their apartment as they do a stereo, and that unless the sounds are outrageous or occur late at night or very early in the morning, it is a matter for the landlord. And the police are right. More on your problem in the next column. Ed. note: John Dallas is founder of the Bronx Campaign for Peace and Quiet. If you have a noise-related question or comment write to: Sound Advice, Norwood News, 75 E. 208th St., Bronx, NY 10467. . Recent Sound Advice Columns include:
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