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New York City is louder than ever!
Since February, noise complaints have increased by an astonishing 279 percent, but it's no wonder why. The shutdown started in March relegated most New Yorkers to their homes full time, which means more people crammed together at the same time. Then, in June, Black Lives Matter protests erupted calling for justice and soon the constant explosions of fireworks started.
In February, there were 27,781 noise complaints to 311, and by June, there were 105,240, according to a study by apartmentguide.com.
In June alone, there were 53,902 fireworks complaints—a 283,595 percent increase from April, where there were only 19 complaints about fireworks. Despite that, most complaints (157,823 of them) were about "loud music and parties," apartmentguide.com says.
Where were the most complaints during this period? The Bronx. Residents there filed the most complaints of any borough (by population percentage) for a total of 81,869 complaints, from February to June. Manhattanites followed with 74,661 complaints, then Brooklyn with 73,899, followed by Queens with 49,469 and Staten Island with only 6,635 complaints, according to apartmentguide.com.
Apartmentguide.com notes that the surge in noise complaints in the Bronx could be because neighborhoods with higher poverty rates and larger minority populations experience more noise pollution than other neighborhoods, according to a 2017 study published in the Environmental Health Perspectives Journal.
Overall, noise complaints across the city have increased 106 percent from 2019 to 2020, which just goes to show you, 2020 has been a year like no other.
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