“I’m sensitive to noise, emotions, electromagnetic vibrations. You name it, I’m sensitive to it.”And while navigating the NYC real estate market is never easy, and any single horse in Prager’s personal trifecta of pathos could make finding the downtown Manhattan he sought tough, you'd reckon the severity of his noise allergy would make living in almost any NYC neighborhood an unending nightmare of acoustical anaphylactic shock. He tells the Times:
“[Y]ou know how they use [white noise machines] in therapists’ offices? I have to ask the therapist to turn them off, along with their computers — there’s a little fan inside most computers that goes on and that’s annoying — and their air-conditioners. And then I can’t concentrate because there is always construction noise. […]
"Music playing in the house or a car makes me agitated. […] I have to leave the house if my girlfriend blow-dries her hair.”
Sorry, Ladies, apparently he's off the market. For now.
But professional soundproofers hardly need to rely on such rare acoustic canaries as Prager who insist on living in the noisiest coal mines in to keep eggs on their tables. The soundproofing biz is ka-booming. Even seasoned Yorkers who know to expect a certain amount of noise and/or can easily adapt to different sounds in the urban environment have their limits. And once that threshold—be it high or low—is breached, acoustic engineer Anthony Grimani tells the Times, anxiety sets in:
“You hear something, and flight or fight kicks in and you wonder what or who is creeping up behind you. You think, ‘Is it going to eat me, should I run?’
Eat you! I vote for "eat you!" Don't run, you big baby.
"Sound is putting you in an evaluating condition all the time, and I would say that’s no way to live.”
Noise issues don't seem to dampen the blazing NYC real estate market very much, but trends in the NYC real estate market can help to explain the increase in noise around town. The incessant demand for housing has brought major construction sites and renovation and conversion projects into otherwise quiet residential neighborhoods. The Department of Environmental Protection enacted a stricter noise code for construction projects in July of 2007, but no one can seriously expect any power tool in the pneumatic family to suddenly become neighborly. [I'm looking at you, Jackhammer—grrrrr!]
The good news is, the Times reports in another article on noise in the , that the intrusion of construction and most other noises from the street—car horns, sirens, garbage trucks, voices, etc.—can be reduced by 95% by the installing laminated windows.
Another trend in NYC real estate that has affected noise polution in the is the increasing number of families with small children who are moving to NYC in general, but who are seeking out "quieter" neighborhoods in specific and effectively destroying the peace of other residents with the thudding racket of little feet, the clatter of hurled toys, boo-boo-related screeches, and the ever-popular combo package: the temper tantrum. Complaints of child-related noise have even eclipsed complaints related to music in recent years.
For parents averse to incurring the resentment of their neighbors—although that wouldn't be an accurate description of any of the parents interviewed for the Times article that reported on the child-noise trend—the Times also published this related article on how parents can minimize the transfer of the clamor of their little darlings' good times to their neighbors' bedrooms and private spaces.
But fear not! There are lots of fixes for noise issues in any of the articles linked to above, but here's yet another Times article with excellent suggestions on how to avoid a noisy , condo, co-op, or brownstone in any NYC neighborhood to begin with!
The Dream of Absolute Quiet [NYT]
The Noise Children Make [NYT]
Laminated Windows Keep Out the Din [NYT]
Getting a Handle on Noise [NYT]
A Place to Play the Piano Forte [NYT]
Checking Out the Noise Level [NYT]
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