Agencies failing on noise
To The Editor:
Re “Residents sound off on rising noise” (news article, July 23):
Thanks, Amy Russo, for this important reporting on the failure of our city agencies — specifically, the Department of Buildings and the Department of Environmental Protection — to protect quality of life during the current construction boom.
I think it bears noting that what I said at the Community Board 2 Quality of Life Committee public meeting was quite a bit more specific: It was not just any sound technicians that were measuring construction noise at 166 Sixth Ave. (God’s Love We Deliver): It was the Department of Environmental Protection’s inspectors (who only responded after we appealed to Public Advocate Letitia James). And it wasn’t just any construction noise: It was the sound of an oversized jackhammer mounted on a backhoe demolishing concrete. Our own decibel meter read 90, peaking at 98 and sometimes as high as 108. D.E.P.’s seemed calibrated to allow for violations of the city’s noise law.
D.O.B.’s practice of routinely issuing after-hours variances when there are no legitimate public safety circumstances that require variances (and even at sites with track records of fraudulent applications), is in violation of the New York City Administrative Code. And both agencies’ repeated failures to abide by the law, let alone enforce it, are criminal. It seems that there is no oversight of these agencies, and they simply do whatever is most expedient (or possibly profitable) for them.
Micki McGee
Uber calls drove her nuts
To The Editor:
I do believe we need alternative and competitive car services to medallion cabs or car services in New York City.
But I am appalled by the obnoxious advertising and invasion-of-privacy robocalls relating to this issue.
And think about this: Even though we acknowledge and support our fellow citizens’ need for alternative transportation, if we had the M5 bus going to and from Houston St., taxis and car services would not be a major issue for us!
Judith Chazen Walsh
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