At 4:21am this morning, I was woken up by shouting. When I looked out my window, I saw four “thugs” sitting on a double parked car yelling obscenities and talking at the top of their lungs as if it was the middle of the afternoon. Despite yelling pleas for silence out of my window, screaming obscenities of my own – and even calling the police – who told me that they would send someone over, “if anyone was available” and then never did – their selfish rudeness continued until around 7:00am, when they finally got tired of keeping everyone awake. Thanks to them, I had less than three hours sleep, and have been in a really bad mood all day.

When I got home from Woody’s house at 10:00pm tonight – just a half-hour ago – I began to watch a brand-new episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – and had to turn the volume to almost the highest setting because of a child on a motor scooter that kept whizzing past my window – over and over and over and over again.

Brooklyn, New York has to be the noise capital of the world. Not a single day goes by that I do not hear cars, sirens, helicopters, screaming kids, very loud conversations – or rude “thugs” or annoying children on motor scooters – and the worse part is that there is nothing I can do about it – because when you try and ask someone in Brooklyn to “keep it down” – you get anything but what you wish for.

I love New York, and I have all my life. In my opinion, there is no better place to live for far too many reasons to get into – but noise wise – this City sucks. You cannot go 24-hours in New York City without experiencing at least one moment when you are forced to cover your ears because of incessant horn honking, the pounding of a jackhammer – or just the normal “white noise” that is New York City. And while I may have gotten used to the noise because I have listened to it for thirty-two years – there are many times I still find that it even gets too much for me – like today.

I have two different neighbors that I share walls with, and I try my hardest to be a good neighbor. Sure I listen to music, but I keep the volume at minimal levels. Yes, I have friends over, but I make sure that they do not make too much noise – and yes, I want to the luxury of being able to not care about the noise I make – but I have a responsibility to my neighbors and anyone else that does not want to hear what I want to hear. But unfortunately, many New Yorkers simply don’t care whether people want to hear them or not – which explains why I am in such a bad mood today.

Ironically, Mayor Bloomberg has recently launched an initiative to try and battle the noise in this City by updating the City’s Noise Code. “This new proposal is the first overhaul of the Noise Code in over thirty years and will maintain our City’s vibrancy by balancing the need for construction, development and an exciting nightlife with New Yorkers well deserved right to peace and quiet,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Building on the success of our enforcement initiative, Operation Silent Night, we are proposing a comprehensive revision to the noise code that will make New York quieter and more livable without stifling growth.”

Good luck.