Citizens enforcing New York City’s noise rule are allegedly targeting restaurant owners in Midtown, according to ACB7 New York.
The proprietors said that noise infractions started to emerge a few months ago and are now arriving in bulk. Numerous violations are being mailed from the citizen’s address in a single envelope, and such infractions frequently date back many months.
Any company that plays music or makes noise that may be heard from a sidewalk may be in violation of the city’s noise ordinance since it may be construed as “commercial or business advertising.” The regulation does not specify the volume of the music or other noise that must be present in order to constitute a violation, nor does it require the length of the video or audio recording.
Citizen enforcers may be awarded 25 to 50 percent of the penalties imposed on company owners, whereas fines can be anything between $440 to $5,250.
According to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, which enforces the noise rule, two New York City citizens are accountable for more than 5,500 noise complaints against city businesses since January 2022, or over 95% of all infractions that have been issued.
Eric Eisenberg, a lawyer in Manhattan, is reportedly in charge of filing 3,094 noise complaints, the most of any citizen enforcer, according to DEP. Eisenberg, however, claimed to investigative reporter Kristin Thorne of Eyewitness News that he had only filed a few hundred complaints and had not been paid “one dollar” for any of the infractions.
The DEP stated that while it can dismiss infractions that seem pointless, it is generally compelled by local law to notify the business of the infringement – and make it pay.
