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<p>^^zm, the followings did not give me an impression of NYC.</p>
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We seriously thought about that! My neighbor wanted to blast the Barney the Dinosaur theme song during a party. Give them a taste of their own medicine.</p>
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You don’t think NYC is residential? I’m sure you do know that there are five boroughs, two of which have a very suburban feel.</p>
<p>Perhaps hire some hobos from the Bowery, holding posters stumping in the front of the store will do…:)</p>
<p>artlover plus meant hobos, I feel certain.</p>
<p>This does not rise to the mayor level. Start small and work your way up. I like the idea of going to the police liaison.</p>
<p>This house is in NYC, in the Bronx, in fact:</p>
<p>[Expansive</a> Crafstman Home In Fieldston - neighborhood Riverdale NY 10471 - Sotheby’s International Realty](<a href=“http://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/10-l-860-4271279/expansive-crafstman-home-in-fieldston-riverdale-ny-10471]Expansive”>http://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/10-l-860-4271279/expansive-crafstman-home-in-fieldston-riverdale-ny-10471)</p>
<p>NYC has many kinds of neighborhoods.</p>
<p>I’m wondering how much of the restaurant’s business comes from the neighborhood. If the owner won’t try to work with the neighbors, then maybe you could get a neighborhood group together to picket, or put a story in the local newspaper, or the Patch?</p>
<p>Is there a zoning board that allowed the opening of the outdoor space? Maybe that decision could be re-visited.</p>
<p>The strange thing about this restaurant (and it serves truly excellent food) is that the bar part has a very old crowd, like my age. It’s definitely not a young crowd, but since it’s in such a residential neighborhood where everyone has a driveway/garage, there is zero parking for the establishment and the front of the restaurant is in a no-parking zone, so patrons park all around the neighborhood. Sometimes they walk pretty far, and they get very drunk and do things like urinate on lawns, drive drunk and fight. Also vomit. Now this doesn’t happen all the time, because mostly it’s a restaurant, but on Thursday nights all heck breaks loose. Based on this disucssion, I was scoping out the nyc.gov website and found a “nightlife best practices” document that requires certain notifications to the police department and other acts to specifically protect the neighborhood. That being the case, I feel totally within my rights to speak to the liaison and ask that he be in touch with the restaurant.</p>
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<p>Your image of NYC is very outdated. The Bowery now has million-dollar condos.</p>
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<p>Agree. It is a joke and thanks to some one corrected my typo.</p>
<p>So is my image about Hoboken where I paid $90/mo for my 5 rooms apartment… :)</p>
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Assuming some of those cops are also bothered by the noise, especially since a lot of them work unusual shifts, it seems that some of them could take care of this problem and maybe surprising they haven’t already put a stop to it. If you know any of them maybe ask them what they think of the noise and ask them what can be done about it.</p>
<p>I know that they are bothered by the noise (my husband and his co-worker across the street are among them). Nobody wants to mess with someone’s business in this economy, so people try to be nice. Although last year, a group of us got our council member involved and she went to the DEP and got them warned. They had been doing fine for a while, but then they started pushing the envelope a little more each week.</p>
<p>I think you should go back to the council member who helped you in the past, and explain what you have told us here.</p>
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<p>That sounds like a great place to start.</p>
<p>Zoomom, I like the idea that you’re going to your neighborhood liaison. I also think you should plan other tactics as well, under the assumption they won’t do anything other than listen to your complaint about an event that hasn’t happened yet.</p>
<p>First, I think your community, or at least your neighbors, should make it known you won’t endure this level of intrusion. One person is an annoyance, but a group of people carries more weight. Send an “official” letter to the owner (and copy the mayor), by registered mail, warning him that you are not happy with how he has conducted business lately and this Octoberfest event until 4am will not be tolerated, using citations from “the code” you uncovered.</p>
<p>If all else fails on that night, play dirty. Since you’re not objecting to the party inside, just make it miserable outside. Add Barney noises was one idea. Another is to have some yucky smell (skunks come to mind, but maybe they don’t live near you). And, if you can “borrow” a friend’s car, have him/her park where Mr. Vanity Plate likes to park. He might not register that you’ve inconvenienced him, but he will eventually. Better yet, have all your neighbors park on the street, so all the patrons are inconvenienced.</p>
<p>Then, let’s hope it’s cold and rainy that night.</p>
<p>I’m still pondering how to use a tape of their oompah band at your niece’s upcoming wedding…</p>
<p>And blasting a nonstop loop of “tie a yellow ribbon 'round the old oak tree” for several hours ought to send them running…</p>
<p>I actually went to a place like this in Nassau last night and it was so much fun, but the music was over by 11 PM, which is reasonable on a weekend night in a residential area.</p>
<p>Maybe you can try one of the TV nuisance gurus, like Help me Howard or whoever.</p>
<p>As a follow up to the Barney song, might I suggest “The Potty Song?”</p>
<p>^And “This is the song that never ends…”</p>
<p>zoosermom - as a musician living in NYC in the 70’s and 80’s, I was very aware of the 10-10 noise rule - no loud noises (including playing instruments) in your apartment between the hours of 10pm to 10am. </p>
<p>I would encourage you to do everything you can - call 311, ask your police neighbors to stop by (in uniform) to let owners and employees know there have been complaints, even calling the mayor’s office to ask if the new noise code regulations 6 years ago were just a means of getting re-elected. </p>
<p>I’m not sure if this link will work, but will try:</p>
<p>[City</a> Mayors: New York City noise code](<a href=“http://www.citymayors.com/environment/nyc_noise.html]City”>City Mayors: New York City noise code)</p>
<p>There does not appear to be a difference in regulations for residential, mixed-use, and commercial areas from what I can see…</p>
<p>Relevant sections of the above article (dated June 10, 2004):</p>
<p>"New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has put forward legislation, which will provide the first comprehensive overhaul of the New York City Noise Code in over 30 years. Noise is the number one complaint to the City’s 311 citizen service hotline, currently averaging nearly 1,000 calls a day. The proposal provides a flexible environment to keep New York’s businesses thriving while addressing the number one quality of life complaint in New York.</p>
<p>Mayor Bloomberg said that his new proposal, which was announced in June 2004, was the first overhaul of the Noise Code in over 30 years and would maintain the City’s vibrancy by balancing the need for construction, development and an exciting nightlife with New Yorker’s well deserved right to peace and quiet. “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 liveable without stifling growth,” the Mayor added."</p>
<p>“…More practical regulation of sound from commercial music sources: The existing noise code prohibits sound from commercial music establishments such as bars, clubs and cabarets, louder than 45 decibels as measured in a residence. That standard fails to capture intrusive bass-level music and vibrations, which cannot be captured by a conventional decibel scale. The new code establishes a more flexible standard and enforcement schedule for music sources that includes no penalties for first offences if compliance is achieved as well as a new standard to measure bass-level and vibrational sound.” </p>
<p>“Michael Bloomberg was re-elected in November 2005.”</p>
<p>If you get no satisfaction, perhaps start a media campaign - letters to the editor of various newspapers, maybe even getting the attention of a reporter - to force Bloomberg to do something. His lack of enforcement on this revision of code does seem to indicate that this was just a political move to get re-elected…surely there are reporters who would love to expose this scoop!</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>