City Council passes series of bills to cut down on construction and traffic noise
News 12’s Greg Thompson is in Norwood with more on how the bills will help.
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The "Stop Spreading the Noise Act" – a series of bills passed by the New York City Council last week – is taking aim at cutting down on some of the noise around the city.
Three of the bills deal with reporting construction noise from inside an apartment. It requires the Department of Environmental Protection to take a reading, then publish those results and make them available to anyone who asks for them.
Another bill will expand the city's noise camera program. Started as a pilot in early 2022, the city tells News 12 they currently have seven up and running, with another three to come by the end of the year. Just like speed cameras, they detect if a horn or muffler is too loud, take videos and pictures, then send tickets - $800 for a first-time offense, and up to $2,500 for multiple.
With the passing of this bill, the city plans to have at least five of the cameras in each borough, with community boards and local politicians helping to figure out the best locations.
Some Bronx residents who spoke with News 12 were in favor of the idea.
"They've got to try something, you know, because it's outrageous sometimes,” said one resident.
Others told News 12 they supported what the City Council is trying to do, but had other concerns.
"They're policing us more, taking more money from us, trying to figure out more ways to raise money for their bad policies," said one Bronxite, "Let's work on good policy, then we don't have to worry about nitpicking on smaller issues."
