New York City is a melting pot of culture, bright lights, big buildings, and loud noise. As one of the world’s biggest cities, utility repairs, property developments, and constant construction activity are expected phenomena. This can prove problematic for residents of the city, who are exposed to constant environmental noise. Usually nights and weekends offer respite from the noise; however, in bustling hubs like New York City, owing to a handful of variables like time and safety, and working after hours is simply a necessity in many cases. 

To offer greater transparency into construction across the city for residents, the Department of Buildings has created an interactive map of the city plotting all sites with currently active “after-hour variances”, allowing New Yorkers to understand why there would be after-hours construction sites and to be able to report any violations.

The Department of Building's map provides plenty of useful information about each site, including the reason for having the permit.

Why is work permitted after hours?

Whether it’s due to time sensitivity, safety, or accessibility issues, there are instances where residents must tolerate noisy construction activity well into the night – for example, repairs in an area that has too much foot traffic during daylight hours, or construction that could cause gridlock at peak times. During an audit conducted by the Office of the New York State Comptroller, during the period of January 2014 to June 2016, 74 percent of the total noise complaints resulted from after-hours work. In 2019, City Council introduced legislation limiting the amount of after-hours work that can be done, in an effort to appease rising complaints. 

Nevertheless, locations with the most number of complaints had been granted permits.

Block construction noise with Echo Barrier

Even with an after-hours work permit in hand, contractors are not immune from the consequences of loud worksites. In fact, after-hours noise complaints can be much more devastating, with authorities being able to revoke contractors’ permits without recourse. With acoustic barriers bordering a worksite or a particularly noisy area, the risk of complaint is lowered. Echo Barriers keep noise contained on site and absorb up to 100% of noise across some frequency ranges, avoiding a problematic degree of sound reflections, while being lightweight and highly portable.

Interested in Echo Barrier and portable noise control solutions?