After Hours Construction Threatens Health of Residents

With the revitalization of numerous neighborhoods throughout Manhattan, these areas have become the center of development in recent years. However, the volume of activity has its ramifications. Local residents of the city have been experiencing an onslaught of overnight street work, giving new meaning to New York City’s moniker “the city that never sleeps.” In addition, City government has been receiving a record amount of complaints which led to a proposal of changes to policy restricting overnight construction work, so developers will soon need stronger and safer methods to comply with the administration.
In addition to construction on the Brooklyn Bridge, the Hudson Yards developments and post-Hurricane Sandy rebuilding, residents also face extensive work done by the Metropolitan Transit Authority to build the Second Avenue subway line. As jackhammers, excavators, trucks and other heavy construction machinery work through the night, they produce an alarming level of noise, which disturbs sleep patterns and cause distress among residents.
The 3-1-1 phone line and website that connects people with more than 6,000 city agencies and services “has logged more than 140,000 noise-related complaints between the winter of 2013 and the fall of 2014,” according to a recent article in The New Yorker magazine. One of the most common types of noise complaint comes from construction before and after hours. One such noise complaint came from Betsy Schainholz on Pearl Street, who was kept awake by late-night jackhammering and had to call 3-1-1 twice to complain. “Well, the first person hung up on me because they couldn’t hear me,” Schainholz said.

Policies Tighten to Reduce Noise While construction may be unavoidable, relief from the noise pollution it brings is in sight for those seeking peace and quiet. Normally, to perform construction work outside the hours of 7:00 am to 6:00 pm on weekdays, developers must apply for express authorization from the Departments of Buildings and Transportation called After Hours Variance (AHV). AHV applications must also include a noise mitigation plan, but they have proven insufficient as large amounts of complaints pour in from New York City residents against the intrusive noise from these AHVs.  
As a result, changes are currently being proposed by members of the City Council to set stricter requirements in the AHV application process and ensure proper compliance at AHV sites. Co-sponsor of the proposal, Councilmember Margaret Chin stated, “We must remember that the impact of development projects isn’t just a future impact, in terms of creating new homes or offices.
These projects can also have seriously negative effects on the neighboring residents who have to live through the construction work.”

An Efficient Solution is Essential Previous attempts by developers to control construction noise have simply not been sufficient to lower decibels and create a safe environment for both workers and bystanders. For example, some methods simply reflect the sound back towards the source, putting workers at risk, some methods are unfit for use outdoors, while others are cumbersome, heavy and difficult to install properly. It is now imperative that developers find a method to smoothly and swiftly reduce the level of noise produced at their work sites.

Quality Solution for Ease of Compliance Echo Barrier sound barriers were recently given to construction sites of the Second Avenue subway line, and has since made a significant difference in reducing the noise pollution. The Echo Barriers make noise management simple, fast and highly effective. The likelihood of noise complaints is reduced and developers will have less worry of new noise mitigation policies. Echo Barriers are the most effective and safe sound mitigation solution for developers looking to comply with these new AHV policies.
A thick PVC exterior on each Echo Barrier makes them highly weather proof and perfect for outdoor use, while night reflectors make them safe to use for after-hours. The Echo Barrier system absorbs noise, rather than reflect it back to the source, protecting residents and workers alike. At just 13 lb. they are easy to handle, taking very limited manpower and time to install.

With such a convenient solution readily available, it is a wonder that the City and developers have taken so long to put construction noise under control.