When I was a youngster, I enjoyed spending time at Canarsie Pier
listening to the birds and the sound of the waves flapping against the
pier’s edge. The sound of fishermen reeling in their catches was a
subtle touch to the seaside atmosphere.
Still a fan of the pier, a couple of weekends ago I went there for
the first time in a year to enjoy the beautiful day. I sat at the
northern end at one of the tables and opened my novel, which I looked
forward to reading in peace and quiet somewhere outdoors.
That never happened.
Within 20 minutes, an older man sat at an adjacent table, as if he
got the feeling, “Hey, this young lady is having a solemn moment. Why
not ruin it for her?” He then put a boom box on the concrete table and
turned on his music – blasting, so that even the folks in Bayview Houses
could probably hear it over the sounds of the Belt Parkway’s traffic!
Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration. And maybe it wasn’t terribly
annoying only because he was blasting Michael Jackson and later, En
Vogue, who I listened to when I was 12. The point is that some people go
to the pier, even Seaview Park, to enjoy the outdoors and get AWAY from
headaches. It’s understandable that you want to share your love of
music with everyone else, but not everyone WANTS to hear it blasting!
In the end, I moved away from that table, hoping to make it obvious
to the guy that he ruined my peace and quiet. I headed to the southern
end of the pier and once again started reading my book. An SUV parked
nearby then started blasting music. It wasn’t even real music. It was
random, electronically mixed sound effects played to a DJ screaming
nonsensical words.
I soon realized I was not at the pier for a peaceful and quiet day
out. I was now at Club Pier, where even those who didn’t want to be
guests had no choice but to listen to this ongoing obnoxious noise.
It’s great that people are into music and they’re in a good mood, but
who’s to say EVERYONE likes the same tune? You can listen to your tunes
at a reasonable volume without disturbing those who want to enjoy the
sounds of nature. Gateway National Recreation Area even hosts concerts every Thursday during the summer at the pier so you can LEGALLY listen to and enjoy loud music with others!
I can understand loud music being played in certain places in the community. There are a couple of electronics stores along Rockaway Parkway
and they’ve got music playing on their huge speakers that might not be
appreciated by everyone. However, they’re trying to sell the speakers
and give passersby an idea of how good the quality is. Fine, so that’s a
business-motivated reason to give people a headache.
Let’s get real. When you’re washing your car or sitting idle in your
truck on a summer day and everyone can hear the speakers in your vehicle
vibrate, what the hell are you trying to say? “The only way anyone will
pay attention to me is if I play loud music and become a nuisance to
everyone on the block…”
For the most part, a lot of the repeat offenders, when it comes to
playing loud and obnoxious music, are older residents who own property
and cars. They simply have NO respect for those around them. I’ve passed
many local schools on the weekend and don’t see teenagers hanging
around for hours blasting stereos in the schoolyards or playgrounds.
Don’t even get me started on music that’s booming from private homes
until the wee hours of the morning. I understand how it feels to go to a
69th Precinct Community Council meeting and hear these same complaints
all the time, but once 311 is notified and police attempt to quiet
things down, those measures are only temporary. We don’t want to make
enemies with our neighbors by going to their houses and telling them
they’re waking up the dead.
I know for a fact that many residents who request permits from the
local precinct to host block parties are turned down. I honestly don’t
blame the NYPD for denying the permits – problems with noise complaints
and other dangerous activities are likely to happen if a party gets out
of control and lasts until the early morning hours. Don’t these partiers
realize that some people have work the next day?
If you’re one of the hundreds of residents who feels it’s necessary
to infringe on other resident’s rights to a nice and quiet community,
you might want to get a permit to host a block party, where you’re able
to share your loud music with everyone who doesn’t mind that there’s
party-oriented noise.
Noise complaints are the bane of every community – but it’s getting
less and less tolerable. It just surprises me that the annoying
residents are the older ones who should know better and just don’t seem
to care about anyone else. What provokes them to have their music at a
decibel so disturbingly high is beyond me, but thanks to many of them,
everyone’s quiet is ruined indefinitely. And sadly, I might never finish
that novel in peace…
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