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Thursday, December 20, 2012

The 5 Noisiest Brooklyn Neighborhoods

Posted by on Thu, Dec 20, 2012 at 12:10 PM

mrnoisy.jpg
Noise complaints typically correlate with a high quality of life: the tonier your neighborhood, the more likely you are to phone the city and complain about somebody making a racket. And noise is something as a culture we typically pawn off to the poor: you don't have to pay a lot of money (and least not as much) to live close to the airport or the highway or the train tracks. Still, if you know a better barometer of what areas are noisiest than complaints lodged with 311, as reported by Gothamist last week, from data released by the Bloomberg administration, I'd like to hear it.

Typical Bedford Avenue crowd on a Tuesday night
  • Typical Bedford Avenue crowd on a Tuesday night

1. Williamsburg
The most noise complaints were lodged in zip code 11211—a total of 2,141, the most in any zip code in the city.

Possible Causes: This seems like any easy one: Bedford Avenue drunks + outdoor summer music concerts and the boisterous revelers that accompany them. [photo]

A noise complaint waiting to happen
  • A noise complaint waiting to happen

2. Prospect Heights
Surprising, right? You'd expect those uppity Slopers to be the ones with 311 on speed dial, but it's their northeasternly neighbors with their thumbs on the button. Prospect Heightsers lodged 1,554 complaints in 2012.

Possible Causes: All that loud, unprotected sex they're having.

Get it? Because this house is so LOUD
  • Get it? Because this house is so LOUD

3. Flatbush/Ditmas Park
Zip code 11226 filed 1,352 noise complaints with 311 in 2012.

Possible Causes: The growing pains of gentrification? Ditmas Park has been advertised as a hushed alternative to the loud Bedford lifestyle, so imagine you move your family there just to find horn honking and boombox blasting? You might reach for that phone... [photo]

A plane over Park Slope. Did you know Park Slopers complain about planes over Park Slope?
  • A plane over Park Slope. Did you know Park Slopers complain about planes over Park Slope?

4. North Slope/Fort Greene
Yes, I knew Park Slope would wind up here sooner than later! Zip code 11217 filed 1,252 noise complaints in 2012.

Possible Causes: Uh, there's that arena, for one, though that just opened. There's also a major traffic intersection, a major mass-transit hub, a major mall, plus the bars of Fifth Avenue north of Union Street. The Fort Greene part of the zip code also includes the BAM Cultural District, including all those bars and restaurants. Where there are people, there's noise; where there are people at night, there're noise complaints. [photo]

bkheightsnoise.jpg

5. Brooklyn Heights/DUMBO
It's becoming obvious that the richest neighborhoods are not actually the loudest neighborhoods, right? Just the most likely to complain? Zip code 11201 lodged 1,183 complaints in 2012.

Possible Causes: First of all, Brooklyn Heights will complain about anything. Especially helicopter noise. [photo]

Follow Henry Stewart on Twitter @henrycstewart

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About The Author

Henry Stewart

Henry Stewart
Bio:
 Henry Stewart is the Culture Editor at The L Magazine and some kind of editor at Brooklyn Magazine. He has always lived in Brooklyn.

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