Car Alarms
A few nights ago, as I was walking home, a couple strolling ahead of me stopped at the corner of Horatio and Hudson, peering both ways down Horatio. As i approached, I heard them bickering about in which direction they had parked their car. Just then, a flash of brilliance hit the young man – he pulled out his key chain and hit the panic button. A car alarm sounded a couple blocks away (towards the river), and the young couple hi-fived, then strolled down towards river. The alarm cut off a couple minutes later when they reached the car.
It was 11pm.
Here’s the question: Was that illegal? And if not, shouldn’t it be? And further, shouldn’t all car alarms be considered a public nuisance and be outlawed?
After nosing around a bit (the good people at Transportation Alternatives have great info available), I discovered that a number of people pushed very hard for the outlawing of car alarms in 2005 and that while the City Council carved car alarms out of the noise ordinances (making them an exception, just like emergency vehicle sirens), that same “Int 0397-2004 2005/113″ which was enacted 12/29/2005 included a provision that the Commissioner would:
(c) The commissioner, in conjunction with the police department, shall study noise abatement
strategies for audible motor vehicle burglar alarms and within twenty-four months of the effective date of this
section shall report to the mayor his or her findings and recommendations.
Not to be dramatic, but I think the black circles under my eyes attest to the fact that car alarms are really destroying me. I’m five flights up, our building put in new windows only 10 years ago, I have a sound machine going, and yet those car alarm pierce through every time. And our street, because we don’t allow parking during the day, just might suffer from more car alarms that other streets, due to the high number of out-of-towners who find parking in the evenings while enjoying the nearby restaurants/bars/clubs and frequently turn on their car alarms.
So – what can be done? Does anyone know if the commission did a study? And if s/he did, then whether it is available to public and how to find out? I’m going to send an email to Christine Quinn’s office. I’ve found they are very responsive.
What about the party buses that rock through the street, music blaring, at 3AM? Or the drunk kids from NJ who can’t figure out how to parallel park? It gets worse every night. And the new traffic patterns have exacerbated the problems. I hear police sirens all night long, but obviously, they’re not headed to Horatio Street to curb the noisemakers!