Street Noise!!! It's a Quality of Life Issue

pt

Subject: Street Noise!!! It's a Quality of Life Issue

I live on Lincoln Road between Ocean and Flatbush Ave..

Anyone who takes the B or the Q train to the Prospect Park and exits the stairwell to Lincoln Rd. knows this part of the road is also a major bus rest stop area. K-Dog and Papa & Sons Deli is also on that stretch.

When I moved in 2 years ago this little stretch of road had just been repaved and was closed to all traffic. It was very nice for about three weeks. Then the road re-opened and I was given my first true Lefferts Garden/Flatbush wake-up call.

Anywhere from 3 to 4:30 am on any given morning a Daily News delivery truck drops off his wares at the A#1 Candy Store at 41 Lincoln Rd. How do I know this? It is because the Daily News delivery truck doesn't get out of his truck to deliver his papers. He throws the stack of papers to the curb and proceeds to honk his horn 5 to 6 times in rapid fashion which wakes me up every time because my apartment faces Lincoln Rd.

To ad insult to injury the truck then makes a U-Turn from the middle of the street which enables the safety alarm to sound loudly when the truck runs in reverse. The process occurs offend enough that I have complained to the Daily News about it but I have gotten no response from the publication. I have taken to wearing ear plugs but even that is not enough to block out this inconsiderate jack ass.

Also as I had mentioned earlier this part of the street is a bus rest stop as well. Buses roll in sometimes and just idle for long periods of time. I have a number NYC Transit Department of Buses gave me to report buses idling longer than 3 minutes (718)927-7499.

They usually call me back a day or two later and say they will be monitoring the situation but nothing ever changes. The bus drivers continue to idle and they don't do anything to change the way the drivers act.

I don't want the drivers to freeze in the winter but if they need to stay warm there is a station next to the subway station that they can wait inside of if they need to.

Today a bus #7576 idled between 7:34 and 7:47 that's 13 minutes of needless noise. Then the bus turned off its ignition and remained in the same spot until 8:17 am when it started its engine again and remained there idling until 9:36 am. That's 1 hour and 9 minutes of idling bus on the NY tax payers dime.

You may not care about the noise because you don't have the problem yourself but think about your tax dollars being thrown away by bus drivers who idle their vehicles so they can read a paper and drink a cup of coffee. I see it every day.

I am not sure why nothing ever changes. I guess the MTA has a complaint line simply because it is good PR and nothing more than that. I am not sure who to contact on this issue and who actually represents my area in the local government here but if anyone would kindly forward this info to me I would greatly appreciate it. I would also like to know if I am the only one on this site with this problem.

king without a crown

It sounds like you're the only one with the problem. Maybe a little research into the area before you moved in would've helped. If you're really concerned, why not go around to your neighbors and have them sign a petition and send it to the MTA and Daily News.

lilbangladesh

Perhaps calling 311 about the Daily News truck might work. He must be violating a noise ordinance. It might take a day or two, but they usually respond.

With the MTA, you're out of luck. 311 doesn't handle anything concerning the MTA and the MTA in general is non-responsive to any and all complaints. Perhaps you can interest a news station into doing a story on how the MTA is wasting tax dollars by having their buses idle for such long periods of time.

meredithb

I wouldn't say the PT is the only one with teh problem, but he/she is the only person who lives facing Lincoln Road that posts on Brooklynian and gives a shit.

The city is out of control. Does anyone think this city actually gives a shit about you? Do you really expect that one city agency is going to enforce rules on another city agency? Doubtful. Like calling 311 does anything. Like calling the cops wil do anything.

BAsically, the only thing PT can do is move. The city has put up 'No Idling" signs by the bus stop but do you think a bus driver who is cold gives a rat's ass about your sleep, the envirnoment or anything except his/her own ass?

If it doesn't make money, it's not worth much to this city.

lilbangladesh

I've found 311 to be very responsive, particularly with noise complaints, but they would only help with the Daily News truck driver. They won't do jack about anything that involves the MTA.

I just suggested trying to interest a news station like Brooklyn 12 or NY1 about the bus idling issue because the MTA is wasting tons o' money by having the buses idle for such long periods of time AND they recently raised fares claiming a looming budget deficit in the future. I say that that might be the way to go because while the MTA doesn't give a crap about consumer complaints, I think they will respond to public embarrassment. But of course, if you do go to the news station about this, the focus can't be on the sleep these buses are robbing you of, but rather on all the money the agency is wasting. That's where the news story is.

homeowner

News 12 recently did a story on the amount of noise polution on Flatbush Avenue. They cited the idling trucks, rampant horn honking and the volume of traffic as the major problems. It's not just you, and you'll need to do more than come here and post about the noise to effect any change.

You might want to go talk to the store owner and ask him/her to tell the Daily News delivery guy to tone down the honking. Businesses are more responsive to their customers and that is exactly what the store owner is in this case. Raise the issue of the idling buses with your local politicians. That's the kind of issues they'll jump on, because they get to flex their muscles with the MTA. Good luck.

stacey

Here is some info on idling buses. I know the Mayor is part of a group of mayors across the country who are serious about creating a "greener" and environmentally friendly cities.

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/environment/idling_trucks_buses.pdf