45th Precinct addresses noise complaints
BY JASON COHEN
While the Pelham Bay/
Throggs Neck area is relatively
safe, quality-of-life issues
have skyrocketed since
the pandemic began.
In fact, the number of 311
noise complaints about loud
music and parties has more
than tripled from 1,500 calls in
2019 to 5,307 since Jan.2, 2020.
In particular, police are often
being called to Home Depot on
Gun Hill Road and areas along
Commerce, Seabury and Waterbury
avenues for noise complaints.
On Oct. 7, residents packed
the 45th Precinct Community
Council meeting as Capt. Isaac
Soberal and Democrat City
Councilman Mark Gjonaj addressed
the noise issue.
“This (loud noise) has been
going on for decades,” the councilman
said. “All of us have had
noise complaints most of our
lives, but that doesn’t mean we
shouldn’t be fi ghting for a better
quality of life.”
The lawmaker said Mayor
Bill de Blasio told him he
planned to provide more resources
to the 45th and 49th
precincts to address the noise
issue. While they are looking
at legislation to resolve the issue,
Gjonaj said it’s tough to
catch people in the act, especially
when many 311 calls do
not know the exact location of
the music.
But Gjonaj is confi dent Soberal
and the NYPD can fi x
this problem. The captain said
it is the Police Department’s
goal to crack down on the latenight
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parties, no matter where
they are occurring.
“I’m not here to make excuses,”
he said. “My job is to
solve these problems. I hear
the frustration.”
According to Soberal, there
have already been 1,900 311
calls for the 45th Precinct this
month alone. An extremely
high number, he said it shows
that people are not sitting
idly by, and that the cops have
plenty of work to do.
“I’m telling my guys I expect
seizures and summonses,”
the captain said.
The past few weeks the offi
cers at the 45th have written
40 noise-related summonses
and seized four vehicles. Although
the hope is that level
of enforcement will continue,
cops are also faced with noise
complaints involving numerous
cars that fl ee the scene
in which police are unable to
catch them all.
“When they get run out of
one place they go somewhere
else,” Soberal said about cars
blasting music.
While most attendees of the
meeting thanked Soberal and
the offi cers for doing their best
to limit the noise complaints,
some have taken matters into
their own hands.
John Cortese, 52 and a lifelong
Throggs Neck resident,
said he’s sick and tired of the
loud music. On multiple occasions
he has called 311, driven
to where the music is and
waited until the cops arrived
to make the people leave.
“I’m not just complaining,
I’m making a difference in my
community,” he said. However,
Soberal recommended that he
stay at home and let the police
handle it.
NYC Councilman Mark Gjonaj addresses noise complaints at the 45th Precinct Community Council meeting on
Oct. 7, 2021. Photo Jason Cohen
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