Gov signs bill to ‘Stop the Noise’
Legislation aiming to reduce noise across subway system inspired by Coney residents
BY JESSICA PARKS
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed
a bill on Oct. 22 forcing the
Metropolitan Transportation
Authority to produce reports
each year detailing its efforts
to reduce noise across their
system — which comes after
a Coney Island condo complex
made some noise about the
nearby subway’s impact on
their quality of life.
“Public transit should enhance
New Yorkers’ quality
of life, not disturb it,” Hochul
said. “This legislation will ensure
New York City Transit
is prioritizing communities’
concerns as our subways roar
back to life and New York’s
comeback continues.”
Coney Island Assemblymember
Mathylde Frontus
introduced the “Stop the
Noise” bill in March to aid constituents
at Brightwater Towers
Condominiums, who have
been disturbed by noise from
the elevated F- and Q-lines
as they are adjacent to the W.
Eighth Street subway station.
Residents had formed the “Stop
the Noise Initiative Group”
with the mission to permanently
COURIER L 26 IFE, OCT. 29-NOV. 4, 2021
decrease train noise for
all impacted New Yorkers.
“Thank you to the residents
of Brightwater Towers
who rightfully made a lot of
noise of their own and brought
this to my attention, to my colleagues
in Albany for recognizing
the need for more oversight
of this issue, and to Gov.
Hochul for signing it into law,”
Frontus, who also represents
Bay Ridge and Bath Beach
said in a statement. “This will
help bring a bit of quiet to our
city and help neighbors and
trains coexist peacefully.”
While the residents of the
Surf Avenue condos also live
with the noise of the Q-train,
they told Brooklyn Paper the
F-train is noisier because of
the 90-degree turn it makes
next to their homes — resulting
in a high-pitched screeching
sound that forces them to
live with their windows shut,
even during periods of heat.
“You can hear the squealing
noise of brakes against metal,”
said Angela Kravtchenko, a
resident of the towers. “Imagine
two trains coming back
and forth, all the windows are
closed during the summer.”
The noise abatement reports
will now require the New
York City Transit Authority, a
subsidiary of the MTA focusing
that manages the subway
system, to detail what projects
or steps they have taken towards
decreasing noise that
year, and what plans they have
for the coming year, according
to the bill’s text.
“Among the many responsibilities
of the MTA there is
an essential cornerstone, being
a good neighbor,” State
Sen. Leroy Comrie, the bill’s
co-sponsor who represents in
neighboring Queens, said in a
statement. “This noise abatement
reporting legislation
will accomplish two things–
fi rst, letting New Yorkers and
legislative leaders know what
steps the authority takes on a
year-to-year basis to mitigate
impacts and second, providing
a transparent record of
when and where resources are
being or will be deployed.”
The legislation adds language
to the Rapid Transit
Noise Code passed into law in
1982, which resulted in a slew
of initiatives to reduce noise
such as train car screeching
and rail clacking, and will reaffi
rm that the train authority
must prioritize noise as a
problem across its system.
The Stop the Noise Initiative
Group applauded the
passage of the legislation but
vowed they will continue to
fi ght for all New Yorkers on
this issue, as it doesn’t only affect
them.
“The residents of our building
are very grateful to Mathylde
Frontus’ effort to pass that
bill and this work for our residents,”
said Lolita Divilova.
“This problem is systemwide,
it’s not only our area. So we
hope we can fi nd solutions for
our area, and we can be experimental
that can then help
other parts of New York.”
Residents of Brightwater Towers have advocated for years about the
noise from the neighbor F- and Q-lines by their homes. File photo
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