Noise can do More than just hurt your ears: How Noise pollution is hurting the community of Crotona Park East and Morrisania, Bronx, NY (1980)

Final Report:

Introduction

John Dallas, a 34-year-old paralegal, went out on a walk one late evening in his neighborhood of Morrisania, Bronx in 1980. As his walk began, the flood of noise set in. It is a nightmarish experience: the Bronx as an apocalyptic hell of noise, a place of sleepless nights leading to homicidal days, where “like some gigantic invisible roaring monster, ear-splitting noise is unleashed out of apartments, bodegas and cars for the sole purpose of roaming the vicinity and destroying residents’ hopes for serenity and acoustic privacy,” according to Mr. Dallas.[i] He realized he cannot escape the noise and how harmful this is to him and his community. Noise had affected his community up to this day. Sadly, many residents had no choice in where they live and looked for different solutions to combat the noise.

John Dallas was the founder of the Bronx Campaign for Peace and Quiet, and lives in Morrisania, the heart of Bronx’s noise complaints. He went to the streets with petitions, speaking seminars, and leaflets and saw no results. He also attended public hearings to enforce city’s noise code. Sadly, he had to move three times within five years. But he never gave up and continued to voice the harmful effects of noise. The normalcy of loud noises in the Bronx has drowned out the voices of reason to better the community.

Crotona Park East and Morrisania in the Bronx are two adjacent neighborhoods that collectively experienced the highest amount of noise levels in the United States. Why are these two communities being affected the hardest without being able to change it at all? Many urban areas have similar noise pollution issues but managed to solve the issue regardless. How are these neighborhoods being affected more than the rest of the Bronx? Many people disregard noise as a serious issue. But to the community of Crotona Park East and Morrisania, this issue has become a part of their daily lives. Can you imagine waking up to the loud noises of construction sites and public transportation and barely being able to listen to your own thoughts? That is the normalcy of many residents of these communities.

Throughout the years, these communities have transformed to a beacon of noise, but not because the residents allowed it. There is a pattern throughout the years, from the 1980s to the late 2010s, that shaped the community to its present status. I will investigate the demographics of the communities, the causes of different types of pollutions, and who is being affected. This inequality within the community will bring out the bigger issue that is forever affecting this community. The residents of Crotona Park East have extremely changed throughout years and is a huge factor to why this is an ongoing issue. The communities of Crotona Park East and Morrisania are experiencing more noise pollution than most cities because they are poor and minorities.

Demographics

The demographics of Crotona Park East and Morrisania give us a better understanding of who, specifically, are we going to be talking about throughout the paper. Based on the Community Health Profiles 2018 of Morrisania and Crotona, “24 neighborhoods were considered low-income in 1990, and Morrisania and Crotona is one of 17 neighborhoods that is gentrifying.” “Gentrification transforms a low-income area into a high-income area through neighborhood redevelopment. It is often defined as changes in the racial and ethnic makeup, education level and average income of a neighborhood’s residents, as well as changes in housing and commercial businesses. While development may be beneficial, it is often inequitable, and can lead to displacement of long-time residents and businesses.”[ii] This gentrification is beneficial for the future of these communities but can be detrimental to the long-time residents and businesses. The long-time residents cannot accumulate enough income to keep up with the new projects occurring Morrisania and Crotona had the highest percentage of residents in poverty or unemployed in comparison to the rest of New York City. In fact, residents of middle-class and poorer minority neighborhoods complain just as much about noise—and say that the city tends to ignore their grumbling because of their lower socioeconomic status.[iii] They lacked access to quality education, jobs, and safe spaces to live. I believe this issue of being able to have the necessities is a reason why they cannot focus on the noise pollution happening in their neighborhoods.

Noise health effects and sources

Noise, defined as ‘unwanted sound’, is perceived as an environmental stressor and nuisance.[iv] Noise is unavoidable and the rise in annoyance is in direct correlation with the increase in decibel levels. Typically, people associated noise with sleep disturbance. People cannot sleep with it is too loud. But many people can develop non-auditory effects on their health from loud noise levels. Studies of occupational and environmental noise exposure suggest an association with hypertension, whereas community studies show only weak relationships between noise and cardiovascular disease. Aircraft and road traffic noise exposure are associated with psychological symptoms but not with clinically defined psychiatric disorder.[v] Road traffic typically brings the mood down for everyone that encounters these loud annoyances, resulting in poor performance in school or work.

Image Analysis

The picture above was taken by Stephanie Keith in an area of the Bronx, nearby my environmental site of Crotona Park East and Morrisania. Although it might be some light fun coming in the form of fireworks, this loud noise has always disturbed the neighborhood of Crotona Park East and Morrisania.

Stephanie was trying to cover up the noise of fireworks with the beauty of the fireworks. The young man is documenting the wonderful sight on his phone to save the memory that he might want to look back on in the future. The trash on the field might identify this place as a common area for fireworks and happens frequently in this part of the neighborhood. I can see houses in the near distance, signifying that many residents have first row seats to the hours of noise. Fireworks are usually used at night which is also the common time when people usually use to sleep and rest from all the activities of the day.

This imagery captures the noise that is being exposed. You can hear the loud booms that come every couple second that will keep you awake for the night. The residents have no choice but endure the next couple of hours until it is over. They do not have the luxury of moving for the night or for the long term. This young man probably does not have a 9-5 job to go to in the morning and worries of many residents of Crotona Park East and Morrisania, along with many poor residents surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the city.

Crotona Park East/Morrisania and Noise

In New York, there are two kinds of noise: the sounds of the city (car horns, loud neighbors, construction equipment, barking dogs) and the sound of New Yorkers complaining about it.[vi] This is very common to everyone who has lived in or visited New York before. Crotona Park East and Morrisania are in the heart of noise in the Bronx. Dallas said. “When you foster peace and quiet, when you live in a way that respects other people, you improve community.” Noise, he adds, “chases away the middle class. People who want to improve their lives and be creative move away. So, noise does not only impair physical health but also economic, social and spiritual.”[vii] The residents of Crotona Park East of the 2010s are all those who did not have the luxury of moving due to economic status. Many construction projects, subways, and bus systems were installed feet away from the homes of the residents. It does make sense because many residents use these public transportations in their daily lives. The people of these neighborhoods respect each other but must power through the daily loud annoyances. Some residents have grown use to the noise and developed short-term solutions to combat the noise, such as wearing noise cancelling headphones when walking around the neighborhood. Some residents, such as John Dallas, fought for more laws to be enacted to reduce the noise, even a small percentage of it. They called for laws restricting decibel levels on subways, construction, and even parties or firework celebrations. Their neighborhood was often brush off due to their economic standing compared to the rest of New York City. About 41% of the residents of Morrisania and Crotona Park East make less than 20,000 dollars a year.[viii] This translates to low-cost housing and very minimal living styles. The residents cannot solve this issue monetarily, or at least out of their own pockets. They need the help of the government and to show them the issues that are ongoing and constantly affecting their lives.

Responses to noise pollution

John Dallas was one of the first people to suggest attending neighborhood council meetings to address the issue of noise. This evolved to city council meetings and hotline to call for noise disturbances. The Quality-of-Life hotline handles a variety of noise complaints. But, depending upon the type of noise involved, it may be more effective to go to another city agency. For construction, nightclubs, outside speakers, private carter’s trucks, barking dog, air conditioners and manufacturing machinery, call the Department of Environmental Protection. If the noisy garbage truck belongs to the city, go to the Department of Sanitation. If the problem arises from noisy neighbors, boom boxes, car alarms, loud passers-by, motorcycles, or noise outside a bar or nightclub, contact the local police precinct.[ix] Although hotlines were good first steps to the solution, the lines were usually backed up and resolution took weeks to months to be enacted. The police cannot respond to all the calls being made and with equal urgency. Residents also suggested that city planners should work with residents before making any building projects in the area, especially those nearest to residential homes.

Conclusion   

Noise surrounds us all and can be dealt with. But certain groups of people have opportunities to solve the issue and others do not. The neighborhoods of Crotona Park East and Morrisania were at an economic disadvantage who have dealt with noise for their entire lives. They took it back through negotiation with the government and alerting them with the issues affecting the lower income families of Crotona Park East and Morrisania. This speaks to the bigger issue of environmental inequality of people who are forced to stay in areas of extreme noise decibel levels. Their current economic status restricts the efficiency of these people and can only seek help from the government. They needed cheap housing and had no choice. I hope that my research shined a light on the deeper inequality between the poor income class and the middle/upper class.

[i] Adam Nossiter, “Finding Every Noise in the Bronx but the Sound of Silence,” The New York Times (The New York Times, August 13, 1995),

[ii] “Morrisania Community District Bronx 3 and Crotona,” accessed December 14, 2021, https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/data/2018chp-bx3.pdf, 7.

[iii] a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute Nicole Gelinas is a City Journal contributing editor, “The Gotham Cacophony,” City Journal, December 12, 2021, https://www.city-journal.org/noise-threatens-new-york-post-pandemic-recovery-and-livability.

[iv] Stephen A Stansfeld and Mark P Matheson, “Noise Pollution: Non-Auditory Effects on Health,” British Medical Bulletin 68, no. 1 (January 2003): pp. 243-257, https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldg033.

[v] Stephen A Stansfeld and Mark P Matheson, “Noise Pollution: Non-Auditory Effects on Health,” British Medical Bulletin 68, no. 1 (January 2003): pp. 243-257, https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldg033.

[vi] Ben Wellington, “Mapping New York’s Noisiest Neighborhoods,” The New Yorker, January 17, 2015, https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/mapping-new-york-noise-complaints.

[vii] Michael Burger, “Noise Off,” Gotham Gazette, November 18, 2002, https://www.gothamgazette.com/environment/1549-noise-off.

[viii] “Morrisania/Crotona Neighborhood Profile,” NYU Furman Center, accessed December 14, 2021, https://furmancenter.org/neighborhoods/view/morrisania-crotona.

[ix] Michael Burger, “Noise Off,” Gotham Gazette, November 18, 2002, https://www.gothamgazette.com/environment/1549-noise-off.

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