NEW YORK, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Since New York City's anti-noise ordinance was enacted in July, more than 135,000 noise complaints have been reported to the city's 311 hotline.
The Department of Environmental Protection issued 1,036 notices of violations since the code took effect, a 25 percent increase over the same July-to-October period last year, The New York Daily News reported Tuesday.
Eric Zwelling, director of Rutgers University Noise Technical Assistance Center and a consultant on the noise code, said the 13 percent spike in noise complaints either suggests the city is getting noisier or there is more awareness that loud noises are against the law.
Most complaints are "noise from a neighbor," and Hamilton Heights is the Big Apple's loudest neighborhood, with 2,527 complaints to 311 since July, up from 2,039 during the same period last year, the newspaper reported.
"It's a lot better than it was a few years ago. People just need to relax," said resident Eric Feezo, 35, who lives across the street from the Jazz Club.
