Mayor Bloomberg signed the 90-day suspension of the 500-foot law -- which he and local councilman Lew Fidler urged -- and sent engineers who measured the sound level during the first concert. Bloomberg promised that if the sound of the concert were too loud, the concerts will not be allowed. Officials of the two synagogues and residents who live around the park decided, however, that they needed an independent source and hired their own sound technician.
"The sound level today has been toned down 50 decibels,” said Stephen Diamond who lives close to the park and actively protests against the new amphitheater. “I’ve been to these concerts for years and today is unusually quiet. It’s done because Channels 2, 4, 7, and 12 are all here monitoring the shenanigans of the borough president.”
The members of the synagogues agreed with Diamond on the sound level. During the concert many of them repeated that they are not against the concerts.
“We love the concerts, but not across the street,” said Jeffrey Sanoff, a synagogue member. “There was the 500-foot rule until the City Council made it five- day fast track bill for Marty Markovitz.”
Sanoff said that Thursday’s concert was subdued, because he lives about a quarter of a mile from the park, on Brighton 1st Street and in the past clearly herd the sound coming from the bond shell during the concerts. He said that compared to the other shows, “today is very quiet.”
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(filed earlier)
After listening to Coney Island residents complaining about the noise coming from the concerts in Asser Levy Park during the public speaking session held at City Hall on July 12, Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed the temporary modification to the sound permit law.
Bloomberg met with legislative and legal staff the next morning following the public hearing session and after the consultation signed Introductory Number 296, which temporarily modified the City’s sound permit law.
"The 500-foot standard currently in the law was adopted before reliable sound measurement technology was established,” Bloomberg in a statement. “We believe focusing on actual sound levels rather then exclusively on distance will better protect the quality of life of all New Yorkers.”
The public-speaking session brought many people living around the park.
Residents of the buildings provided special bus service for their elderly neighbors who, despite the heat, wanted to join the meeting. But, most of the residents couldn’t fit into the Blue Room where the meeting took place.
Registered speakers openly addressed Mayor Bloomberg asking him to understand that the noise from the concerts goes 10 to 12 blocks from the park. Some speakers invited the mayor to their homes so he could hear the music and see the windows shaking.
“I enjoy the concerts myself, in my living room, with two small children,” Alon Karpman said sarcastically.
Rob Burstein said to Bloomberg that during the concert time, in case of an emergency it is almost impossible for him to drive to his mother’s apartment, which is located less than half a mile from his place.
Ida Sanoff appealed to democracy. “We believe in the power of the law to protect the people,” she said. “In addition to screwing up our community for a lack of better words, it [the modification] also violates the sound law in terms of the two synagogues that are just right across the street.”
The public speaking session was not about building the new amphitheater, but many residents saw the connection between signing the 90-day pilot program with the issue of new amphitheater.
Sanoff said that the modification to the sound permit law “is paving the way to build the huge amphitheater that most people in the community opposed.”
