NYC installs noise cameras to fine drivers up to $2,500 for having loud cars or honking excessively

New York City is considering expanding a pilot program that would crack down on noisy drivers by fining them up to $2,500 for having loud cars or honking too much, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

Early last year, the city began installing noise cameras, according to Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala. Currently, there are seven cameras located around New York City. Another nine cameras, which cost approximately $35,000 each, have been purchased and will be installed by the end of the year.

The noise cameras are “much like a speeding camera,” Aggarwala explained. A sound louder than 85 decibels activates the noise camera. Sounds that range from 85 to 100 decibels are equivalent to a lawn mower, a hair dryer, or a blender.

According to Aggarwala, the city’s noise cameras are increasingly being utilized to fine drivers in an effort to reduce noise levels. Drivers could receive tickets between $800 and $2,500, he noted.

The City Council is currently weighing a bill, sponsored by Keith Powers (D), that would enable the city to install five noise cameras in each borough.

Powers stated on X Tuesday that he is trying to “tackle noisy vehicles with a new noise camera program.”

The NYC Council Majority Leader noted that the city’s noise is a “constant aggravation,” the Times reported.

“We’ll always be living in a city and there will always be a number of different issues that we have to accept as part of life,” he stated. “But that doesn’t mean we should totally surrender ourselves to a noisy environment.”

Jerome Greco, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society, told the Times that he is concerned about how the noise cameras could impact New Yorkers’ privacy.

“Whenever you have new technology that is capable of doing these types of things, it’s ripe for abuse. There are legitimate concerns,” he said.

Greco noted that he might support using the noise camera if certain safeguards were implemented to protect citizens. He added, “As this currently exists, it’s problematic.”

“We’ve seen over and over again that any sort of monitoring or surveillance is often placed in neighborhoods with high populations of people of color,” Greco continued. “They seem to generally bear the brunt of any of these things.”

Aggarwala explained that the city does not share the location of the cameras because of concerns that drivers would avoid the cameras or attempt to vandalize them.

He noted that as of last month, 218 violations were issued to drivers with modified mufflers and 147 drivers who were honking too much, which violated the city’s noise ordinance. More than 90% of those violations were upheld by an administrative hearing officer, according to Aggarwala.

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