Astoria's Noisy 'Fart Cars' Would Face Higher Fines Under New Bill

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Drivers of the "fart cars" that have tormented Astorians in recent years would face stiffer penalties for their earsplitting vehicles under a new bill in the City Council.

The bill, introduced Thursday by Manhattan Councilmember Erik Bottcher, would double the penalties for noise violations stemming from vehicle exhaust, honking, or "illegal sound producing devices."

Fines for a driver's first offense, for example, would rise to $300 from the current minimum of $150; the maximum $3,000, third-offense penalty for excessive use of a car horn, meanwhile, would be doubled to $6,000.

It's only the latest attempt to address the noisy-car scourge, which grew even more severe during the pandemic. Other efforts have included a 2021 state law that raised fines for illegal modifications to mufflers and exhaust systems (which took effect last month), and a recent pilot program in which the city placed a combination camera-sound meter at an undisclosed location to target loud drivers.

Astoria has suffered from an especially large influx of loud vehicles, which residents have dubbed "fart cars" for the obnoxious, belching sounds produced by modified mufflers.

A dozen other Council members have signed on as cosponsors of Bottcher's bill, although Tiffany Cabán, who represents most of Astoria, has not signaled support. A spokesperson for Cabán declined to comment on the legislation Friday.

"Every New Yorker knows how it feels to be woken up in the middle of the night by an obnoxiously loud vehicle," Bottcher said in a statement. "These vehicles and drivers aren’t just rude and inconsiderate, they’re actually harming people’s physical and mental health."

Through the first few months of 2022, Astorians have filed more than 450 complaints to 311 about car noise in the neighborhood, according to city data. That's around the same number that were filed during the same period of 2021, but a 72 percent increase from the first four months of 2020.

Mapping the complaints shows them distributed fairly evenly around Astoria, with a few clusters on Ditmars Boulevard and on 37th Avenue in Dutch Kills.

Police have reported issuing a summons for just four of the 459 noise complaints filed in Astoria this year, according to the 311 data. In about three-quarters of the complaints, police say they either found no violations, decided against taking action or could not find the perpetrators, while in about 20 percent of cases, police say they took action to address the noise.

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