New App Aims To Track NYC Noise, Improve Enforcement Citywide

NEW YORK CITY — Noise complaints remain among the top calls to 311 citywide, and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection will now allow residents to measure and track noise in their neighborhood to help with enforcement in a newly released app.

The new NYC Noise app enables users to record decibel levels, classify noise types, and visualize noise levels in their surroundings while providing valuable data to DEP.

New Yorkers can document the time, date, location, and source of a noise by taking a simple five-second reading.

Results appear in both map and table formats, showing average and maximum decibel levels along with user notes on noise type—such as construction, traffic, or music, according to the DEP.

By allowing residents to measure and track noise in their neighborhood, DEP says they can better analyze citywide noise patterns, and the data will help them identify hotspots and guide targeted enforcement efforts.

“Noise is one of the most common quality-of-life issues New Yorkers face, and this new tool will help us better understand when and where those disturbances occur,” DEP Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala said. “I want to thank our teams in the bureaus of Environmental Compliance and Business Information Technology for their work in developing NYC Noise, which will help our inspectors target enforcement more precisely while empowering the public to participate in creating a quieter city.”

Traditional noise complaints often lack precise data on decibel levels and timing, making enforcement more challenging. The decibel level and noise type will be recorded.

DEP uses the example of jackhammering typically occurring at a certain location between 8 and 10 a.m., which can lead to them scheduling inspections during that window.

Noise types can be classified as:

• Alarms
• Construction work,
• Dog/animal noise
• HVAC/fan noise
• Loud music
• Sirens
• Traffic (cars, buses)
• Horns

You can download the NYC Noise app from both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.