Extell To 'Blanket' Noise At Loud UES Construction Site, Says Menin

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Council Member Julie Menin says she is helping Extell tuck in their noise at a Yorkville construction site with the use of special-order Australian blankets.

On Thursday, Menin announced that after months of complaints from neighbors around the site at East 79th Street and First Avenue, where the Hospital for Special Surgery will occupy the first eight floors of the 30-story building, new "hammer blankets" have been installed on the excavator-mounted rock hammers terrorizing nearby constituents.

One resident told her office that they actually purchased "construction-grade noise cancelling ear muffs," but said they were not only unpleasant to wear but even then didn't drown out the sound as they worked from home.

"I'm desperate," the constituent wrote to Menin's office.

Fifteen subsequent visits by the city's Department of Environmental Protection found that the site was in compliance with noise regulations, and the Department of Buildings agreed.

Back in October, Menin did a site walkthrough at 403 East 79th St. and asked Extell to install better fencing and sound blankets. But neighbors, many of who still work from home, said the noise remained unbearable.

But the special order blankets, an Australian device called the Hushtec Excavator Attachment which promises to reduce rock breaker noise by up to 20 decibels, Menin said, will hopefully be a step in the right direction.

"I am pleased that Extell has engaged with my office and procured sound mitigation equipment that is not readily available in the United States," Menin said. "In an era where many people work from home, lowering decibel levels from construction sites is critical to enhance New Yorkers quality of life."

Menin's office said that according to Extell, rock chopping will go on for one more month and that the next phase of construction should involve much less noise.

The megadeveloper, known for kickstarting the "billionaire's row," is currently engaged with a number of Upper East Side developments, including a pair of corners opposite each other on East 86th Street and First Avenue, a site on East 86th Street and Third Avenue, the longtime flagship home of Big Apple icon Papaya King's, and on East 75th Street and Third Avenue, where a 200-foot tower is planned.