Here Are The Upper East Side's Noisiest Spots This Summer

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — As the city wakes up from its pandemic slumber, Upper East Siders are making hundreds of complaints about noisy parties, cars, construction and helicopters — and maps of the complaints shed light on the neighborhood's loudest spots.

Since June 1, people have made 1,092 noise complaints with 311 in the Upper East Side's five ZIP codes, according to city data. That makes noise by far the most common type of complaint made in the neighborhood this summer, outnumbering other nuisances like dirty sidewalks and hot water outages.

About 82 percent of those complaints — 900 in total — were closed without any action because no violations were found, city agencies could not gain entry to the location, or for other reasons.

Around 83 complaints were actually addressed. Those include a noisy air conditioner on East 69th Street (the city issued a violation earlier this month) and a complaint about loud talking on East 84th Street (the NYPD "took action to fix the condition," it says).

Patch broke down the noise complaints into a few subcategories and created interactive maps to show where they are most common. (The maps display best on web browsers.)

Construction noise

Perhaps no kind of noise is as insanity-inducing as the apartment-rattling sounds that accompany building construction.

Upper East Siders have made 176 construction noise complaints since June, more than half of which concerned work going on too early or late in the day. Maps show them centered around a few major construction sites. (Click around the map to zoom in, or click a blue icon to read about each incident.)

The corner of Madison Avenue and East 86th Street, where a 210-foot tower is being built, has been the site of more than a dozen complaints. The even taller tower at 200 East 83rd St. has drawn 23 complaints.

The Chapin School, whose yearslong expansion project has rankled neighbors on East End Avenue, has drawn seven complaints since June.

Loud Music/Party

The 426 complaints about loud music or partying made since June are spread across the Upper East Side.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has the biggest number of these complaints: a whopping 66 in total have been filed at the Met's Fifth Avenue home, mostly in the afternoon and evening. Most of the complaints were closed without any police action.

Other areas with concentrations of music and party complaints include a few blocks along East 79th Street, Second Avenue in the 80s, and First Avenue between East 86th and 89th streets.

Helicopters

Complaints about noisy choppers soared across the city in recent months, including on the Upper East Side, with much of the blame directed at helicopter businesses catering to tourists that fly over landmarks like Central Park.

Sure enough, many of the recent complaints about helicopter noise have come from residents along Fifth Avenue who border the park. Another subset of complaints is concentrated on the far east side of the neighborhood, near Gracie Mansion — possibly in response to aircraft that fly over the East River.

Vehicle noise

The 76 complaints about vehicle noise include 28 about honking horns, 12 about blasting music and 36 about idling engines.

Those complaints are spread throughout the Upper East Side, though some concentrations are visible along the often-congested East 86th Street corridor and on the busy streets in the lower 60s near the Queensboro Bridge.

Residents who live in the upscale areas near Central Park appear to be spared from traffic noise: just one complaint has been filed from Fifth Avenue this summer.

Have a neighborhood tip? Email reporter Nick Garber at nick.garber@patch.com.

Related coverage:

• Helicopter Noise Complaints Soar On Parts Of Upper East Side
• Noise Is Driving Stuck-At-Home New Yorkers Nuts, 311 Data Shows
• Chapin School Expansion Still Rankling Neighbors, 5 Years In