Monday, July 02, 2007

Barking fines as noisy New York repents | International News | News | Telegraph
A better headline would be, "Fussbudget Mayor Runs for President...and not of his condo association." This just proves what I've been saying: cities are emulating HOAs.

Barking dogs and lawn mowers are among the main targets of anti-noise laws which have just come into force in New York. Having cleaned up the city's smoking and eating habits, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's civilising tendencies have turned to its famous din. From now on construction companies will have to put up "noise mitigation plans" at building sites explaining how they intend to minimise machinery and other noise. Rubbish trucks must stay at least 50ft from residential buildings between 11pm and 7am while ice cream vans can only play their jingles when the vehicle is moving.Noisy dogs will be penalised whether moving or not. Pets that bark continuously for more than five minutes at night or 10 minutes during the day could leave their owners with fines ranging from $50 to $175 for a first offence. Lawn mowers cannot be used before 8am and after 7pm on weekdays, or before 9am and after 6pm on weekends and public holidays. Loud music will be subject to fines ranging from $50 for a portable stereo offender up to $24,000 for a restaurant which ignores a first warning.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think it's a great idea. There's no reason people have to crash and bang disrespectfully throughout the night.

Major cities in many European countries are dead silent by night. Berlin is quiet as a crypt. It's wonderful.