[File photo via the No 7-Eleven Blog]
From the EVG inbox yesterday afternoon…
Today, a group of elected officials and community groups blasted 7-Eleven for being a bad neighbor and demanded they drop the October 7, 2014 appeal of a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) order to cease using a noisy ground-level refrigeration unit in the East Village. The refrigeration unit at 7-Eleven’s 170 Avenue A store has been tormenting neighbors for over a year and violates the City’s noise code.
Since the refrigeration unit was installed in September 2013, residents of adjoining 502 East 11th Street have been driven from their bedrooms by the unit’s constant grinding, clicking and vibrating. Residents have secured multiple DEP noise violations against 7-Eleven, which culminated in the agency issuing a cease and desist order for the unit last month. 7-Eleven has chosen to fight the order at the City’s Environmental Control Board rather than fixing or disabling the offending unit.
Senator Hoylman (D, WFP – Manhattan) said: “This is an outrage. It’s like living in a wind tunnel. Neighbors can’t get a good night’s sleep thanks to 7-Eleven and its noisy refrigeration unit at 170 Avenue A. I demand 7-Eleven to fix or disable the refrigeration unit and drop their appeal immediately.”
Hoylman continued: “This case is a perfect example of how the incursion of franchises like 7-Eleven have hurt the quality of life in the East Village. It’s sad they can’t be trusted to be good neighbors.”
Council Member Rosie Mendez said: "Since NYC is a city that never sleeps, 7-Eleven believes that translates into the fact that it can disrupt its neighbors quality of life of 24/7. If 7-Eleven wants to operate a 24 hour business in NYC and in our community, then act like good neighbors by dropping the appeal and fixing the HVAC unit that is located only 2-3 feet from the rear windows."
Maria Rosenblum, a resident of 502 East 11th Street, said: “Having this refrigeration unit next to my apartment windows has been a living a nightmare. The constant noise and vibrations prevents our daughter from doing her homework and prevents me from doing my own work; I'm a freelance film editor and I work from home. At night we all have trouble sleeping and have had to all camp out on the floor of our living room, my husband, daughter and I. We have all been uprooted and our bedrooms are useless. 7-Eleven is destroying my home, my neighbors’ homes and our neighborhood.”
Gigi Li, Chair of Community Board 3, said: “Community Board 3 thanks Senator Hoylman for working with residents and the Community Board for almost a year to try to remedy this illegal installation that has been a nightmare for the neighbors. 7-Eleven has shown blatant disregard for their negative impact on neighbors by appealing the cease and desist order. They have moved into our community without concern of being a good neighbor and contributing to our community.”
Previously on EV Grieve:
3 new AC units at incoming 7-Eleven prompts Partial Stop Work Order
A WHOOSHING AC unit update: 'We are roundly being ignored by 7-Eleven and Westminster NYC'
Report: 7-Eleven's AC units have forced residents from their bedrooms on Avenue A & East 11th St.
20 comments:
It is unbelievable that any business that does this is allowed to continue doing so. Why can't the city immediately shut down the unit making the noise, then the business can make an appeal? The neighbors have to be tortured for a year while they makes its way through an appeal process. It is ridiculous.
I would hate that outside my window. The company should just move it. Is there a reason it can't be on the roof? Can they insulate it?
Bloomberg should be forced to sleep in one of the bedrooms next to this store to see what his policies have brought upon us.
t too the elected officials over a year to come out about this problem?
and blasting 7-11 is all they can think to do?
shame!
People live with this every day from the restaurants and rather than support residents people support the business because they like their homemade chocolate chip ice cream or something, go figure. Backyard use, same thing, don't support. Residents first.
Thank goodness we finally have a few city and state politicians willing to stand up to these chain stores. Under Bloomberg these chains were protected, and City Council members were regularly punished for going against the rich midget's agenda, and his BFF Christine Quinn would sit on and kill any bill he didn't like.
It makes sense to go after the worst offenders first. 7-11 is much worse than many other small businesses as they have a massive refrigeration system in a high traffic store, which is fine in the suburbs but not this city. Same goes for iHop with their loud exhaust fans blowing out bacon grease and pancake smoke in everyones windows.
Hope they address all the other quality of life cases too, it should not have taken a year but better late than never, which is what we got under the last pint-sized dictator.
why not just sabotage it ... throw rocks at it until it breaks ...
Giovanni, I agree with your statements, but you seem to be strangely pre-occupied with size.
@11:55 You're right, my therapist keeps telling me to just ignore midget dictators and trolls, but for some reason I just can't seem to get away from them.
What's taken the media and pols so long to hop on this story? The No 7-Eleven blog has been writing about this for about a year.
A cool thing would be if everyone in the east village stopped buying things from fucking 7-eleven. If we take away their business, they'll have to relocate. I wish there were an actually effective way to organize such a boycott in the east village. I don't even understand why people go there in the first place, it's not as if there ISN'T a local bodega on every corner with nearly equivocal prices and selection of goods. ...and more attractive building facades.
Residents should also get FDNY involved, that unit looks like it could impede egress in an emergency [like yo building is on fire!] ...
And placing it on the roof, would screw the people living up there...
I'm amazed that the residents haven't tried a rent strike.
.
What exactly is this machine for; cooling of fridges, A/C's could it be accomplished by smaller machines or does the slushie machine require that much power to freeze colored sugar water?
I see Ace Hardware has sledgehammers for sale at $36. It would be a damn shame if anything happened to that refrigeration unit....
For some 7-11 reminds them of home, grieve.
DOB would've shut 7-11 down if a rich newbie neighbor were to call and make the complaint.
Turd bombs.
The employees sitting outside on 11th Street at all hours of the night yelling is insane also.
Interesting how people are sympathetic to the ire of complainers about an air conditioner, but not
sympathetic if it's 100 people sitting and drinking in a backyard under someone's bedroom window. 11th St Block Association has the same prejudice, picking and choosing which irksome noise deserves their attention. Screaming drunks and illegal live music=ok. Air conditioner=not ok.
The uncontrolled noise in NYC generally is a huge problem, but this kind of thing is especially infuriating.
How about that rusted fire escape?
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