We did that post last week about a reader looking for a quiet block to live on (helpful, by the way!) ... asking if such a thing even existed these days. (This post.)
Following that, another reader thought it might be sorta therapeutic to prompt a discussion about the loudest block in the neighborhood. Bar noise. Traffic noise. Noise noise. The usual.
Sure. What the Hell.
So.
I've never lived on these blocks, but they seem as if they could be really loud at times.
• St. Mark's Place closer to Avenue A (apartments facing St. Mark's Place)
• Third Avenue (OK, maybe between 10th and 12th...)
• Near or around Avenue A and Houston
Anyone else?
[File photo outside Superdive back in the day]
35 comments:
My vote - 14th St between 2nd/3rd - especially if you're facing 14th St.
From the endless stream of cars, buses, and blaring sirens, to the flow of drunks either drinking at the numerous bars or using it as a route to/from their drinking, finally you think it would quiet down but no the hooting thugs show up at IHOP and stand outside yelling, screaming, and stabbing each other.
what about 9th st between 1st and A? I'm thinking of taking an apt there. can anyone confirm its NOT a shitshow loud area?
Is A and Houston that loud? it seems pretty open, and not much going on? What? Gracefully? Tacos Morales? I have to think its the upper EV and the number aves that are the loudest, over by 13th step etc.
I'll back up the 14th St. comment, with a twist. I live on Second Ave. just off of 14th St. Lots of bars, bus stops, buses, sirens, high speed car traffic (with wobbly manholes underneath), busy intersection, fratty dudes, college and pro team specific bars, etc. Pretty loud. Through traffic on Second (or Third or First) is something to consider. Have a look at stopped traffic on a Saturday night. Just a mass of yellow out the window. At least A, B, C t-bone out at the top, meaning (somewhat) quieter streets...a slight backwater effect.
@Hey 19
Was thinking the combo of the Houston/Essex/A/First Street traffic with the six bars between Houston and 2nd — Kelly's, Double Down, Nice Guy Eddies, The Library, Ella and 2A — could make for some noise. (Nothing against any of these bars... but, you know...)
St Marks Place between 2nd and 3rd. There's nothing but hooting and hollering by kids having their very first beer... lovely.
East 4th St (btw 1&2) seems to be a thorofare for any firetruck or siren. Add to that the bevy of drunk kids heading to ABC's, and, oh jeez... I miss the junkies. Least they were quiet.
Once you live above a bar or across the street from a bar, it is game over. You are living in loudsville. You only need to live in close proximity to one bar, and that's it. I feel for the people who live in a block with more than one.
I live across a street from a bar here in the East Village, and the patrons are so loud--I hear noise coming from inside and outside the bar--that I can't sleep. Earplugs don't work, but I was thinking of buying those headphones construction guys wear and sleeping with them on. I have tried sleeping with noise reducing headphones like you wear on a plane, but they don't work. Does anyone know if these construction-type headphones would do the trick? I know it is sad that it has come to this, but it has.
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Karma is the devil... Funny how you can smoke inside, yet the party is always outside on the sidewalk... I don't get it...
it's friday again
My guess would be Second Ave between St. Mark's and Ninth. I can't even walk by the 13th Step without bursting an eardrum.
Also, I used to live on First Avenue and 7th St, on the corner- First Avenue is used as a thoroughfare for the nearby Hell's Angels and otehr cyclists that want to pick up some speed on a relatively uncrowded avenue late at night. It was shockingly loud.
Pedestrian noise: Saint Mark's block from hell.
Other noise: anywhere along Bowery, especially near 4th or 5th streets. The sirens, car horns, traffic noise, and endless construction/destruction of the street are endless.
- East Villager
living on 9th betwn 1st and 2nd. the 13th Step needs to be shut down. its DISGUSTING what horrific and obnoxiously loud crowds it brings here.
I vote 1st Ave between 1st and 2nd. EV Radio, Lil Frankies, Karma or Sutra or whatever, One&One, Lucky Chengs, plus a bus stop currently under construction.
I lived on St. Marks closer to Ave A for two years (ending in June). One bedroom faced St. Marks and was INSANELY loud all the time. Monday at 2am? Screaming. Just people walking down the street screaming. Saturday at midnight? Forget it. My room faced the back and was silent. It worked because my roommate was deaf in one ear...
Hi again. Don't live near it, but, yes, 13th Step is horrific.
@ Grieve -
Ah yeah, right there at the nexus its a pretty solid cluster. And Houston must be loud.
Yeah, nothing against those bars, but, really, probably something against those bars. To be fair, besides 2A, I havent been to many of them on that stretch, Molly Os once. 2A a bunch.
It's all about the neighbors. I live on a relatively low traffic street, but as soon as the temp hits above 65, my neighbors set up lawn chairs or perch on the garbage cans outside my window and hang out until they get into their usual screaming fight sometime between 2 and 4 am. They had a barky pit pull, which I didn't properly appreciate until they got the yappy chihuahua. Amazing how 2-6 people (depending on who they've invited over from the projects on Ave. D) can noise up an entire block.
I can sleep through most of the people noise but the sirens and honking on 4th St between 1st and 2nd is truly terrible. Certainly gets my vote for noisiest.
I live on 1st and St Marks and as far as loudness goes you really need to take into account the 1st avenue ambulance corridor. I'm sure the drunks are probably louder on st Marks facing the street but having an ambulance or tour bus go by every 5 minutes is fairly deafening.
I would guess Ave A & 7th Street. The noise from Yucca Bar is horrific every time I walk by. I can't imagine living anywhere near it.
Anon 12:15 - I share your pain as a fellow resident of that block. The sirens suck (I think it's a major through st for ambulances coming from Greenwich Village) but having grown up in & around the city, I think the yelling and screaming is far worse on other blocks.
my heart goes out to anyone who lives on avenue a.
7th Street & Ave A may not be the loudest block, but it's the loudest corner in the East Village. The combination of Niagra, Cabin Down Below, the Yucca Bar and the crazy homeless people screaming and hanging out at the chess tables in TSP...it's pretty insane most nights of the week. After 15 years of living here, it seems to be getting louder!
Lived on ludlow st btwn houston and stanton for 4 yrs. Also known as hells square. I lived right above Max Fish. I defy anyone to find a louder block than ludlow.
I vote for Avenue A between 10th and 11th. Horus, The Beagle, Bar on A, Diablo, HiFi, Westville. A zoo.
No, no its not
there are benefits to living in the middle of a block, in the back building. zero street or pedestrian noise.
13th St. b/t 3rd and 4th Ave. There might not be a lot of bars and such, but don't live across from the fire station if you are a light sleeper. To get to fire calls farther east, the trucks go against traffic, in which case they turn on their sirens full blast to travel down the street. This can happen several times a night. I can now sleep through just about anything thanks to my time living on 13th St.
My block - 7th Street between A & B! Every Saturday and Sunday afternoon from about May to October features window-rattling concerts in the Park right across the street. For year-round, 24-hour entertainment we have the regular drunk and loud students making the trek from Avenue A to the bars, etc. further east. I've been here several years now but I sleep very well with a white noise maker.
@DWG that's my block, too. I live up on the 5th floor and I can hear every word of every conversation on the street.
After 10 years in the apt I've learned to tune it out, but our block is basically "Little Vegas" isn't it?
11th st between 3rd and 4th avenues.....webster hall!
1st avenue between e5th and St. Marks...it's a mardi-gras parade of douchebags and cackling sluts from 10-2am pretty much every night.
@Anon Mon 9:51am - Amazon sells a Marpac noise cancelling machine that really works (except for high shrill drunk girl voices, sirens and deep bass sounds like from construction or thrumping music). When combined with headphones there isn't much that gets through. There are some headphones that are sewn inside a cloth headband that is pretty comfortable for sleeping.
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