Quieter Jackhammers Coming To New York, Merry Christmas To Everyone
What did you ask the City Council for Christmas/Hanukkah/Non-Religious Festivus times, kiddies? (Was it a bunny rabbit? Eek. Sorry about that.) If it was “cut out the damn racket on the sidewalk at 7 a.m.” then you might just be in luck: The city is flirting with regulations that would require construction crews and contractors to switch from good old hearing damage-inducing pneumatic jackhammers to (slightly) quieter electric counterparts. At least at night.
The New York Times reports that officials “are close” to adapting new standards scaling back on the old, noiser models thanks to complaints from the public. The city’s complaint line apparently fielded 9,000 grievances about jackhammers during the past decade.
The new models would reduce the noise by around 10 decibels or more, which takes it from the tooth-grindingly awful to the merely annoying, a standard we can all tolerate. The only catch is that the new regulations may also include extending construction hours to encourage constructors to use the quieter equipment. So: Less noise, but for longer. Eh?