| By :
Paul Wise
Ear plugs are such necessities for New York City living that they should be handed out with every apartment lease! Unfortunately, noisy neighbors might still be coming through the walls - and floors! Indeed, there seems to be no stopping the noise common to communal living, at least in New York City. Protection supplies also refer to protecting yourself from disturbing and annoying noises which can cause epileptic headaches that result to fatal damaging of the brain. Even the best ear plugs available seem only to be rated at a mere 32dB, which is just about the level of sound coming from a typical conversation. It's enough for so-called white noise, but no match against loud music played over a sound system with a subwoofer! It is all based on the watts as well as the power; if it is something like a subwoofer then yes it will bang down the eardrums every beat of the way. For ear plugs that offer more utility against loud noises, the kind used at firing ranges may be what's needed. But ultimately, using hearing protection is not quite the answer. It's applying a band-aid solution to a persistent problem, an ongoing problem - what's needed is to remedy the situation once and for all! For that is the only way to get rid of and nullify the situation. But how to do that in a place like New York City, a metropolis that actually prides itself as the place that never sleeps? (Which is all just hype, anyway; go to the famous Night Market of Taibei, Taiwan, where you can find real food for sale any time of the night - New York only offers bars and corner convenience stores; not bad, but no big deal in comparison.) Actually, not much. Despite a reputation as having the toughest anti-noise pollution laws in the entire United States, New York City remains noisy because enforcement is lacking. Even in the best of times there is the suspicion that the city has more pressing problems deserving of official attention (and the concomitant public dollars), but especially in today's recessionary climate municipal authorities have no means to enforce these so-called nuisance laws. Indeed, the word "nuisance" makes the whole matter sound petty, which in a sense it is of course. But it is also quite important, at the same time - while life and limb understandably trumps all other considerations, who does not value mental sanity and the peace and quiet required for it? More emphasis needs to be made, but unfortunately the issue is just not really on official radar screens - or, more to the point, sonar screens. And until there is more than just lip service (of which there is even precious little), not only will New York continue to be on noisy hell of a place, but many would actually pride themselves on it!
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