Omnipresent, but largely neglected, noise is a real threat to public health. In New York, it fuels stress, sleep disorders and cardiovascular diseases, but remains treated like a minor nuisance, far behind air pollution.
Tim Mulligan, 43, now avoids taking the metro. But in a city with hyper dense traffic, dominated by the sound of hammers and sirens, this veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress is no exception to cacophony.
“I covered my acoustic foam window, installed double curtains, I sleep with earplugs and I move with noise reduction helmets,” said Manhattan resident who lives near Times Square.
The metro -air or underground -, automotive traffic, bars, helicopters, work: New York resonates permanently.
A normal conversation reaches 50 to 65 decibels. Car traffic is between 70 and 85. A picker hammer can climb up to 110. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that they do not exceed on average 70 decibels on a daily basis. However, in New York, this limit is crossed almost everywhere.
The figures confirm what the ears undergo: in 2024, the appeal line of 311 – The number of municipal services – received more than 750,000 complaints for noise pollution, the most frequent complaint in the city. As of August 14, 2025, there were already almost half a million.
And yet, the megalopolis is an exception in the United States: it has a “noise code”, which fixes thresholds and provides for sanctions, and has even deployed cameras equipped with sound sensors to verbalize too noisy motorists.
But the experts judge the response largely insufficient.
All age categories concerned
The Professor of the University of Michigan and Public Health Specialist Richard Neitzel has coordinated since 2019 with Apple a large national study: more than 200,000 volunteers carry a connected watch that records their sound exhibition.
The first results are alarming: “A quarter of Americans are exposed to levels that threaten their long-term hearing,” he said.
In New York, according to a study he had carried out between 2010 and 2012 with Columbia University, the figures were even worse: “We had measured that around one New Yorker out of ten was likely to suffer a hearing loss simply by taking the metro every day.”
And the consequences go far beyond the ears: lack of sleep, increased risk of cardiovascular or cerebral accident, depression, cognitive disorders … The list of known effects is growing, without provoking a major political reaction.
Because “contrary to air pollution, (…) The noise does not receive the same attention from the general public” and the authorities, regrets the researcher.
All categories of age and population are concerned, but some more than others. Young adults aged 18 to 25 are massively exposed via earphones on their phone, often to too high volumes. In working -class neighborhoods, the sound environment is often more intense, due to the main roads and construction sites.
For the audiologist Michele Distefano, director of the Shelley Center and Steven Einhorn, “the stronger and prolonged the exposure, the more severe the hearing loss. And there is no return possible “, even if we can obviously” prevent “this risk.
The paradox is that, in some places, noise is voluntarily sought. In a Mexican restaurant in the Hudson Yards district with deafening music, manager Shane Newman admits him immediately: “With music, the atmosphere seems more festive. Customers stay longer, consume more. ”
Conversely, other studies show that noise accelerates the rotation of tables, increasing the profitability of establishments.
