Enforcement efforts can reduce loud noise problems, psychologist says

Loud noise is a national problem according to Dr. Arline Bronzaft, a Manhattan-based environmental psychologist who's a pioneer in the field of anti-noise measures.

Bronzaft has studied the impact of environmental noise for decades. She has documented that reducing noise helps children learn.

"If you have an ordinance, and if the likelihood of being stopped by a police officer is strong, then the ordinance could be effective," Bronzaft said. "However, as I speak to people across the country, ordinances don't often get enforced, so it's very nice to have a law, but if it's not enforced, what value does it have?

"Ordinances that are not enforced don't really have much muscle and too many people will disregard them," she said, adding that stereos and modified muffler systems that are audible for half a block or more should be illegal.

New York City was the No. 1 city on Steel Report's list as the noisiest city in the U.S., but ironically, thanks in some part to Bronzaft who helped revise the city's noise code in 2007, it may have some of the strongest anti-noise measures in the country.

The city's department of environmental protection (DEP) handles noise complaints along with the police.

Bronzaft also took part in the development of an education module that teaches how harmful noise is in NYC public schools.

In Jersey City, a high school like Snyder - with an " equity " rating of 1/10 on greatschools.org - sits in an area of Ward F on the city's south side where noise pollution is chronic.

"My research goes back nearly 50 years ago when I found that noise from passing trains (at an NYC school) affected children's learning," Bronzaft said. "By the sixth grade they were nearly a year behind in reading compared to children on the quiet side, so I know noise does detract children from learning, and the teacher had a difficult time teaching.

"The wonderful thing about that study is that the transportation authority was testing out a new procedure to quiet the tracks, and I, with the assistance of the community, persuaded them to choose the site next to the school to abate the noise and the board put acoustical tiles in the classrooms, and then when the classrooms were quieter, I was asked by a public official to go back and see if things were quieter and if they help the children. I want you to guess in a quieter environment ... do you think that children learn better?"

Of course they did, Bronzaft said. "Now we know learning is difficult when you're in a noisy room."

That's true whether that be in a classroom or a room at home .

Bronzaft, a retired educator, says she's never been busier than in her capacity as a noise pollution expert. Municipalities around the country are trying new methods like stationary cameras that capture noise offenders, she said, adding they're not perfect but pilot programs that aim to develop the technology are progress in the face of kind of learned helplessness that people experience when they can't get something that's harming them to stop; and that's what noise is, Bronzaft said.

"The term 'learned helplessness' – it means, 'Hey, I don't count," Bronzaft said. "'Nobody's listening to me. I might as well give up.' You know what kind of feeling that is? Psychologically, it's awful."

Bronzaft advised that people speak to local and state legislators about noise pollution and vote for the ones who, like a decibel meter, move the needle to where it should be.