CARS MAKE A LOT OF NOISE: See What Happens When You Take Them Away!

I recently discovered a good deal of footage from 2011 and 2017 of the loud, chaotic speedway our neighborhood NYC open street used to be. I was gonna use this in a recent film about 34th Ave design but decided to hold it for this separate bonus short look (and listen!)

As you check out these archives, be aware that nearly every before shot is directly contrasted with a recent shot absent the din of what the street ambience is versus the remarkable 2011 footage of how much the constant drone of cars is present (and we're not even talking about honking or cars playing music loudly). Most of these shots were filmed on the exact same block 12 years ago.

One of the major arguments of people that are against open streets is how much "louder" the street has become. Of course any reasonable person knows that's folly. When the constant noise of motors and road tire friction is removed, what's left are sounds of humans that would naturally be there walking, talking, playing, etc. on sidewalks. This irks some people. (The exception I will admit is that on some open streets there are occasional events where there might be music played or a protest or cultural event. Those certainly will have some elevated noise levels. But they are not daily and still would argue if you had a decibel meter out there might not even reach the levels of most car noise.)