New Yorkers may have a tolerance for the bustling sounds of the city, but they are drawing the line at loud sex.
According to a new report from Patch, hundreds of New York City residents have made 311 complaints about overly noisy sexual activity in the last year, with the outlet reporting that the city’s official helpline received 277 noise complaints between 19 February 2021 and 9 February 2022.
The issue has been the most disruptive in Queens, where the report states that 103 complaints were logged, while Manhattan followed with 66 complaints and Brooklyn residents recorded 55 complaints. The Bronx and Staten Island boroughs also saw a number of complaints, with 48 and four, respectively.
The complaints, which were viewed by the outlet, ranged from grievances over loud moaning sounds to concerns about orgies, with the Patch reporting that there were 56 sex noise complaints logged on Cross Bay Boulevard in Jamaica, Queens, where residents complained about a group of individuals described as “hippies” reportedly dressing up as Freddy Krueger, Pennywise and the Easter Bunny and engaging in sex.
“They’re still here causing a sex mayhem,” one report logged at 6am reads, according to the outlet. “Thought it was too cold outside for an orgy party. Doesn’t stop this guy.”
The data saw another New Yorker log a 311 complaint about their “ceiling shaking” and “debris falling” as a result of a sexually active neighbour, while one resident allegedly complained that someone was making the bed “squeak as if it’s an Olympic event”.
In Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn, one resident acknowledged that they have slept through “earthquakes and fires in my life,” but “couldn’t sleep through this” after they were still awake by the sounds at 2.45am.
The Patch reports that the complaints have also been specific to the time of year, with the holiday season seeing one Manhattan resident complaining that “some guy is singing jingle balls at the top of his voice” and “another person is screaming [‘Y]es daddy come down my chimney.’”
The Covid-19 stimulus payments also provided reason to celebrate, according to a Bronx resident, who reportedly filed a sex complaint at 12.45 am about “loud banging and moaning”. “Heard the neighbour saying ‘How’s this STIMMY baby!’” they added.
According to NYC 311, the official website of the city of New York, New York City residents can make a complaint about noise from a neighbour including loud music or television, talking, and moving or dragging of furniture.
Once the report has been made, officers from the New York Police Department (NYPD) will respond within eight hours when they are not handling emergencies and will be “able to take action if the noise is still happening when they arrive”.
According to Patch, records show NYPD responses to the loud sex complaints ranged, with 187 cases deemed “unfounded or unnecessary,” while 68 were ruled not crimes and two were gone on arrival.
In a statement to the outlet, a police spokesperson said: “The NYPD takes all quality of life complaints seriously. [We] will continue to monitor and address all complaints.”
Author and social psychologist Dr Justin Lehmiller, PhD, a research fellow at The Kinsey Institute and scientific advisor to Lovehoney, previously told The Independent that Kinsey Institute data suggests that the pandemic has affected different people in different ways, and that some participants said they planned to “have more partners in the future” and make up for lost time, while others said that they “plan to have fewer partners and less sex”.
“So we’re likely to see a rise in casual sex for some, and a decline for others,” he hypothesised at the time.
The Independent has contacted the NYPD for comment.
