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In New York City, open-top double-decker buses are a great way of seeing the sights, and tourists love them.

But the feeling’s not shared by the people living in landmark neighbourhoods who say they are driven to distraction by the commentaries coming over the loudspeakers.

The City Council has now passed a law requiring the buses to replace loudspeaker systems with headphones, starting from July next year.

New York City’s sightseeing bus fleet has grown rapidly since the vehicles first appeared on the streets in the early 1990s. Efforts to quieten their loudspeakers have persisted for years, particularly in more residential neighbourhoods like the West Village, SoHo and Chinatown in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn.

“It’s a constant, pervasive, persistent noise,” said Barbara Backer, whose apartment faces the major tour bus corridor of Bleecker Street. “Some people wear earplugs in their homes.”

Thomas Lewis, President of Gray Line New York Sightseeing, insisted his buses did not violate the city’s strict noise code. Besides, he said, New Yorkers were subjected to many other sounds: garbage trucks, ambulances and other emergency vehicles, for example. “It’s one of the consequences of living in the city,” he said.

by Andy Moreton

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There is one bugbear, however, that can’t be predicted – noisy neighbors. In a survey last August in the leading British paper, The Sunday Times, this came out top of the annoyances that could turn a holiday sour.

A few years ago, I booked into a hotel on the Spanish island of Majorca in the hope of a quiet week in the sun.

Towards the end of my first night, I had a rude awakening. At 5am, through the thin wall linking my room to the next, came the sound of a telephone ringing, followed by a long, loud and animated conversation in a language not my own.

The door to the room was closed noisily and silence reigned for about an hour. The two occupants returned, there was more loud conversation and then all was quiet
again. The following day, the same pattern.

On the third day, I decided to investigate. I secretly followed the two ladies through the dining room and past the terrace to the swimming pool where they carefully laid towels on two sunbeds. Contented, they enjoyed a hearty breakfast and then returned to bed.

The following morning, tired and tetchy, I decided to exact some small revenge. I tracked them once more (by now I was becoming quite good at ducking behind the potted plants) and, as they sat down to breakfast, I removed their towels and put them in a rather obscure place. When they’d returned to their beds, I reversed the door sign from ‘Do Not Disturb’ to ‘Please Make Up My Room,’ and rang the room from the lobby leaving it off the hook.

I am not proud of my actions, dear reader. I could simply have reported them to the hotel manager, but believe me my modus operandi gave me far more satisfaction.

by Andy Moreton