Upper East Side Bars
Hell, bars in general, but I live here.
Adam and I have been living here for 2 1/2 years now, and while we’re not bar hoppers in general, we do enjoy going out every once in a while to have a drink outside our apartment. The main reason to stay in is it’s much cheaper than paying even $5 for a cocktail, and those prices are not the norm around here. But when I’ve been doing enough overtime (I’m not salaried) to warrant a significantly bigger paycheck, price isn’t as much of an issue.
So we were coming back from the annual meeting of the 4th Street Food Coop and I had a craving for a burger. We decided to go into a place with “Tavern” in the name - a place you might think would be more pub-like than your average bar. Not only was it a sports bar - there were at least four TV’s in a small area - but there was really (really, really) loud music blaring through the speakers. It was so loud I had to ask the waiter to turn down the volume. If I have to cup my ears to hear someone across the table from me, the music is too loud.
Walking down 2nd Ave, I tend to feel really old (I’m only 28.) Let me just say it like it is - all the bars around this area attract (wanna-be) trust-fund frat boys and their groupies. The music spilling out of open doors and windows ranges from 80’s hair bands to 00’s hip hop and pop. The clientele look like they’re 18 trying to be 35. Most of them are sports bars. And don’t get fooled by the word “pub” in the name; that doesn’t matter. Most of these complaints are more the type of bar than a noise pollution problem, but I wanted to vent.
It would seem to me that most of the nightlife noise problem in this city would be solved if bars turned down the “ambiance” and let people go home with throats that weren’t ripped up by screaming (which has happened to me at least once.) Of course, it doesn’t help that these places seem to have a good amount of people who don’t care in them every night. But why should I be punished when it really doesn’t hurt anyone to turn the music down to a more respectable level? A bar doesn’t have to turn the music down so you can’t hear it, and people going to bars should expect to have somewhat loud music, but again, if I have to scream to be heard by someone standing or sitting next to me, it’s waaaaay too loud.
The noise complaints keep coming in to 311, New York City’s mega-information hotline. We passed a smoking ban, why can’t we pass a music level limit?
9/9/2006
Soundtrack to life
On top of the outside to some subway station entrances are video screens that show commercials. These are usually ads you don’t see on TV (that is, if you don’t fast forward them on your TiVo.)
There’s one on the 7th Ave E train station that hasn’t been working for the past week. As I was walking to the station, I noticed that the lines on the screen looked like asphalt with meridian lines, as if you were in a moving car looking at the ground. I was listening to a fast paced song at the time and felt like I was on a road trip. This in the middle of a busy sidewalk during a stressful week. It was so much fun!
Forget the roses (especially if you have allergies.) Stop and see the malfunctioning video screens.