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Coney Island, NY - Synagogue to Use Noise Law to Foil $64 Million Concert Hall |
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Proposed Coney Island Amphitheater
Members of an Orthodox synagogue across from the glitzy 8,000-seat project will announce plans today to use a little-known city law to bar concerts in the new center every night of the week.
The law bans permits for amplified sound within 500 feet of religious institutions, schools, courthouses and other gathering places when they are in session.
"We have services seven nights a week," said Mendy Sontag, president of the Sea Breeze Jewish Center. "Since Marty is going ahead and doesn't give a hoot about the needs of the community, we're going to do whatever is necessary to fight him all the way."
The synagogue - which has already said it would fight concerts on Friday and Saturday nights when it hosts its largest services - is part of a growing group of local critics who argue the project is too big and will overwhelm the Surf Ave. park.
The group, which has collected more than 1,000 signatures against the project, is planning a protest rally at the site today.
"This is a very clear-cut issue," said activist Ida Sanoff. "The law is the law and it applies to everyone."
Legal experts had mixed opinions.
Brooklyn Law Professor Michael Madow said the 500-foot law could be revised or challenged in court because 500 feet could be seen as too broad in such a densely populated city.
"The problem if anything is that it's over-broad. It leaves too little room for the use of sound amplification," said Madow. "There's nothing to stop the City Council from amending the ordinance."
Veteran land-use attorney Howard Goldman agreed that if taken too far, the law could effectively be used to squash many parades, political protests and concerts.
But he said that as written, the synagogue has a point.
"Assuming that there are no exceptions, then if somebody complains, the police are obligated to enforce the law," he said. "They cannot selectively enforce the law."
Markowitz has hosted free Thursday night concerts in a smaller, existing bandshell in the park for nearly 20 years. City Councilmen Domenic Recchia (D-Coney Island) also hosts concerts in the park on Tuesdays. The bandshell goes back to at least the 1950s.
The Police Department has not issued sound permits in the park on Friday and Saturday nights out of respect for the synagogue, officials said.
Sontag said his members have never complained about the weeknight concerts because they have "learned to live with them."
The project, which also includes a complete overhaul of the playground and handball courts, is slated to begin in the fall and be completed in 2012.
Markowitz defended the project, saying it will improve the surrounding area. "This beautiful new park will be a key component of a revitalized Coney Island for visitors and the community in the days and years ahead."
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Read Comments (12) — Post Yours »
1
May 17, 2009 at 08:36 AM Anonymous Says:
Aren't we in golus ?? Why do our people allways be in the news ?? Then we cry that there is hate against us. What a chilul hashem
2
May 17, 2009 at 08:28 AM Anonymous Says:
I'm waiting to see all the self-hating jews who always slam heimishe institutions or companies for any infraction of the law with cries of 'a law is a law' (e.g. bobov monsey, rubashkin etc...) to use their double standard & complain that the shul is being too petty & making a chillul hashem....
3
May 17, 2009 at 09:01 AM Anonymous Says:
This is something that can easily be toned down or find another location to fuel his political agenda!
4
May 17, 2009 at 09:09 AM Anonymous Says:
If I lived in that area I would be so grateful to that shul for doing this. Who would want to live near an open concert hall? What if you have babies, or an elderly relative living with you? That noise level should not be permitted so close to a residential area.
5
May 17, 2009 at 09:05 AM Anonymous Says:
Slam markowitz for all you got he's a disgrace for Brooklyn
6
May 17, 2009 at 09:52 AM Anonymous Says:
Reply to 1 so only monsey residents have the right to complain against yeshivas but if a shull feels it might disturb them they must just put up and shut up is that it now not that I understand how it would affect them but they have the right to complain if it dose it's a free country let's stop the double standard
7
May 17, 2009 at 12:13 PM Anonymous Says:
The ambient noise on an average city street is about 80 dB. Since sound loses 6 dB each time distance is doubled, if the sound source is 500 feet away the sound level at the source would be about 128 dB, and if the sound source is 250 feet away the sound level would be 122 dB.
Assuming the concert sound system only has speakers at the stage, and not have repeater speakers further back in the audience (as is done for very large outdoor concerts), then the sound level can be as loud as 122 dB without exceeding the ambient noise of the street, assuming the shul is at least 250 feet away from the stage. If highly directional speakers are used, and kept pointed away from the shul, the trucks bouncing on the street will generate more noise.
122 dB at the stage should be sufficient for most acts they'd want to bring into a family neighborhood. As long as a professional sound company runs the show , the sound level can be managed in a way that will allow the shul members to daven, and allow the public to enjoy the music.
As for Markowitz and whenever I hear the word "activist" - I immediately check to see if my pocket's been picked :-)
8
May 17, 2009 at 01:50 PM Anonymous Says:
Why must concerts be so loud? There are so many young people who are suffering from hearing loss. So much money for an open theater? Why can't they build an enclosed theater? How practical is an open theater? There are many rainy days, and it won't be practical to use in the winter months. Why not build an enclosed stadium instead? It would block much of the noise, and be useful a greater percentage of the time.
9
May 17, 2009 at 04:45 PM bigwheeel Says:
..."The law is the law and it applies to everyone"... Just quoting one of the participants in the protest rally against the opening of the theater! Just to be realistic. The second part of that lady's sentence is not true. The Law does not apply to everyone ...equally! If you are one of the groups who threaten [potential] physical violence or major political trouble, the law does not apply to you. If you are peaceful, Conservative and Jewish, then the law will apply to restrict you but not to protect you against any of the contrarian groups! You watch and see. The theater will open, and with the blaring loudspeakers @ full blast while Services are going on at the Synagogue!!!
10
May 17, 2009 at 08:35 PM Anonymous Says:
Kinderlach, we're talking physics here.
If the sound at the stage is 122 dB, then it will be 80 dB 250 feet away, so if the shul is 250 feet from the speakers, then a concert can be as loud as 122 dB and then the shul will only have 80 dB of noise, which is the SAME LEVEL AS THE ORDINARY STREET NOISE (and, since this is Surf Avenue and Ocean Parkway, the street noise is probably a few dB HIGHER than 80!).
A very simple solution - use narrow dispersion line array speakers that have a 10 or 12 degree angle from which the sound emits. If the speakers are pointing toward the ocean and away from the shul, because of the line arrays, the sound won't disperse away from the narrow projection pattern and disturb the shul.
The only potential problem is if the speakers are pointed at the apartment buildings, which could cause sound reflections and echoes. In a case like that, the sound attenuation is more like 4 dB for each doubling of the distance between the speakers and the monitoring point, but no reputable professional sound company would put in a speaker system pointing that way.
Don't think it's just rock music that's loud. I've seen symphony orchestras measured at way over 120 dB on loud pieces.
11
May 17, 2009 at 09:09 PM enough already Says:
What is wrong with this Marty character? He has concerts for blcka music, Spanish music, American music, Russian music, who knows what else....but not Jewish music? What is with him? And he is also a big tzaddik, he had to fly a flag of the toeiva'niks over borugh hall? Enough of Marty, let him retire already.
12
May 18, 2009 at 07:59 AM Allan Says:
I think that Marty Markowitz is an egotist whose has lost touch with reality and has forgotten from where he came. He has done good things in the past but this new project of his is an offense to the very people who have been part of his support in years past.