Air-conditioner noise gets cold shoulder from neighbors

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It was a big problem when the air conditioning broke at Hudson Towers early last month.

Residents of the 15-story co-op at 3777 Independence Ave., suddenly found themselves amidst the hottest part of the year without central air. They couldn’t even open the windows to catch a cool breeze.

The solution was a temporary air-conditioning unit the property manager reportedly placed between the apartments and Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy on West 237th Street.

Because it’s a unit large enough to cool nearly 200 apartments, it’s not a small piece of machinery. Nor is it silent — as some neighbors just across the street found out.

After weeks of fussing, some residents of 3720 and 3740 Independence aired their frustrations over the last week on a popular Riverdale Facebook group. And while those complaints have drawn the attention of elected officials like Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, the noise has yet to be muffled.

Someone even posted a video taken next to the trailer-mounted chiller. The sound was a high whine over the drone of machinery.

The social media post quickly turned into a debate over who was worse off. Neighbors complained they’d not had a good night’s sleep for weeks, which threatened their quality of life. Folks living in 3777 Independence suggested neighbors invest in some good earplugs as they tried to stay cool during peak summer weather.

“Temperatures soared inside when the temperatures outside were 80 degrees,” wrote Wendi Leopold in one comment. “We have many elderly and children with asthma. I would hate to have known how they would have done over the last few days if not for the external chiller.”

“I’m not saying roast the elderly,” wrote Michelle Zimmer, the administrator of the Riverdale social media group. “They could enclose the giant (air-conditioning) unit. It’s been out in the open. I understand why it’s needed. I don’t understand the lack of empathy and slow-walking of work.”

No official word was given on how much longer the chiller would be parked outside the co-op — Hudsonview Properties, which manages 3777 Independence, didn’t return a request for comment. Many residents and neighbors — including some who posted in the social media group — chose not to comment, some citing fear of retribution.

“It may sound like ‘it’s nothing,’ ‘just noise’ or ‘it’s New York,’” Reggie Lewis wrote, ”but things like this may cause extremely serious and dangerous domino effects.”

But the delay, at least according to Dinowitz, is 3777 Independence is waiting for an air-conditioning part that needs to be specially made.

“The problem (is) you can’t just go around the corner to the neighborhood hardware store to get a part like that,” Dinowitz told The Riverdale Press “They have to make it, and then the management company has to do the work to get the air conditioning working again.

The last word his office received from the management company was that it would be a few more weeks at least.

Dinowitz’s office received a couple of complaints from neighbors that he relayed to the city’s environmental protection department.

Their inspection found the air conditioning racket violated the noise code and issued a violation, the Assemblyman said. If the problem isn’t resolved within a couple of months, it could result in a fine. Presumably, the external chiller unit will be gone by then.

“We’ve also spoken with more than one occasion to the managing agent of 3777 Independence,” Dinowitz said. “I don’t know if it’s made a difference or not, but they put something like blankets around the part of the machinery that generates the noise.”

The apartment building and its air-conditioning unit are just a block over from where Dinowitz lives. He said he’s walked over to hear the noise for himself and asked neighbors how they’re coping.

One was a woman who lives on the ground floor of Hudson Towers, nearest to the offending machine. She said it was sort of annoying but “not that terrible.”

But slightly irritating for some can be torture for others.

“I don’t want to downplay what they’re hearing,” Dinowitz said. “I suspect it’s more like an annoying hum. It probably is irritating and I don’t want to minimize what they’re going through, but they’re waiting to get this part. Things just take much longer than most of us would like.”

Although he feels for the people who don’t like the noise, the alternative is Hudson Towers goes without air conditioning during the summer heat.

“You can’t expect the big building there to go without air conditioning,” Dinowitz said. “Can they take further steps to make it quieter? Perhaps. Like I said we’ve been in touch with them.”

Air conditioner, Hudson Towers, Jeffrey Dinowitz, Facebook, Heather J. Smith

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