Some Hunters Point Residents Need A Hobby

Last month, I blogged about residents of one Queens neighborhood who were frustrated by the noise created by the MTA. I opined that the residents need to just deal with the noise due to it being a product of necessary work. If they want the noise gone, they should be prepared to not have an important construction issue addressed.

Now we fast forward to this month where yet another story has come out about the MTA frustrating residents of one Queens neighborhood. This time the frustrating is coming from residents of Hunters Point who are tired of the noises coming from idle diesel trains in the Long Island Rail Road’s (LIRR) rail yard. Brendan Brosh of the New York Daily News has more in this report:

Residents who live near a Hunters Point rail yard are steamed about noisy, pollution-spewing diesel trains idling for more than seven hours a day.

The Daily News observed several Long Island Rail Road diesel engines idling for hours Wednesday at the yard near Vernon Blvd. and Borden Ave.

One engine was on for 9 hours and 25 minutes, arriving at the yard about 8 a.m. and departing at 5:31 p.m.

“It’s ridiculous that these engines are running all day,” said Community Board 2 Chairman Joe Conley, who has been leading the fight against idling trains.

“It went unnoticed for years because no one was living there,” Conley said of the once-industrial area that is now home to new residential towers.

Neighbors said the only peaceful time near the railyard is on the weekends, when the engines aren’t being operated.

“I can hear them humming four blocks away,” said Mark Christie, a Manhattan office manager who lives nearby. “Sometimes you can hear it as early as 4 a.m.

“It’s a deep hum, a vibration. It’s like a baritone.”

Two other trains observed by The News idled for about 7-1/2 hours. Six engines idled between 1 hour and 24 minutes and 1 hour and 46 minutes.

LIRR officials said the solution isn’t as simple as turning the diesel engines off.

“It takes up to an hour for a full shutdown of a diesel engine,” agency spokesman Salvatore Arena said.

Click here for the complete report.

These residents are a prime example of people who need to find a hobby. They have absolutely no leg to stand on in their complaint. The rail yard has been successfully operating for decades & residents who moved near it should have known what might come from doing so. If it was really a concern, they would have chosen another place to live. I am sick of people feeling they are entitled to live a certain way even though a clear precedent was in place.

While the circumstances are not the same, this does remind me of someone I used to know. She was obsessed with moving from Long Island to Williamsburg. As you would expect, she wanted to be part of the “scene” there. So she found a roommate & rented an apartment on the south side of Williamsburg closer to the J Train, M Train, & Z Train. So it was a bit of a hike to the north side of the neighborhood by the Bedford Ave stop on the L Train which is considered the prime spot.

She used to complain about a number of things involving the apartment, mainly the walk. I used to tell her to shut up & deal with. Who told you not to research these details in advance? In the end people like her & the residents complaining remind me of the idiots who move near an airport & complain about the noise from flights overhead. Seriously these obnoxious pricks need to get over themselves.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Comments

I partially agree with you. Did you ever
bother to think that maybe the residents
didn’t know or weren’t informed about the
noise pollution?
There are a lot of ruthless ppl whom also
don’t care and will do anything for a
Buck.
Think you’re being harsh in calling the
Residents names.
They, as well as You, can send a complaint
to the LIRR Commuter Council.
Go to http://www.pcac.org for more information.
LIRRCC represents the riders and the public.

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