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What I Hear in Kips Bay

The sounds in and around Kips Bay in lower Manhattan can best be described as loud and extremely discordant. Automobiles are the prime culprits in making this specific neighborhood a terrible spot for reading or meditation. Ambulance sirens are the area’s most recognizable soundmarks, as one can be heard approximately every five minutes thanks to the abnormally numerous hospitals in the area. Bellevue Hospital in particular contributes to some of the most obnoxious sounds, which consists of sirens, people screaming, car horns honking, and large trucks hitting the random bumps in the pavement around the hospital, especially along 26^th or 28^th Street.

While people’s voices are the main sound signals in Kips Bay, construction noises are the most prevalent and irritating keynotes. One can hear jackhammers every so often, which are loud enough to drive a person crazy, even if the construction is taking place blocks away. Drills, cement trucks, and cranes are also pretty noisy, but not as much as the jackhammers. Because New York City operates in a rather mind-boggling fashion, someone walking around Kips Bay or staying in a building in that area can hear construction at basically any time of the day during any day of the week, whether it is early in the morning or late in the evening.

Kips Bay is not a neighborhood in New York I would personally recommend to someone who is used to waking up to sounds of nature. However, the loud, annoying sounds that define it are to be expected in an urban environment and can actually be somewhat comforting in a strange way.