Citizen science for busy people
By Jeanine Botta, MPH, Co-founder, The Quiet Coalition
Photo credit: Samson Katt
In late 2025, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection launched NYC Noise, a mobile application designed to build a database of locations with elevated sound levels across the five boroughs of the city. The app focuses on eleven sound types: alarms, airplanes, construction, animal noises, HVAC, helicopters, music, sirens, trains, traffic, horns and “other.” Without recording any sound, the app is designed to submit decibel readings to DEP. Once the recording is sent, the measurement will appear in a list or on a map within the app.
All of the sounds that NYC Noise focuses on can be reported to NYC311, a service that addresses non-emergency questions and complaints for government agencies. When a citizen contacts 311, a response process is set in motion with the intention of resolution. Either DEP or the New York City Police Department will investigate and take action if they find a violation of the city’s noise code, if the noise is still occurring at the time of the investigation.
NYC311 noise data is often cited in news reporting and scientific literature as factual, but it’s just as likely to reflect noise complaints as noise prevalence, so additional research is needed. If people living in an area are not comfortable reporting noise, or don’t know that a noise source is illegal, they are unlikely to report the noise to NYC311 and a noisy neighborhood may not be counted among other such neighborhoods. Data from the NYC Noise app could fill the gaps created by the reluctance of residents to report noise to 311.
With the NYC Noise app, one need not wonder if or when a noise complaint will be addressed, or worry that neighbors will guess that you submitted the complaint that brought police to their outdoor party. DEP has explained that the app will help the agency gain a better understanding of the city’s noise, analyze citywide noise patterns and guide targeted enforcement efforts. The app will send sound level information to the DEP database, but none of the measurements will lead to direct enforcement in real time. You can see your submissions in a list or on a map, but you will not see other users’ submissions, and others will not see your submissions.
It may seem counterintuitive to submit noise reports that will not result in timely enforcement, but there are ways that the app could replace or enhance existing methods of addressing noise. The app could serve as an alternative for New Yorkers who are not comfortable using 311 to create a record of a chronic noise issue, especially if multiple users report the noise from the same location on a regular basis. Similarly, using the app has the potential to corroborate 311 noise submissions when DEP or the NYPD investigate a report after a lot of time has passed and the location is quiet.
The app is free, easy to use, and has the potential to contribute information about the city’s soundscape. Still, there is room for improvement. For example, the app measures sound levels in five-second segments. One spends the first two second fumbling with the phone, and with three seconds left, the recording is over before it has even begun. When trying to chronicle horn honking, the five seconds measured and submitted could turn out to be the quiet pause when no one is honking.
As an activist who is open to new forms of citizen science, I’ve been recommending use of the NYC Noise app to other noise activists, friends and colleagues. But the truth is that I can’t answer most questions about the collected data. When and where will we see it? How many readings should one send for it to be helpful? Is there such a thing as too many submissions for one location and time? Or would it be understood that a user submitting multiple readings may just be trying to provide an adequate amount of data?
The payoff with app-based citizen science is seeing the results after so much time and effort. Users of the SoundPrint app for restaurant sound levels can appreciate the Quiet Lists. Users of the Hush City app can feel proud that their participation in the project has contributed to positive impacts on public policy and urban planning.
With SoundPrint and Hush City, users have a level of agency that NYC Noise users don’t have. While you don’t have to send perfect data, if waitstaff sing “Happy birthday” to a guest at the next table, with SoundPrint you might choose to start over when the singing is done. And if you are measuring the soundscape in a quiet park with Hush City when a car alarm sounds nearby, you’re also likely to want to start over when quiet returns.
With NYC Noise, once you start the process of sending a sound level reading, it’s out of your hands and the data will be sent. You can use the app easily and simply if you choose to by regularly submitting data and contributing to a record of the city’s soundscape. You can do more by inviting others to use the app to focus on a local issue together. And you can use your data to stand in for 311 reporting, or to corroborate 311 submissions, bringing your data or your group’s data to civic meetings where you will be discussing your noise issue. And, we can all look forward to learning more about the data analysis and plans for action from DEP, hopefully in the not-too-distant future.