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NYers seek relief from loud houses of worship

By Marlene Naanes, amNewYork Staff Writer
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7:22 PM EDT, May 26, 2008

Brett Groves and his girlfriend have endured unholy wakeup calls early Sunday mornings from the church behind his apartment.

"It was very, very loud singing, drumming -- it was in the building, but it sounded like it was right outside," the usually heavy sleeper and Clinton Hill resident said. "There was a point we were calling 311 every weekend."

It was about a year before his prayer was answered, but Groves, 25, has slept sounder since the Church of Celestial Christ piped down about nine months ago, he said.

However, other New Yorkers have not been as blessed this year.

In a noisy city, loud houses of worship are the fastest-growing category of noise complaints this year, according to 311 caller data.

So far in 2008, complaints about raucous religious services and events have risen by 36 percent over the same period last year.

Noise complaints overall have risen slightly this year, by 6 percent. The only category of complaints that saw a decline was noisy garbage trucks, attributed to new technology that quiets truck beeping and trash compacting, officials said.

It is unclear why houses of worship saw such a jump or how many violations stemmed from the complaints. Requests for comment from the police department, which investigates church noise calls, were not returned.

The East New York area has fielded among the greatest number of house of worship complaints this year, according to 311 data. Another hot spot is the Canarsie area.

Church bells ringing at odd hours of the night have made some residents in East New York pray for relief. Philly Matthews, 14, said bells from nearby St. Rita's Roman Catholic Church have woken up his 2-year-old brother close to midnight. "We never called 311 because we didn't know we could do that," he said. Church officials could not be reached for comment.

By sheer numbers alone, houses of worship are far from the biggest sinners. The city call center fielded 473 complaints about houses of worship this year compared to 55,782 residential complaints, which includes noisy neighbors.

Maria Rodriguez, 50, who lives next to St. Rita's, said she's never complained about the church bells even though she's heard them past midnight. She was surprised to hear about the uptick in people complaining about church noise.

"I figured the bells were a sign," she joked. "I feel I'm blessed just living next to a church. It's not something I'd think to complain about because I'm Catholic."