Redesigning the Emergency Siren

A daily mix of stories about cities, city life, and our always evolving neighborhoods and skylines. [Curbed]( FRIDAY, AUGUST 11 LOUD TOWN [Redesigning the Siren]( What if the piercing wail of emergency vehicles was replaced by something else altogether? Illustration: Michele Febbraio Many New Yorkers revel in the city’s ambient rumble — the thump of a bass echoing between buildings, the slap of domino tiles on a card table, the growl of off-road bikes rushing down the block. Some even claim they need the noise to fall asleep. They may be quick to label Abby Rhinehart, who moved to New York two years ago and has called 311 several times about their noisy neighborhood, an outsider trying to kill the city’s vibe. Rhinehart is aware of the stereotype; after all, they’re a white, middle-class, out-of-state transplant living in Washington Heights, a historically Latino and immigrant neighborhood where bachata and stoop conversations and block parties are a constant. But Rhinehart doesn’t mind the music or the parties, and they’ve given up on calling 311. It’s the sirens that paralyze them. Noise has always disoriented Rhinehart: As a child actor, they would leave the set exhausted by the acoustic feedback from mics and speakers, and the ticktock of every clock nearby made it hard for them to sleep most nights. As a teen, Rhinehart could hear sounds like dog whistles when no one else could. “I truly thought for a little while that I was experiencing auditory hallucinations,” they say. [Continue reading »]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( The Latest [Megan Ellison Is Selling Her Dome Apartment It’ll be the seventh home the Annapurna producer and heiress has put on the market since 2008.]( By Adriane Quinlan [Bad News About Kevin Costner’s Buffalo Sculpture After a decades-long legal battle, he may be forced to sell it.]( By Clio Chang [A Woman Screaming Blood of Christ and 5 a.m. Construction Six noise horror stories.]( As told to Laura Thompson [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Read More From Curbed]( Introducing The City Desk, a weekly newsletter about New York. [Sign up to get it every Thursday](. [GET THE NEWSLETTER]( [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe]( | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2023, All rights reserved