NYC is noisy. Here's how to quiet your home.

Plus: NJ animal shelter lets you "neuter your ex" [View this email in a browser.]( Gothamist relies on your support to make local news available to all. Not yet a member? [Consider donating and join today.]( [Making life in NYC less noisy: How to quiet your home]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay]( Weather: ☁️ Cloudy, with a slight chance of rain and highs in the lower 40s. It's Monday in New York City, which gets extremely loud! Here's how carpeting, drapes, sound machines, ear plugs and a solid understanding of city and state rules can help you [keep the noise under control in your own home](. And here's what else is happening: - Police said they're looking for a man who [allegedly snatched multiple pairs of pricey headphones]( from strangers in Times Square over the past month. - The city is accepting new applications for Section 8 rental vouchers [for the first time in almost 15 years](. - A 14-year-old boy was killed in Canarsie on Saturday after [an unlicensed driver sped through an intersection]( crashed into another car and eventually struck the teen, according to the NYPD. - Dr. Tracie Keesee, a former NYPD deputy commissioner of training, is [backing a reform bill]( that would require police to report all investigatory stops. - Mayor Eric Adams, who vetoed the bill and argues that it would burden officers with additional paperwork and jeopardize public safety, [held a police ride-along]( on Saturday night to demonstrate the bill's potential effect. - Amid the fight over this reform bill, City Councilmember Yusef Salaam said he was stopped by police on Friday while driving in Harlem and then let go [without being told why he was pulled over](. - Paul Vallone, a former Queens City Councilmember who also served as the deputy commissioner of the city’s veterans’ services department, [died Saturday at the age of 56](. - For $50, a New Jersey animal shelter will allow you to [name a stray cat after your ex]( before responsibly neutering the feline. - The city's largest police union is trying to block reforms — which the NYPD already agreed to after lawsuits stemming from the 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstrations — that would temper [how officers can respond to protests](. - [Only 60 of the 190]( retail spaces in the subway system currently have active tenants. - The Open Street-turned-permanent pedestrian plaza on 34th Avenue in Jackson Heights has been [a major selling point for real estate brokers](. - It's unclear how Donald Trump is [going to come up with $83 million]( to pay E. Jean Carroll — and, potentially, $370 million for the state of New York. - Jannik Sinner is the first [Parmesean cheese spokesperson]( to win a tennis Grand Slam. - "Helicopter parents" are spending $250 an hour on empty-nest consultants to help them figure out [what to do with themselves when their kids go away to college](. - Crystal Hefner, the former spouse of late Playboy editor Hugh Hefner, claims the animals living at the Playboy Mansion were [depressed and malnourished](. - Have some time for a game? [Play]( our mini local news crossword. - Sign up for reminders when we publish new games [here](. [“People think that by getting used to things, it's not harming them. It is using extra energy, and that's greater stress on the body.”]( - Noise expert Arline Bronzaft on the [HEALTH EFFECTS OF EXCESSIVE NOISE]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [How to experience NYC’s amazing art offerings for free or on the cheap]( The Whitney, the Guggenheim and MoMA raised their prices 20% last year, with the museums all charging $30 for general admission now. But those aren't the only venues to see art. [What to watch on TV this winter when you don’t want to leave your couch]( Vulture and New York magazine critic Kathryn VanArendonk gave WNYC a list of excellent streaming options that the algorithms might not feed you. [We Rely On Your Support]( [What does Donald Glover have to do with Brooklyn furries and an evacuated comedy club?]( A pair of furries surrounded Tyra Banks at a Nets game, a comedy show was ominously cut short and a pair of shoes were stolen from a party. Were these all stunts designed to somehow promote Donald Glover's new Amazon show? [A new book looks at the women who shaped hip-hop, despite facing ‘misogynoir’]( At a time when women rappers are more visible than ever at award shows, on songs and on the Billboard music charts, Nadirah Simmons, author of "First Things First: Hip-Hop Ladies Who Changed The Game," says it’s important to remember who paved the way. [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [New York Public Radio] [WNYC]( | [WQXR]( | [NJPR]( | [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( | [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. 160 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013 [TERMS OF USE]( You can update your [PREFERENCES]( or [UNSUBSCRIBE]( from this list.