New York City: The (E) designation and restrictive declaration.

Abstract

Urban areas are typically associated with high-noise levels. With a population of more than 8×106 and growing, New York City is one of the largest cities in the world. In New York City, because of the population density and the wide variety of land uses (for example, residential, commercial, transportation, manufacturing, and industrial) that exist in close proximity, it is common for a residential building to be located in an area with ambient noise levels that would be considered unsuitable for residential use. To protect inhabitants of a planned building to be located in an area with high ambient noise levels, an (E) designation or a Restrictive Declaration may be used to ensure that the building’s interior environment meet a certain acoustical design criterion. In this paper, the (E) designation and Restrictive Declaration are defined, their regulatory process is outlined, and specific case studies are discussed.