Taking it to the extreme on Long Island.
A Bayville couple could face jail time because angry neighbors claim their daughters play too loudly in their backyard.
William and Rachel Poczatek must enter a plea in village court today after their neighbors complained to the village that the Poczateks’ two daughters, aged 5 and 11, were making too much noise around the family’s pool.
“I don’t know what kind of solution there is,” said Rachel Poczatek, 43. “Should I muzzle my children?”
The couple is charged with violating a noise code aimed at “the shouting and crying of peddlers, hawkers and vendors which disturbs the peace and quiet of the neighborhood.”
If convicted, the couple could face a $250 fine, a 15-day jail sentence, or both for each day that the offense continued, according to the village code.
We’ve got one couple who live on our street who despise children… which sucks for them because there are eleven kids who also live on the block. We haven’t been cited for any noise complaints (though there are times when I’ve been tempted to cite my own offspring for making too much noise), but we did get a letter from the HOA about a climber in our backyard. Apparently our neighbors didn’t like the fact that they could see it from their back deck, even though it was well within our property line.
My attitude is if you don’t like kids, yet you live in a neighborhood where there are lots of children… you have a choice. A) Suck it up or B) Move.
I guy I used to work with used to say, “Women should be obscene and not heard”. He never had many girl friends…
Woody
Reading stories like this, could make me learn to hate people that are so wrapped up in themselves that can’t tolerate a little noise from kids. These same people probably kick dogs and hate their own grandparents. This is part and a big part of why we moved to an acreage 10 years ago. Now my neighbors are 100 yards away and I get along with them much better.
Phil (the hermit)
peddlers, hawkers and vendors?
The kids aren’t peddling, hawking, or vending - unless they had a lemonade stand or something. I’d throw the case out as superfluous . I did have a comment because my autistic son told the neighbor to turn off the lawn mower but there are definitely better ways of handling things. Why don’t people communicate anymore?
I checked out the on-line Code of the Village of Bayville. Chapter 42 the definition of “Noise” is
This definition could be a problem, except that in “§ 42-3 Enumeration of prohibited noises”, the only clause that mentions vocal noise is the one about “the shouting and crying of peddlers, hawkers and vendors”. So, unless the kids are selling pool floats, I think they’re safe. And the only other sections of the code that have anything to do with vocal noise talks about assemblies and riots.
And I agree with you, Cam, if you don’t like kids and their noise, don’t live where they are likely to be.
Yeah, an “elite” few Long Islanders are a-holes who think their poo don’t stink, especially in the hoity-toity area in and around Bayville. I should know, since I live on Long Island. They have the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) attitude and think that they are better than everyone else. And the authority figures who even entertain these people’s complaints need to be removed from office. Since when do the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many?
I don’t mind kids, just never had a job where I could afford one - and then I married late in life… But we’ve got a kid outside across the fence that doesn’t just “squeal with delight,” it lets out a top-of-the-lungs ear-piercing paint-peeling bloody-murder scream that goes on and on like the Mexican goalie-announcer - and apparently whenever it feels like it.
From the noise you’d think it was thrown onto a sharpened stake or into through a plate-glass window or somethgin hideous - but no, it’s just how the kid “communicates” when ignored by Mommy or Daddy for a few seconds.
We thought they needed an ambulance one Saturday morning at 7:00AM when “The Screecher” erupted with a paint-blistering scream that sounded like it was being chopped in two by the denizens of Hades. My wife yelled out the window asking if they needed an ambulance because that’s sure the hell what it sounded like - but sudden silence, no answer. I think they brought the kid back indoors. WTF is a child doing outside at that early hour anyhow? I’m really sick of the kid crying Wolf all the time because you never know when it might be real…
Oh yeh, we were here first.
DirtCrashr,
That’s why we get shorter as we get older. The screeching decalsifies our spines. It does a lot of damage to our backbones, too!
Woody
DirtCrashr take #2:
You may be witnessing the development of a sociopath. Keep an eye on that kid…
Woody
That explains my sciatica, the screech-shortening is occurring at a differential rate since only one ear faces the window. I can keep an ear on the kid, I wish the parents were more engaged.