New York City’s Latest Municipal Data Breakthrough: Loud Sex Complaints

Brooklyn's Verrazano-Narows Bridge connects the Bay Ridge neighborhood to Staten Island.

Brooklyn's Verrazano-Narows Bridge connects the Bay Ridge neighborhood to Staten Island. Dmitriy Kurnyavko / Shutterstock.com

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By Dave Nyczepir

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The city’s 311 system has pinpointed the location of the most frequently complained about high-decibel lovemaking.

New York City’s 311 system has assisted public inquiries into rat infestations, illegal hotels and noise pollution, and now, thanks to the service, we now know the city’s loudest sex is happening in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bay Ridge—or at least the loudest sex that has prompted residents to file official complaints with the city.

Since 2005, the non-emergency phone line for city agencies ushered in under then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg has reported the data it collects on the calls, inquiries and complaints received.

A total of 133 loud sex complaints filed via 311 were received between Jan. 1 and Feb. 12, DNAinfo New York reported: 42 in Brooklyn, 37 in Queens, 31 in the Bronx, 23 in Manhattan, and none in Staten Island.

The 311 system receives tens of thousands of noise complaints monthly. Upon getting a call, operators inform the nearest police precinct, which investigates if able.

Police, according to DNAinfo New York, failed to catch the Brooklyn couple, allegedly responsible for a city-high six complaints last year, in the act. And that’s a tough break for the tenants of the six-story apartment building at 7201 Ridge Boulevard, which is located next to a public library and elementary school.

"Every time [police] claimed to not be able to access the building, even when I expressed that I'd let them into the building," a complainant told DNAinfo.

Editor's Note: The headline on this story has been updated from "open data" to "municipal data" to better reflect the nature of the 311 data cited.

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