Incessant 7th Ave Bus Stop Gong Noise Drives Park Slopers Crazy

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — A mysterious gong noise at the 7th Avenue bus stop has been driving nearby residents and business owners up a wall for months, with little to no answers from transit officials about when it will stop for good.

Patch first learned of the noise when reader Amy Jelenko, who was staying at a friends apartment nearby, asked on the Park Slope Patch page if any neighbors had noticed the incessant gonging throughout the night. Through some investigating of her own, Jelenko tracked down the source of the noise to the bus-stop sign near the corner of 7th Avenue and 9th Street, which shows when the next buses will arrive.

"I had been hearing the noise and walked around until I found it," Jelenko posted on Patch, saying the noise would go off about every 30 seconds.

And, it turns out, she isn't the only one who's been bothered by the sounds. Eva Borak, who owns the Beva toy store next to the bus stop, told Patch that the sign has pretty much been "gonging" since it was first put in about a year ago.

"When I have the door open in the summer, it is such a pain in the neck," Borak said Friday. "If it's going on in the summer, I'm going to go crazy."

Some employees at the nearby Starbucks also said they've noticed the noise, especially in the back area of the store, which is closer to the bus stop.

The gonging noise is especially bad at night, when there is less noise to drown out the sound, Borak added. It seems that the sound echoes off of the fire escapes or awnings above the storefronts and is probably louder for those who live upstairs, she said.

Beth Jones, who owns the apartment Jelenko was staying in, said even with earplugs "shoved into her ears" she still hears the noise from her apartment near 7th Avenue and 10th Street.

"The noises have stepped up in the last couple of weeks— it's quite stressful to go to bed, knowing that these will be going on," she told Patch.

Jones said she has reported the noises to both the city Department of Transportation and 311. So far, she's only gotten the automated response that told her the reports were being sent to the signal department.

She said on Friday she hadn't heard the noises Thursday night or that morning, though she said it's too soon to tell if they were fixed.

"It was going on for months, so if they fixed or 'turned down' the volume, that is awesome," she said.

Borak said that there have been times in the past year where the gonging appeared to stop but that it usually starts up again not too long after.

Patch also reached out to the Department of Transportation, who said they would look into the reports. The gong noises are used as locator tones for the visually impaired and usually get turned down should residents complain, according to the department. They did not say yet whether the specific 7th Avenue sign had been turned down.

Across 7th Avenue, though, where there is another bus stop sign, nearby employees said the sign only makes quieter, beeping sounds. They have heard echoes of the gonging from the sign across the street, though, the employees said.

Photos by Anna Quinn/Patch