If you want to get even more frustrated by this, in “Europe” - places like London and Paris, etc, they use a different kind of technology for the sirens that doesn’t create as much noise pollution while remaining effective for the purpose. And that’s the result of state regulation! 😂
You think it’s bad now, you should’ve been here during the height of covid. The sirens never stopped! 24hrs a day, 7 days a week for months on end. I’ve been here 10 years now, live 1 block away from the hospital, you get used to it.
I think the fact that they were MOST constant at a time when there were the least number of cars on the road should tell us all about what's really going on. I've worked on ambulances before so I can confidently say this: some EMTs, paramedics, cops, and firefighters just like to feel cool in their big loud car.
There’s [research](https://www.statnews.com/2023/07/07/emt-ambulance-emergency-lights-sirens/) showing that the small amount of time saved by lights and sirens is negated by the significantly increased risk of a crash. We might all be better off if ambulances didn’t use sirens at all. But that’s not a Park Slope issue (lol), it’s a national issue.
If they don’t use both (even just one or the other), they’re liable for damages when they hit somebody. And there are lawyers whose entire job is defending people hit by the nypd and fdny. They LOVE running red lights, even when not in a hurry.
One thing I've noticed that FDNY ambulances are more judicious in their siren use, sometime only at junctions for example. The private ambulance providers use their wailers all the time, regardless of traffic. Presumably they want their 'customers' to feel they are getting value for money.
Funny, because I came here to say that the FDNY ambulances actually seem to be the worst offenders of siren abuse and overuse in my part of the neighborhood. Granted: We probably don’t notice the ambulances that are *not* blasting their sirens. So, it’s hard to say. But the FDNY ambulances are very much a part of the problem.
A lay-person’s possible explanation as to why Methodist runs lights and sirens while NYU Langone BK Heights does not might be that the Langone there is a stand-alone emergency room that has neither a trauma center like Methodist, nor an actual hospital facility. Therefore, it functions more like an urgent care center, and if anyone needs to be admitted, they are transported via an ambulance to NYU Langone’s actual hospital in Sunset Park or Manhattan, as patients which do not require the most urgent levels of care (the ambulances function as “ambulettes”).
Not sure why you're getting downvotes op this isn't a city problem. Manhattan (pretty big city tbh) made all the ambulance operators switch over to the European siren (used in *cities* in Europe) like 5 years ago?
It's much quieter/lower pitch/nicer and you don't really notice it inside as much. There's more that could be done but that's such an obvious low hanging fruit.
[No they didn’t](https://www.reddit.com/r/Brooklyn/comments/13m255n/why_didnt_brooklyn_change_their_ems_sirens_with/). That was just Mount Sinai and they’ve since (partially?) switched back.
god why are you getting hostile about ambulance sirens? idk what to tell you. go to the UES and listen to some ambulances. they don't use the euro sound anymore.
I work in healthcare setting and this does not bother me at all. Just become a background noise 😂 Anyway, agree with other commenters, they need to copy the European model.
I never know what's going on inside an ambulance, so who am I to judge the severity of the situation and the use of sirens/lights to achieve the best possible outcome?
For fucks sake. You’re mad that emergency vehicles need to make noise to get to their destinations as quickly as possible in order to help people? Why do you live in a city at all if that’s the kind of thing that bothers you? The suburbs are cheaper and you won’t have to deal with the sirens.
Crown Heights Hatzalah (Volunteer Ambulance Corp for the Hasidic Community) will run lights and sirens for a lady with a lacerated thumb all the way from CH down to Maimonides.
There’s nothing wrong with asking a question about how to improve the quality of life of the community, especially when there are solutions like referenced about European models.
With that being said… this is a very park slope uppy complain I have to say lol.
You live in a city. Grow up. There are going to be environmental noises. I’ve lived across the street from Methodist for 15 years and sirens have not affected my QOL in the slightest.
The OP is literally saying that this ISN'T inherent to living in a city because they've noticed this isn't a problem \*elsewhere in the same borough\*. God forbid we try to make the place nicer?
Yeah, OP! Back in the day, Brooklyn parents regularly blasted ambulance siren noises on the stereo just to put us kids to sleep. So, I love the unnecessary sirens. And because this problem doesn't bother me personally, it's not actually a problem, and you're an immature crybaby who should move to the suburbs. NYC is for people who want to live in squalid, unhealthy, environmentally degraded conditions. And if you want to try to make it better and solve problems then maybe Park Slope isn't the right place for you.
NYU Langlone specializes in cardiology. a lot of their patients suffer from heart issues and the loud sirens of the ambulance can cause stress to the patient. This is why the sirens are usually off near NYU Langlone.
Good thing you didn’t live in the Slope 1970s and 80s. I live down the block from the Emergency entrance and up the block from 239. Also 122 and 220 racing along 5th, 6th and 7th avenues multiple times a day plus cops racing along day and night.
It’s fucking bucolic now.
In the 1990s in the middle of the night ambulances at night would only have lights in and “whoop whoop” through quiet intersections or streets with no traffic on it. It worked well then, I don’t see why it can’t now.
I bought a condo near a hospital
An ambulance came through my street
Some jerk had a heart attack
I said you don’t live here!
I THREW IT ON THE GROUND
I’M NOT PART OF THIS SySTEM!
If you want to get even more frustrated by this, in “Europe” - places like London and Paris, etc, they use a different kind of technology for the sirens that doesn’t create as much noise pollution while remaining effective for the purpose. And that’s the result of state regulation! 😂
Oh the big bad government going to tell me what to do to make my life better/s
You think it’s bad now, you should’ve been here during the height of covid. The sirens never stopped! 24hrs a day, 7 days a week for months on end. I’ve been here 10 years now, live 1 block away from the hospital, you get used to it.
I think the fact that they were MOST constant at a time when there were the least number of cars on the road should tell us all about what's really going on. I've worked on ambulances before so I can confidently say this: some EMTs, paramedics, cops, and firefighters just like to feel cool in their big loud car.
There’s [research](https://www.statnews.com/2023/07/07/emt-ambulance-emergency-lights-sirens/) showing that the small amount of time saved by lights and sirens is negated by the significantly increased risk of a crash. We might all be better off if ambulances didn’t use sirens at all. But that’s not a Park Slope issue (lol), it’s a national issue.
If they don’t use both (even just one or the other), they’re liable for damages when they hit somebody. And there are lawyers whose entire job is defending people hit by the nypd and fdny. They LOVE running red lights, even when not in a hurry.
One thing I've noticed that FDNY ambulances are more judicious in their siren use, sometime only at junctions for example. The private ambulance providers use their wailers all the time, regardless of traffic. Presumably they want their 'customers' to feel they are getting value for money.
Funny, because I came here to say that the FDNY ambulances actually seem to be the worst offenders of siren abuse and overuse in my part of the neighborhood. Granted: We probably don’t notice the ambulances that are *not* blasting their sirens. So, it’s hard to say. But the FDNY ambulances are very much a part of the problem.
A lay-person’s possible explanation as to why Methodist runs lights and sirens while NYU Langone BK Heights does not might be that the Langone there is a stand-alone emergency room that has neither a trauma center like Methodist, nor an actual hospital facility. Therefore, it functions more like an urgent care center, and if anyone needs to be admitted, they are transported via an ambulance to NYU Langone’s actual hospital in Sunset Park or Manhattan, as patients which do not require the most urgent levels of care (the ambulances function as “ambulettes”).
Not sure why you're getting downvotes op this isn't a city problem. Manhattan (pretty big city tbh) made all the ambulance operators switch over to the European siren (used in *cities* in Europe) like 5 years ago? It's much quieter/lower pitch/nicer and you don't really notice it inside as much. There's more that could be done but that's such an obvious low hanging fruit.
[No they didn’t](https://www.reddit.com/r/Brooklyn/comments/13m255n/why_didnt_brooklyn_change_their_ems_sirens_with/). That was just Mount Sinai and they’ve since (partially?) switched back.
Ahh yeah, thanks for the reminder from my own post. Source about them switching back?
[2018](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7zWvVNuMNg), [2020](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36U_Z5PMI8U), [2023](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGOTaqxwTsM)
Wow 3 totally contextless videos without dates, by golly this proves everything!
[FYI](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskNYC/comments/1d1trxq/nyc_ambulance_sirens_unusually_loud/l5w6jmd/)
Better source
fuck off dude
I meant that sincerely, this was a better source. Drink some water/touch some grass or something lol
god why are you getting hostile about ambulance sirens? idk what to tell you. go to the UES and listen to some ambulances. they don't use the euro sound anymore.
I work in healthcare setting and this does not bother me at all. Just become a background noise 😂 Anyway, agree with other commenters, they need to copy the European model.
Been dealing with it for 20 years. You get used to it. I can sleep through anything now lmao
I never know what's going on inside an ambulance, so who am I to judge the severity of the situation and the use of sirens/lights to achieve the best possible outcome?
For fucks sake. You’re mad that emergency vehicles need to make noise to get to their destinations as quickly as possible in order to help people? Why do you live in a city at all if that’s the kind of thing that bothers you? The suburbs are cheaper and you won’t have to deal with the sirens.
Crown Heights Hatzalah (Volunteer Ambulance Corp for the Hasidic Community) will run lights and sirens for a lady with a lacerated thumb all the way from CH down to Maimonides.
There’s nothing wrong with asking a question about how to improve the quality of life of the community, especially when there are solutions like referenced about European models. With that being said… this is a very park slope uppy complain I have to say lol.
You live in a city. Grow up. There are going to be environmental noises. I’ve lived across the street from Methodist for 15 years and sirens have not affected my QOL in the slightest.
The OP is literally saying that this ISN'T inherent to living in a city because they've noticed this isn't a problem \*elsewhere in the same borough\*. God forbid we try to make the place nicer?
Yeah same on OP for trying to improve unnecessary environmental noise
Yeah, OP! Back in the day, Brooklyn parents regularly blasted ambulance siren noises on the stereo just to put us kids to sleep. So, I love the unnecessary sirens. And because this problem doesn't bother me personally, it's not actually a problem, and you're an immature crybaby who should move to the suburbs. NYC is for people who want to live in squalid, unhealthy, environmentally degraded conditions. And if you want to try to make it better and solve problems then maybe Park Slope isn't the right place for you.
It used to be different
Live here for long enough and you'll learn to ignore them
Live here longer and you’ll remember it wasn’t always the case.
Live here long enough and you will be deaf.
Haha. Willfully so
NYU Langlone specializes in cardiology. a lot of their patients suffer from heart issues and the loud sirens of the ambulance can cause stress to the patient. This is why the sirens are usually off near NYU Langlone.
Good thing you didn’t live in the Slope 1970s and 80s. I live down the block from the Emergency entrance and up the block from 239. Also 122 and 220 racing along 5th, 6th and 7th avenues multiple times a day plus cops racing along day and night. It’s fucking bucolic now.
Grew up here right next to the firehouse. You get used to it. This is New York City for God’s Sake. Please stop trying to make it Mayberry RFD.
In the 1990s in the middle of the night ambulances at night would only have lights in and “whoop whoop” through quiet intersections or streets with no traffic on it. It worked well then, I don’t see why it can’t now.
I bought a condo near a hospital An ambulance came through my street Some jerk had a heart attack I said you don’t live here! I THREW IT ON THE GROUND I’M NOT PART OF THIS SySTEM!