Dangerous Noise Levels In NYC Restaurants According to NYT Report

Restaurants and bars in New York City have a dangerous level of noise, according to a New York Times report which measured noise levels at 37 restaurants across the city and found levels that experts said bordered on dangerous at one-third of them. The Timesarticle

noted that “some research has shown that people drink more when music is loud; one study found that people chewed faster when tempos were sped up.  Armed with this knowledge, some bars, retailers and restaurants are finely tuning sound systems, according to audio engineers and restaurant consultants.” The New York Times article pointed out that repeated exposure to loud noise often damages hearing and has been linked to higher levels of stress, hypertension, and heart disease, and most often, the employees at working at these noisy places are the most affected.  Although some bartenders and waiters studied admitted that they were pained by the volume, others said that they knew they were being subjected to dangerously loud levels but shrugged off the risk.