[mattzito]

With all respect, “didn’t see a car for hours on a typically busy midtown avenue”, even during peak covid, is bananas if for no other reason than the ambulances were going almost constantly (ymmv based on where you live).

But I distinctly remember watching the odd car here and there and wondering where they were going.

And things were quieter! There was the background noise of machinery and buses and cars but it was a lot quieter than even holiday Sundays.

Credentials: 14 years in semi-rural Texas, 25 years in Manhattan

[mlrtime]

Living in Texas and Manhattan you should aware that we very good at adapting to our surroundings. The relative noise is not comparable between rural Texas and Manhattan.

I agree the city was quieter during covid, and would be quieter without cars. It's ridiculous to debate otherwise.

But a major is vastly noisier without cars than any normal suburb with the rare car passing by a residential street.

NYC will always be loud, cars are not.

[IG_Semmelweiss]

Noise pollution in big cities, particularly nyc, ranked starting from the worst factoring frequency:

Sirens

Construction

Buses

Semintrucks / public machinery (trash, etc)

Subway

Belligerent people

Lunatics

Inconsiderate people on motorcycles

Cars

Buildings / HVAC

Cars are near the bottom of the list

[mattzito]

I was just pointing out that the idea that one could go for “hours” without seeing a car is essentially impossible in Manhattan, even during Covid.