This week, we asked residents living in the vicinity of Jerome Avenue and East Gun Hill Road in Norwood, Woodlawn Heights, Van Cortlandt Park South, and Broadway if they have been bothered recently by loud music and partying in Van Cortlandt Park, since it tends to get worse in summer.  Only residents around Van Cortlandt Village were willing to speak on the record.

 

“Those little portable speakers are so loud and annoying, especially when you’re trying to read or sleep. It seems like we no longer have any privacy. You just sit down, and you’re bombarded with music and loud vehicles. And those electric scooters are the end of society.”

Steve Bobker,

Van Cortlandt Village

“It’s very frustrating; it’s very hard to rest. It’s hard to feel safe in a neighborhood where you’re supposed to feel safe. You don’t feel safe walking through the park because you don’t know who’s going to come out or what drunk is going to come out and maybe want to hurt you, so I try not to walk through the park. It’s not a very good environment at the moment.”

Jennifer Santiago,

Van Cortlandt Village

“That was one of the reasons I moved out, the loud-sounding cars, the speakers either in the back of the car or on top of the car. It started in April of 2021, all around Harris Field they would blast the music. I made approximately 600 plus complaints to 311. I was supposed to get a FOIL request, the NYPD was supposed to email me all my 311 complaint numbers. I never got it.”

Alex Paul Katz,

Rockland County via Van Cortlandt Village

 

“There definitely is a problem of people partying very loudly in the park, but the solution is with PEP officers, Park Enforcement Patrol officers, but because the mayor cut the budget for parks, they don’t have enough officers to handle it.”

Gary Axelbank,

Van Cortlandt Village

 

“I live on Van Cortlandt Park South, and my apartment looks over the park but ever since I’ve been here, for over 15 years, every summer the abusive, loud noise, the drinking, the yelling, the amplified music, it just goes on and on and on, and it destroys the park, and it destroys the quality of life. I just want to emphasize the lack of funding; the lack of enforcement is an ongoing problem.”

Christopher Petitt,

Van Cortlandt Village

 

Editor’s Note: Norwood News is following up with NYC Parks for comment and will share any feedback we receive.

An earlier version of this article and our latest print edition misstated Alan Paul Katz’s first name, for which we apologize.