Noise Levels in Gramercy, Manhattan, NY | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
61 dBA
Average noise across Gramercy
Busy restaurant
38,733
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
82% of Gramercy residents
79 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Gramercy at 100-meter resolution, combining road, aviation, and rail sources. Green areas measure below 45 dBA. Orange and red exceed the EPA's 55 dBA outdoor threshold linked to long-term health effects. Use the layer toggles to view each source on its own or all together.
What the numbers sound like
- 30 dBAWhisper
- 40 dBASoft rainfall
- 45 dBAQuiet suburban street at night
- 50 dBAQuiet office
- 55 dBAEPA outdoor threshold: light traffic 100 ft away
- 60 dBANormal conversation an arm's length away
- 65 dBABusy restaurant
- 70 dBAHighway traffic 50 ft away
- 80 dBACity bus interior
Population Above the EPA Outdoor Threshold
The EPA's 55 dBA outdoor reference level is a common benchmark for residential noise exposure, especially for activity interference, annoyance, and long-term community noise concerns. About 38,733 Gramercy residents, or 82.0%, live above that level. By land area, 90.3% of Gramercy is above 55 dBA.
9.7% below 55 dBA
90.3% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Gramercy compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Gramercy
Average noise levels for Gramercy residents, grouped by direction from the center of Gramercy. The highest population-weighted average is in northeastern Gramercy; the lowest is in southeastern Gramercy, where just 58% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in the loudest section.
Northeastern Gramercy
67.9 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Northern Gramercy
66.0 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Western Gramercy
61.8 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southwestern Gramercy
59.3 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southeastern Gramercy
59.0 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
To the human ear, noise in northeastern Gramercy sounds about 85% louder than in southeastern Gramercy, a 8.9 dBA gap. Every 10 dBA roughly doubles perceived loudness. Within any of these directions, two homes a quarter mile apart can still differ by 10 or more dBA depending on how close they sit to a major highway.
How far back from do you need to be?
produces an estimated 79 dBA at its loudest centerline points. Noise drops logarithmically with distance, with the exact rate depending on what's between you and the road. Tree cover, walls, terrain, and pavement type all matter. At roughly a quarter mile back, traffic fades into the noise level of a soft rainfall.
At source
79 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
65 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
56 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
48 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
40 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 6% of Gramercy sits under tree canopy (lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 71% is impervious surface like pavement and rooftops. Both are folded into the per-place decay rate above. Heavier canopy pulls noise down faster with distance; impervious surfaces slow the drop.
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Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of Gramercy. For most blocks the rail-only contribution is small. Combined road-plus-rail noise rarely exceeds road noise on its own. The exceptions are the handful of blocks within roughly a quarter mile of the right-of-way during pass-through hours.
Use the Rail toggle on the map above to isolate rail's contribution from road and aviation.
Airport Noise
Laguardia (LGA) sits northeast of Gramercy. The U.S. Department of Transportation measures aviation noise around this airport directly, and the model uses those federal measurements rather than synthetic predictions.
Blocks under the approach and departure paths carry combined road-plus-aviation noise, with some exceeding 75 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Gramercy, particularly to the southwest, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Gramercy
The bar chart below shows the share of Gramercy residents in each noise band. About 17% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 64% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Gramercy Compares
Gramercy sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Gramercy's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Midtown, Long Island City, East Village, and Yorkville.
Average noise level (dBA)
Gramercy's 61.2 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. New York as a whole averages 55.4 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Gramercy because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 82.0% of Gramercy residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's in the middle of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 90.3% of Gramercy's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a New York average of 30.9% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Gramercy
- Distance from highways matters more than the neighborhood name. Two homes in the same zip code can differ by 20 dBA if one sits 100 meters from and the other 500 meters away. The model captures this at 100-meter resolution, so noise exposure changes block by block.
- Tree canopy can help reduce modeled noise exposure. Roughly 6% of Gramercy is under tree cover (lighter than most neighborhoods), and the dominant land cover is medium-intensity developed land. Both are measured from federal USDA Forest Service and USGS satellite imagery at 30-meter resolution. Streets with 60% or higher canopy show 3 to 5 dBA lower noise than comparable streets with bare ground or pavement, which is why the per-place decay rate above already accounts for it.
- Airport noise is directional. Laguardia's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northeast. Neighborhoods to the southwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
