Okay, I seriously need to know if I’m the one losing it, because my building super just shrugged and told me 'people wash the sidewalk, it’s not a jackhammer.' But every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:45 AM sharp, a guy two houses down on a side street off Roosevelt Avenue fires up a gas pressure washer and does his entire stretch of sidewalk, the curb, the tree pit, the metal cellar doors, even the base of the fire hydrant! It is SO LOUD. And the water runs into the street with this grey grime like he's blasting off months of food waste from the weekends.

I’ve tried 311 once. They told me they 'can’t confirm a violation without observation' and closed it after a day. Is there an actual rule for what time residential sidewalk washing can happen? Does the DEP handle it, or is it just a noise complaint? I don’t want to confront the guy because he seems like the type who’ll make it worse, but I’m losing the last bit of my 6:40 AM sleep. Have any of you dealt with this? Is 6:45 AM actually considered reasonable in this city?

You’re not crazy. 6:45 is absolutely too early. The city noise code has quiet hours, and gas-powered stuff before 8am on weekdays is usually a DEP thing, not NYPD. Cops won’t do much for a pressure washer unless it’s a huge blasting setup. I’d call 311 every single time and specifically request DEP, not just 'noise.' Even if they close it, you get a record. If it’s the same guy every Tuesday/Thursday, the pattern helps.

Honestly, a note on the gate might work too. Some people genuinely don’t know the block can hear it through closed windows. But if he’s doing it before work, he probably won’t stop unless someone official tells him to. Good luck.

Ooh, this is my exact kind of niche gripe!! I went down a giant rabbit hole on this in Carroll Gardens because a guy was using a gas-powered leaf blower at 6:30 AM during lockdown and I was one bad morning away from losing my mind. The DEP does have a noise code for 'power tools' and similar motorized equipment. I believe the quiet hour cutoff is 8 AM on weekdays, and 9 AM on weekends, though some parts of the code only mention construction equipment, so there’s a chance they’ll tell you a private homeowner pressure washing is harder to enforce.

Have you tried taking a 10-second video from your window with a decibel app open? I used one called Decibel X and got a reading around 82 dB from across the street. The DEP operator I eventually reached said they can’t issue a ticket from my phone reading alone, but they did note it when they scheduled the inspection. The key is to use the phrase 'recurring early-morning power tool noise' and give exact days and times! Also ask to speak to a DEP inspector, not the 311 operator.

ferryfanatic the decibel app thing is genius!! I downloaded one this morning and stood by my kitchen window—78 dB with the window cracked open, and that was after he’d already moved to the curb. It also caught this weird high-pitched whine the washer makes whenever the nozzle changes. The water in the tree pit is another thing! It forms a giant pool that never drains and by afternoon there’s a ring of gray soap-scum and what I think is old cooking oil congealing around the hydrant. It smells.

Woodhaven_W, I hate the note idea but you’re probably right. I am going to try one more 311 report tomorrow morning and specifically say 'recurring early-morning power tool noise' exactly like ferryfanatic said. If they close it again, I’m printing a short note in Spanish and English and leaving it on the gate. Does anyone know if the tree pit flooding is a separate DEP issue? Like run-off in the storm drain? Or does that only matter if he’s washing chemicals into the street?

I don't know about the tree pit, but I wouldn't overthink the note. Most people really do adjust once they know the whole block can hear it. In Cobble Hill we had a guy with a backpack leaf blower at 7:15 and after enough 311 complaints somebody from the DEP actually showed up, knocked, and he moved it to 9am. The phone dB reading isn't official, but as others said it's about building the log. Skip the NYPD line, go straight to DEP.

If the note doesn't work, try your community board's sanitation/environmental committee. They're painfully slow, but a district manager emailing about a chronic early morning power washer can sometimes get the DEP to send an inspector on the right day. Good luck!