Okay so I just moved to a ground floor place on a typical brownstone block and every weekend morning around 7:20 there is someone running a gas leaf blower on the little concrete strip out front. Not the super, I don't think, just a guy in a hi-vis vest who spends like 20 minutes blowing the same three leaves from one side to the other. I thought gas blowers were getting phased out or something? Do block associations really pay for this? Is this just accepted here or do people actually complain? I don't want to be the new person who yells at the leaf guy.

Lol you're not wrong to notice it. That's the block's "landscaper" who's probably paid under the table to keep the tree pits tidy but really just uses the blower because it's loud enough to justify the invoice. Gas blowers have been illegal-ish in the city but the enforcement is basically zero unless someone calls it in every single time. I've lived here long enough to know the guy's name at this point. Honestly if you call 311 at 7:20 the response will come around 11 and nothing changes. You want to be the new person? Don't yell at him; yell at the management company or the block association president if there is one. Or start putting wet leaves in a pile so the blower just sticks them to the concrete.

Wait, so gas leaf blowers are actually illegal? I didn't know that either. I thought it was just like a courtesy thing. We get a similar guy in Dyker Heights but he comes around Wednesday mornings usually, and he uses one of those huge backpack blowers near the driveway. I tried asking him to stop once and he just nodded and then kept going. Is the 311 app actually better than calling? I downloaded it but never used it. Do they ask you for a video or anything? I don't want to be the neighbor who's always complaining but 7 a.m. is just wild.

Oh I have SO many feelings about this one!!! It's not just a brownstone thing—it's an every-neighborhood thing. The backpack blowers are the absolute worst! They aren't just loud, they're that specific two-stroke BRAAAP that vibrates through double-pane windows. In Forest Hills we had a super who would leaf blow the same 8-foot patch of sidewalk for 45 minutes every Sunday. I started logging every time with the 311 app and it did eventually get a summons, but the guy just paid it and kept going. Have you tried checking whether your block is part of an actual association? Sometimes there's a board and you can ask them to require electric blowers or just brooms. But also, have you tried a white noise machine? Not a solution, but it keeps me from losing my mind.

I'm with you, OP. In East Harlem our super's crew uses electric ones now after the building got a complaint, and it's honestly not much better—sounds like a giant hair dryer but at least there's no fuel smell. The gas ones though? You can smell them through the fire escape window. Honestly the only thing that's worked in my current building is getting two or three neighbors to call 311 on the same morning. They actually send someone if it's an active noise complaint. But like GreenwichVillage_G said, by the time they show the guy's usually done. If you catch him doing it during the weekday, that might get a faster response.

YES!!! This is my exact gripe! There's a guy in Dumbo who uses a gas backpack blower at 6:50 a.m. on Saturdays and blows all the construction dust from the old warehouse lots directly into the bike lane on Sands. I got so annoyed I emailed the DEP noise complaint thing with a time-stamped video and they actually followed up and sent an inspector once. But the trick is you have to use the exact address and say 'gas-powered leaf blower operating now' or they'll just close it as 'unfounded.' Have you tried filming from your window? I know it feels unhinged but it's the one thing that got my block's guy to switch to an electric one. Also is his route the same every week? If yes you can basically time the call.

Okay newish to the city and this thread is making me feel seen. I thought I was the only one who noticed a random leaf blower at dawn. Mine is in midtown-ish and it's not leaves, it's a power washer? Or maybe a leaf blower? It's like a high-pitched whine at 7:30 and I can't tell which window it comes from. Do you just call 311 for 'noise' or is there a special leaf blower category? Also, does the 311 app send you updates? I'm kind of scared of filing a complaint and having the guy know it was me. Do they ask for your name?