NYC Council Moves to Ban Exterior Car Speakers After a Wave of Loud Meetups
Deputy Leader Sandra Ung's bill follows a street takeover in Middle Village and an NYPD speaker confiscation near Citi Field.
New York City Council Deputy Leader Sandra Ung introduced legislation, Intro 848, on April 16 that would prohibit affixing exterior speakers to vehicles — a direct response to a run of loud, late-night car gatherings concentrated around Flushing Meadows Corona Park and the World's Fair Marina in her Queens district. "Far too many of my constituents are kept up at night by these gatherings," Ung said of the bill, which has been referred to the Council's Committee on Environmental Protection and Waterfronts.
"Far too many of my constituents are kept up at night by these gatherings." — NYC Deputy Leader Sandra Ung
The legislation follows specific incidents cited in local reporting: an April 18 street takeover at Eliot Avenue and 69th Street in Middle Village, and an April 26 NYPD confiscation of four vehicles fitted with large exterior speakers near Citi Field. If passed, the bill would set civil penalties starting at $100 to $225 for a first violation, climbing to $200 to $575 for a third offense and beyond.
It's part of a broader pattern of cities responding to car-meet noise with targeted legislation rather than blanket meet bans — narrowly aimed at the specific hardware (exterior speakers) rather than gatherings themselves. Whether that distinction holds up in enforcement, or just pushes the same meets toward different equipment, is the open question the bill doesn't answer yet.
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