Scores of New Yorkers rallied with advocacy group Transportation Alternatives at City Hall on May 25^th to goad City Council Speaker Gifford Miller into scheduling a long-overdue hearing on an audible car alarm ban. The reason for the political foot-dragging is unclear, since public opinion seems strongly in favor of banning alarms and there has been no advocacy to maintain the status quo. The Council promised a public hearing on June 10^th, but that will only consider a half-measure, according to car noise foes.

On the 10th, the Council will only hear testimony regarding Transportation Chair John Liu’s Intro 81, which bans the sale and installation in NYC of after-market alarms but doesn’t outlaw their use.

Alarm-ban advocates sent letters of complaint to Speaker Miller, who countered with a letter explaining that many car owners would be unreasonably penalized by a full ban, since they — including visitors to NYC — would incur difficulty or expense disabling factory-installed alarms.

However, Transportation Alternatives rebutted the letter with research stating that virtually all car owners (97%) are able to easily disengage their alarms. T.A. also partnered with the Center for Automotive Security Innovation, identifying at least fifty NYC car alarm installers who committed to disabling alarms for free, should Intro 115 pass into law.