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Bellmawr, Brooklawn, Gloucester City, Westville Mayors Send Letter to Phila. Mayor Regarding “Boom Car” Noise

Four South Jersey Mayors have joined together in a letter sent to Philadelphia Mayor James Kenney to address “Boom Cars.”

In a letter dated August 26, 2020, the Mayors of Bellmawr, Brooklawn, Gloucester City, and Westville have joined together to address Philadelphia Mayor James Kenney regarding intrusive and “excessive noise from motor vehicles commonly referred to as “Boom Cars” in parking in lots in and around Lincoln Financial Field and Citizens Bank Park.

Gloucester City Mayor Daniel Spencer, Bellmawr Mayor Chuck Sauter, Brooklawn Mayor Teresa Branella, and Westville Mayor Fritz Sims represent nearly 29,000 constituents.


The letter states that over the weekend of August 21-23, “our communities suffered unwanted and intrusively excessive noise” from the Boom Cars.

“The same issues occurred last year and the problem was ultimately resolved through the Philadelphia Police Department”, the letter read. “Typically the noise infractions occur between the hours of 12:00 midnight and 5:30 a.m. In actuality, for the past several years our towns and residents have been dealing with overnight loud music and excessively loud bass sounds which is so pervasive, homes literally vibrate from the noise.”

Noise Free America, located in North Carolina, is a coalition to promote quiet and studies have been conducted that determined that motor vehicles retrofitted with car stereos designed to pump out “a whopping 175 decibels with up to a 48,000-watt system would be approximately eight times louder than a 747 jet plane.”

Citing the American Psychiatric Association, Boom Car noise is physically dangerous and that noise is related to chronic fatigue syndrome. The United States Environmental Protection Agency “has long recognized noise as a factor for heart disease. Boom Cars have been found to be a public safety hazard, increasing the chances of accidents by distracted motorists and making it more difficult for driver to hear emergency sirens.”

While recognizing that Philadelphia has a myriad of policing issues to confront, including the current opiod crises, the South Jersey Mayors stand united on behalf of their communities and seek solutions to a “solvable problem through stepped up police noise enforcement.”

Multiple calls to the Philadelphia Police Department have not resolved this ongoing “torment” and Gloucester City, Bellmawr, Brooklawn, and Westville residents continue to report that problems persist.

A Facebook page called “Inconsiderate Late-Night Philly Music” has been created by frustrated South Jersey residents and has approximately 1,400 members.

In addition to reaching out to Mayor Jim Kenney, the letter was sent to the Governors of both states as well as many other elected officials.

South Jersey Observer reached out to Mayor Kenney’s office and received a copy of the letter that was sent to the South Jersey Mayors on September 2, 2020.

Mayor Kenney wrote that that he has reached out to the Police Dept. and is working to increase patrols and limit noise from those listed in the mayors’ letter.

Updated 9/1/2020 at 7:10 p.m.; 9/2/2020 at 5:20 p.m.

One reply on “Bellmawr, Brooklawn, Gloucester City, Westville Mayors Send Letter to Phila. Mayor Regarding “Boom Car” Noise”

The trade lobbies that got all funding slashed to enforce the Noise Control Act during Ronald Reagan’s administration is what opened the door to this, and only restoring funding and updating the Noise Control act will provide a meaningful solution! State and local governments need to focus on holding our federal government accountable. States and local governments can only be a bandaid without a the federal oversight of these rogue corporations that openly violate the Noise Control Act because their is no funding for the Office of Noise Abatement and Control. https://noisefree.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/ONAC_2010.pdf

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