Bloomberg's Reign Of Terror Continues: Latest Target - Headphones That Are Too Loud

NY Post – Mayor Bloomberg — who has already cracked down on smoking, junk food, trans fats, salt and super-sized drinks — is embarking on a new crusade: preventing New Yorkers from going deaf. Hizzoner’s health officials are planning a social-media campaign to warn young people about the risk of losing their hearing from listening to music at high volume on personal MP3 players, The Post has learned. “With public and private support, a public-education campaign is being developed to raise awareness about safe use of personal music players . . . and risks of loud and long listening,” said Nancy Clark, the city Health Department’s assistant commissioner of environmental-disease prevention. The campaign, which will cost $250,000, is being financed through a grant received from the Fund for Public Health, the Health Department’s fund-raising arm. The Hearing Loss Prevention Media Campaign will target teens and young adults, conducting focus-group interviews and using social-media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Bloomberg has had a bug about ear-splitting rackets since taking office at City Hall, making noise reduction one of his key quality-of-life initiatives. In 2005, he signed a law — “Operation Silent Night” — overhauling the noise code. It cracked down on jolting jackhammer sounds at construction sites and on music blaring out of clubs, helping “make New York quieter and more liveable.”

Its comical at this point. Borderline trolling. I really think Bloomberg is trolling. Just picking random shit and being like “Lets see if I can stop an entire city from…” fill in the blank. Salt, soda, cigarettes, and now…loud earbuds. A quarter of a million dollars to stop people from playing their iPods too loud. Insanity.

Although I will say this – out of all of Bloombito’s crusades, I am down with this one. Strictly for the fact that I hate when you’re on the subway and you can hear someone else’s music through their headphones. I don’t know why it drives me so insane. But it does. I think its just the practicality and the logic behind it. Like it doesn’t have to do with the actual noise. Its not loud enough its really disturbing me. It can even be a song that I like. I think its just the mere fact that some Puerto Rican is blaring music so fucking loud I can hear it on a crowded subway car. It just doesn’t make any fucking sense. Theres no way that music can be enjoyable for him being played that loudly. I’m already in a crowded subway packed Ass-To-Dick with a homeless guy and some Asian with zero public transportation etiquette. The last thing I need is to hear some muffled, indistinct music from your headphones.

Again – I know its irrational to be bothered that much by it. But A) I don’t think I’m alone on this one and B) There’s no way that kid with his Dr. Dre headphones is enjoying BLASTING his music that loud.

So Bloomberg – stay away from my soda. Stay away from my junk food. But if you wanna turn down the volume on headphones, I say go for it.