Yonkers, NY Noise from Specific Sources: Generator Noise (2026)

Chapter 66 lists nine categories of sound exempt from every restriction in the noise ordinance, including the dBA thresholds in § 66-5 and the enumerated prohibited noises in § 66-4. ' That single sentence removes emergency generators from Chapter 66's reach altogether whenever they are running because utility power has failed; the exemption carries no separate decibel ceiling, no time-of-day curfew and no permit requirement of its own, in contrast to the landscaping power-tool rules in § 66-4G and § 66-4H, which cap sound at 70 dBA and restrict hours even though they too involve motorized equipment.

The generator exemption sits in the same subsection list as exemptions for emergency work generally (§ 66-6F), sound used to alert someone of an emergency (§ 66-6E), and the National Warning System (§ 66-6H), reflecting the chapter's pattern of clearing the field for genuine emergency response rather than routine equipment noise. Because § 66-6 is a blanket exemption rather than a prohibition, there is no separate penalty section tied to generator use itself; a resident cannot obtain an appearance ticket or abatement order against a neighbor's generator under Chapter 66 so long as it is being used during an actual power outage.

If the outage ends and the equipment keeps running for a non-emergency purpose, the exemption no longer applies and the general noise-disturbance standard in § 66-3 governs instead.