Troy, NY Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

The Troy City Council regulates amplified sound in the City of Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, through § 201-4(J) of the Noise chapter. It bars anyone from operating, playing or permitting the operation or playing of any radio, television, phonograph, drum, musical instrument, sound amplifier or similar device that produces, reproduces or amplifies sound so as to produce unreasonable or unnecessary noise at any time. The words "at any time" mean the rule applies in the daytime as well as at night, and the test in this subsection is reasonableness rather than a decibel reading taken at the speaker.

One carve-out exists: activities open to the public or for the public benefit and for which permission has been granted by the City. The exception depends on that permission having been granted.

Section 201-4(I) covers a different use of sound equipment. A drum, loudspeaker or any other sound-producing instrument or device used for the purpose of attracting public attention by the creation of noise is barred except where authorized by a special permit issued by the Chief of Police, who makes reasonable rules and regulations for those permits.

Decibel numbers appear elsewhere in the chapter. Section 201-3(B) sets maximum sound-pressure levels by octave band, measured at the lot lines of a use or facility with a sound-level meter and octave-band analyzer, and it reduces every band by six decibels where a use adjoins a residential or transitional district. Section 201-3(A) lists factors for judging noise, including the proximity of the noise to residential sleeping facilities, the time of the day and night, and whether the noise is recurrent, intermittent or constant. Under § 201-2, organs, radios, bells, chimes and similar devices used by a church, synagogue or school are exempt.