West New York, NJ Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

Two sections of Chapter 266 set the distance tests. Section 266-9F covers self-contained, portable, nonvehicular music or sound-production devices operated on a public space or public right-of-way. Between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. they cannot be plainly audible at a distance of 50 feet in any direction from the operator. Between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. the distance drops to 25 feet.

Section 266-10 covers motor vehicles. Subsection C bars personal or commercial vehicular music-amplification or music-reproduction equipment from being plainly audible at 25 feet in any direction from the operator between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. Subsection D sets the daytime line at 50 feet between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. The section's opening sentence states that violations of each subsection of section 266-10 are considered purposeful and therefore nonminor violations, so a vehicle sound violation does not get the warning-style treatment a minor violation can receive.

The tests are plainly-audible tests, not decibel readings. Under section 266-5, noise control investigators can enforce any section of the chapter that does not require a sound-level meter, and the code names plainly audible, times of day and distance determinations as examples. An officer standing 50 feet or 25 feet away is enough.

Section 266-8 separately regulates any sound-production device, defined in section 266-2 as any device whose primary function is the production of sound, including musical instruments, loudspeakers, radios, televisions, digital or analog music players, public address systems and sound-amplifying equipment. When its sound crosses a property line and raises the total sound level above the neighborhood residual level by more than the Table IV limit, measured within a complainant's residence, it is a violation. Table IV prints a weeknight period of 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. and a weekend night period of 11:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m.