Hempstead, NY Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)

Chapter 144, Unreasonable Noise, dates to a 1950 town ordinance and was rewritten in full by Local Law No. 99-1983. Section 144-2 makes it unlawful to unreasonably make or continue any 'unreasonable noise or noise disturbance,' and § 144-3 lists specific banned activities, with construction work addressed in Subsection G. on weekdays. Because the subsection is written as a ban on work happening 'other than' those hours, contractors get no built-in carve-out for Saturdays, Sundays or nighttime hours: excavation, framing, demolition or repair work outside the Monday-through-Friday daytime window is a code offense unless the Department of Buildings has issued an emergency permit.

That permit path is available only where there is 'urgent necessity in the interest of public safety,' and even then the permit runs for three days or less and can be renewed only while the emergency continues, so a contractor cannot use one application to bank a standing nighttime or weekend work schedule. Section 144-1 defines 'demolition' broadly to include 'any dismantling, intentional destruction or removal of structures, utilities, public or private right-of-way surfaces or similar property,' so utility work and site clearing fall under the same hours restriction as vertical construction.

Neighbors bothered by excavators, jackhammers or framing crews running outside the 7-to-6 weekday window can bring the noise to the Town's attention as a violation of § 144-3(G), separate from the Town's building-permit process, which governs whether the work itself is authorized.