Manhasset Residents In Battle With Bagel Shop Over Noise

MANHASSET, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Residents of a North Shore town are boiling mad over a local bagel shop's early operations.

Some homeowners in Manhasset said they are being denied the promise of a quiet neighborhood because the noise law is not muffling a loud bagel fan.

As CBS 2's Jennifer McLogan reported exclusively Tuesday, some residents in one section of Manhasset are losing sleep because of the loud, disturbing and unusual noises coming from a nearby store.

Homeowners have even recorded video showing the steamy exhaust fans and trucks in the middle of the night.

The bagels are baked on premises and the doors of the bagel shop open at 5:30 a.m.

"They'll back down the driveway, they'll leave the trucks running with their air conditioning devices and fill my apartment with smoke," Manhasset resident James King told CBS 2's McLogan.

King said his family and neighbors have had to evacuate when the exhaust is too overpowering.

Town code specifically prohibits operation of commercial equipment between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. But residents whose bedrooms back up to the bakery kitchen claim three years of complaints to the town have fallen on deaf ears.

Manhasset Bagels owner Randy Malka declined to discuss the noise or his plans to remedy it, McLogan reported.

"The Town Supervisor and I are working on it," Malka said.

For its part, the town has said it is responsive to complaints. Officials said they have issued noise violation tickets and demanded upgrades for a quieter ventilation system.

Residents said the town's actions have not been enough to correct the problem.

"It falls between the cracks, nothing's been done," King said. "This high-pitched wailing noise that goes on from 4:30 in the morning until 4:30 in the afternoon when they're there making bagels."

In a catch-22, the bagel shop owner said he can't change the exhaust motor until he gets a proper permit from the town. The permitting process could drag on into the summer, McLogan reported.

The town said pre-dawn deliveries which had started as early as 2:30 a.m. are now arriving later, and trucks will be asked to turn off the reverse signal beeps.

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