UNHOLY RACKET

Synagogue’s siren makes temples pound

Thou shalt not deafen thy neighbors! A Bed-Stuy synagogue has been blasting a Shabbat siren so loud that neighbors need gunrange earmuffs to drown out the noise. “It’s a war air-raid siren,” said Robert Prichard, 60, who lives about 100 feet from Congregation Bais Yaakov Nechemia D’satmar at 144 Spencer St. “It’s got a sound to elicit flight or fight, kind of [like] a razor saw, high-end grating.” Prichard said noise-canceling earmuffs are the only solution for the noise — which was measured at 106 decibels on a recent Friday evening. The synagogue installed the new sound system — which plays the call to prayer for 90 seconds — this summer after building an additional wing. Sirens are common in neighborhoods with large ultra-Orthodox Jewish populations. They signal the moment daylight ends on Friday, marking the beginning of the Sabbath. But residents say this one is ear-splitting. “It’s so loud, it takes your breath away,” said Aaron Graubart, 48, a food photographer, who shot a video of the siren and posted it to YouTube. A Department of Environmental Protection spokesman said the synagogue got a Notice of Violation and was asked to send a representative to a hearing scheduled for Nov. 22. But the city noise code grants an exemption to “any organ, bell, chimes or other similar instrument (by) from on or within any church, synagogue, mosque or . . . other house of worship.” Rabbi David Niederman, president of the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn, pleaded for tolerance. “The sounds of houses of worship, whether it be a church bell, Islamic call to prayer or Shabbos bell, make up the tones that are the anthem of the City of New York,” he said. “The congregation offered the city — and still looks forward — to sit down with the city and the neighbors to deal with this issue.” SOUND BITES: Racheal Cleary and Robert Prichard show how they cope with the Bed-Stuy siren.