Benjamin Banneker Academy, one of the city’s most prestigious high schools, sits on the corner of Park Avenue and Clinton Avenue, right next to an elevated stretch of the BQE. While most highways are placed below grade or are surrounded by retaining walls to minimize the noise of traffic the BQE has no such amenities as it makes its way from downtown Brooklyn to Williamsburg. Unfortunately for those located nearby it is quite loud. There is a steady drone of engines and tires rushing over pavement. The whooshing sound of cars blowing by at sixty miles per hour punctuated by a horn or a dump truck rattling over the potholes every so often.
For students at Benjamin Banneker the noise can be a disturbance. Says one Benjamin Banneker student, “I usually don’t even hear it anymore I’m so used to it. Some times though when I’ve got to concentrate it’s too loud.” Unfortunately Benjamin Banneker is an exception in that most of the buildings near this stretch of elevated high way are warehouses, auto body shops, and self storage. While other elevated sections of highway in the city have retaining walls to keep the noise withing acceptable levels it seems unlikely that they will be coming to Brooklyn anytime soon.