construction noise

Sorry to hear that - it sounds awful. Especially if it's going to go on for months. Could you band together with your neighbors to lodge a formal complaint with management? I'm speaking as someone with no experience with coop living (yet) - it might not help. But you can't be the only person who is suffering.

There was a person one floor above me who complained (and the noise is muted on her floor compared to mine). I am right above the jackhammer construction

The work needs to be done. But I am trying via management to get them to give me two quiet hours for baby's nap time in the middle of the day.

Legally construction noise is allowed between 7am and 6pm. If the coop owns the garage, they may make arrangements for you such as doing the demo quickly within a week or two (most demos shouldn't take that long unless they are doing repairs section by section) while paying some amount for your child to stay away during the day but I wouldn't count on it.

City code requires that construction sites employ noise mitigating measures. Jackhammers need to have mufflers that help mitigate their noise. You absolutely should make formal complaints on this. It is possible this site doesn't have the proper sound-mitigation. A city inspector would verify that.
Of course it will still be 'noisy' but they absolutely need to adhere to City requirements. A call to 311 is a good place to start.

Management company agreed with the construction company that they will take their lunch and do some quieter activities for 2 hours during the day when the baby has naps. They will do demolitions before and after the two hour window (my kid will escape to playground then). Not optimal as kid likes to sleep over two hours, but I'll take it.

@300 they are doing section by section repairs, so this has gone on for months, and will go on for another few months :-(

Thanks for the noise mitigation suggestions. I will check it out. But suspect the equipment is not the problem.

By the way, the fact that they agreed so quickly to the proposed solution of 2 hrs of quiet a day suggests I had more rights than I thought.

I think your 2 quiet hour request was very reasonable. There is one hour lunch anyway and they can repair during that 2 hours window. I assume coop owns the garage. At the end of the day, coop board represents the residents and they should accomodate for major coop work like garage.

uplifting story that it all worked out

Glad to hear they gave you (and your child) a couple hours respite! It's the decent thing to do.

Sadly, they did not. They jackhammered thru that entire window even though management company assured me they would not.

Manager went to the site. Confirmed the jackhammer noise was ridiculous and during pre-agreed quiet hours. He can't reach construction crew though.

How could I sound proof baby's room? Could I have coop pay for it?

I'd ask about that, especially if it's going to go on for a long time.

Are you in touch with your board about this?

Don't know if this would help as a temporary measure: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/vollerslev-rug-high-pile-white-60492542/ or any thick shag rug with thick felt pad underneath?

Krolik,

Jackhammer noise travels through the connected structure and through the windows.

First step would be if the coop is going to give you cityquiet window (extra window on the inside) or you want to pay some portion of it yourself as it is very useful long term.

Second more difficult stuff is floor surface isolation (seach web and you may find something temporary). Then there is installing sound bariers around the area be jackhammered.

Coop should be able to hire an expert for sound mitigation solutions as I am guessing it impacts many apartments.

Have you tried noise cancelling headphones?

still can hear lod jackhammer noise while wearing those headphones. But also cannot put them on a baby . Also, how do I/nanny would communicate with the baby during meals, bathroom etc? It is already hard because they noise is so loud (like 75-80db) you cannot hear a person next to you without screaming.

My apartment is directly over the garage, so the most affected area of all apartments. It seems the walls are shaking and transmitting sound.

I would keep working through the manager. It is ridiculous that he cannot reach the construction company.
One thing to keep in mind--depending on the scope of work, it is unlikely jackhammers will be used throughout the entire project. Usually they are used primarily during demo. Not that it helps you now of course.
Have you tried a white noise machine in the baby's room? It won't mitigate everything but it can be very helpful nonetheless. I love the ones from the company Snooz because they are not taped loops and they can be raised quite high. They do help drown out or at least temper different kinds of noise.

yes, of course, baby is sleeping in the nursery with white noise turned up to the max, and still keeps waking up. I am worried for baby's hearing as the jackhammering is at high 70s db and white noise is on top of that. It is extremely unhealthy for anyone's ears.

Have you tried contacting a local news station? I’m not sure news media would take this story on, but if they did, it sure would be pretty embarrassing to the construction company and make them look bad. But the best suggestion is to get your neighbors involved. It’s easy to ignore one affected owner, if several owners come together, I think they will have to try to resolve the issue with you

Krolik, I think short-term, you may have to put your child in day-care and figure out with the coop how they can help pay for this.

Do you know where they are with the work? I agree with @pinecone it's suspicious the manager can't get in touch with the company. Is he blowing smoke or do you think he's being honest with you?

"But also can not put them on a baby"
https://www.thebump.com/a/best-baby-headphones

The manager of the building cannot get in contact with the company who the board contracted to perform work (or their tenant, the garage, contracted for work)? Nonsense. The manager, who works for the co-op board, not you, isn't trying hard enough. Contact a board member or two and talk to them about why you would prefer not to file a complaint with the City.

>>>https://www.thebump.com/a/best-baby-headphones

We have the exact ones in one of the pictures in the article. The baby does not keep them on, especially while sleeping. Babies love sleeping on a side. These headphones work as a temporary solution in a baby carrier or on an airplane and not for every baby.

@Aaron2 +1