Comments

1
I walked past the Paramount last night at 12:15 a.m. en route to the bus. This incredibly loud, annoying music had no effect on the three folks sleeping underneath the canopy. FWIW.
2
Note to self: never buy another ticket to an event at the Paramount again.
3
I wonder if you could take out a speaker with a rifle shot?
5
Perhaps instead they could send some Rockettes out there to do some high-kicking to the curb.
6
S/he seems to have overlooked Our President, the U.N. Secretary General, and the Federation of Planets.
7
Typically, the Slog "advice" on noise it to not live Downtown, move, buy ear plugs, learn to appreciate the music and stop whinning.

Supposedly, there is a $500 noise violation fine but I have never heard of a citation actually being issued to anyone. Noise is a issue the City Coucncil has been "considering" for years without action or consequences.

I think the Paramount should pay your rent if they are going to use your aparment.
8
...The Governor, both U.S. Senators, The President of the United States of America, The Presidents of the United States of America, Maktub, Slats, Neil Patrick Harris, Wolverine, and G.I. Joe.
9
the writer of this letter said it best. "we are entitled". you bought a condo in downtown seattle stupid. its noisy. if it weren't disney music you were complaining about it would be the people across the street at dragonfish or the drunks at vons or something else. quit bitching and buy some earplugs or move to the woods.
10
@ 9: I'm totally laughing at your comment because @7 predicted it. SO... is that because you're stupid and didn't read that comment, or is it because you did read it and you're trying to be cute?
11
Fnarf, a rifle will absolutely take out a speaker. I wouldn't recommend it, though. That would get him far more attention than he wants.
12
Wow... ho ho ho and Happy Holidays! Good will toward men! Just as long as they don't sleep (or pass out) in our doorways.
Where have the emergency shelters been this winter?
13
Matt @10: Who cares? Either way, he's still a fucking moron.
14
Where were the police in all this? If what this person claimed were true, it should have been a simple matter of reporting a disturbance. So either the music isn't really loud enough to be considered a public nuisance, or the police actually think it's acceptable to terrorize your neighbors all night in order to ineffectively chase off drunks. This is all assuming the tenant who wrote this letter isn't flat-out delusional, which, given the bit about the Congressman, is certainly a possibility.
15
Sounds like a defence for when the complainant finally breaks down and exposes himself to a crowd of kids gathered outside the theatre.
16
@14 I think the bit about the congressman was thrown in because they're trying to make this as widely-known as possible in order to shame/harass the Paramount into knocking it off. And I don't live in or near Seattle, so I can't speak to it's police force one way or another, but with most cops, you have about a 50-50 shot of them not giving a shit about noise complaints, particularly in urban areas that tend to have a lot of ambient noise.
17
The blaring music thing doesn't necessarily repel "the homeless": it's a good technique for repelling drug dealers and teenagers, actually, but the homeless suffer from higher rates of addiction and mental illness than the general population, and those who do suffer from those issues typically are much more immune to the "annoyance" factor of such music (they perceive it differently or not at all). The Paramount is misguided at best.

I personally think it's outrageous no matter where you live to be playing music audible outside your property overnight, and it's not a sensible good-business practice either.
18
Downtown is basically a den of annoying, repetetive music nowadays. If it's not the Paramount detering bums with Disney music, it's the bums and faux street punks and their bucket "drums." I actually talked to one of them about why they insist on driving the working class renters out of the area and was told "I need to pay the rent somehow." Irony and all that...
19
JUST use the rifle floating in this thread to take out a few passed out "types" every night and nip the problem in the bud. Start shooting these damned miserable sub human trash things and that'll move 'em along, and then Richy Rich can get his fucking sleepy weepy.
20
I don't give a shit granule what the fuck the fucking paramount fucking does or doesn't and could care less about some shithead complaining about some shit to the fucking Lord fucking God Herself. Who gives a shit? Can you eat it? Can you wear it? Can you fuck it? Does it get you high? No, then piss on it or kill it. Amen, Comrades!
21
@19 & 20 Meds run out?
22
@19,20: That's not really fair, but I like your style.
23

Wow, what a touching sentiment on the part of SLOG...so concerned about loud music.

How about this then...how about banning all the bass thumping 'gangstas' that roam South Seattle all night long...how about getting the cops to drag their asses in for 'disturbing the masses'.

Oh, yeah...this is Seattle -- bumping and bangin' is legal here.

24
22" FAIR?, you want Fair?, " my Old Man would ask, "then drive to Puyallup, they got a good one!" BUT Thank you, I'm all about style. 21 (yawn), made you look.........just expressing myself, like a beautiful fungal spore, Pal.
25
23, HOW ABOUT THE SOUND OF YO RACIST FARTS? and the stench! woooo weeeeee
26
In an attempt to return the discourse in this thread to something resembling sanity, I would suggest that the writer of this letter take the matter up with the Seattle Police Department, who would treat the Paramount in the same way they would address a neighborhood nuisance bar, an all night frat party or a neighborhood kegger gone on too long. They would tell them to shut the fuck up or face fines and possible arrest. End of story.

27
The Paramount isn't the first to do this. Benaroya Hall has been pumping classical music out on the sidewalk on 3rd Ave my guess is for the same purpose. It bothers me a lot that they are using music as a weapon.

As far as public exposure to music I'd just love for the city to enact a law forbidding people from pumping music out on the sidewalk to "share." Restaurants that do this will never ever get my business. The porno super store (former Wherehouse Records) does the same thing. Why do they think people appreciate this? If people want music they'll provide it on their own iPods.
28
OH TOM x, yer such a grown up! thank you so much, weeping with sane joy. I see that you've never been in an SPD disturbance call,,,yes,yes, Tom X it's just like Adam 12. The good old Sarge will take care of everything for you. case solved, let's go have organic cookies and gerbil milk chai tea. AKA lick my left one, reality is calling, are you home?
29
TOM X, I just had a heeeelarious vision of Sarge McCleary taping a noise ticket to the Paramount door and going tsk tsk tsk, then back to his beat, whirling his nightstick.....Bahahhahhahhahhha
30
It's funny how people like @10 would bitch if this had been done to a terrorist held at Guantanamo, crying bloody torture, but if it's done to either the homeless or people who were "stupid" enough to want to live downtown, they need to stop whining.
31
You have to laugh at this, out of all of the most controversial songs in the aether, no one gets more pissed off at a song than "It's a small world afterall..."

Maybe because it's true?

32
#30, indeed, The Seattle (Oh, I'm sooooo smart) Elites are shitheads. I've been around them my whole life (45, born and raised in this silly (WONDERFUL) city), most of 'em ain't even from here, Fucktard Intellectual Snobs moving here to fufill some mythic BS about Raincity. I live above I-5 on Melrose, I'm going to write a ltter to the Principal to make the trucks stop. And I mean it, Buster.
33
I can't believe that paying for a condo in that tower doesn't get you thick enough windows to block out the noise from the ground-level of the theatre. As a side note, maybe Paramount and a bunch of other entities downtown could start doing something to help everyone out with the real problem--there's just too many crazy hobos living on the streets downtown, and not just on their doorstep.
34
@ 30, you mean "@ 9," not "@ 10." I for one think the letter writer likely has a legitimate gripe. If this is still going on next month I'll have a chance to check it out for myself...
35
33, that "Tower" I've heard is an old piece of shit held together with duct tape. The underlying theme here is the hatred of the homeless.
36
@34 oops. oh yeah- that should be @9.
37
The 801 Tower isn't a condo, its a relatively inexpensive apartment building(<$1000). Anyone who has searched Seattle Craigslist for an apt knows it will show up in almost every search like the Wharfside and Overlook.
38
#33, I've heard that the Tower is an old piece of shit held together with duct tape. The underlying theme in these threads is , piss on the homeless.
39
Couple of other things strike about this thread. Predictable "sympathy" for the homeless but zero useful suggestions.
The thing that kills me though is that most Sloggers pride or pose themselves as being all about Green, Urbanism and Neighborhood Communities. But the solutions they gravitate to and post about are all Waste, Sprawl and Division.
40
@39,

Here's a useful suggestion: just leave them alone. They're not hurting anyone as long as they don't settle down until after closing and as long as they leave by morning.
41
cuz theys hypokrickital idjuts, 39, myself included. yeeeeeee hawwwwww, them homeless, you know, they gots the smelly poopy pants
42

I suggest that McGinn hand out iPods to the homeless so they can enjoy their favorite selection of music.

43
If it were me living near that nonsense, the next day's headline would read "Neighbors Pissing Off Paramount with Rotten Eggs".

And, I'm sure the Radio City Christmas crowd would enjoy a nice loud Fantomas serenade as they arrived at the theater.
44
"It's a small world after all....."

I love that song.
45
Anyone who spent an hour of their childhood/adolescence in line for "it's a small world" at disneyland will agree: that song is mind-melting torture when played on repeat.
46
It's funny that establishments think music is going to be a factor in the sleeping arrangements of the homeless. If they can stay out in that cold all night, I'd wager they can handle just about anything. The ones sleeping on Capitol Hill won't wake up for anything, so how is music going to rouse them?

That said, why the hell aren't they taking the warm beds available all over this city? They're everywhere. Or hell, they should travel south for the winter like all the 'homeless' from California.

Really, anything to stop people trying to bum smokes would make me happy. Make them stop.
47
I would have probably opted for the phone call to the police to report the noise. and the bums sleeping there. killing two birds with one stone. I do like the 345 am email tho
48
Rather than a bullet or shotgun blast, try taking out the speakers with a large slingshot. A few 2-inch rocks should do as well, without subjecting the "shooter" to the repercussions that gunfire would entail.
49
Not to give anyone any ideas or anything, but instead of rocks in the slingshot, go for .50-caliber lead balls (sold where you buy muzzleloaders). Very aerodynamic, and they pack quite a punch.
50
Oh, thanks #46. When you give them a ticket to the sunny climes of California, tell them Santa Cruz is full! Send them to Palm Springs(I think they take them out to the desert and shoot them-at least you don't see them around.)
51
I like how people jump on the guys who complain about loud, terrible, repetetive noise outside their apartments with the "die yuppie scum" sentiment. Downtown apartments are in the same price range as Capitol Hill, generally. And residents in that area are hugely beneficial for providing "eyes" on the streets after businesses close for the night. Give 'em break...and no one should have to put up with repetitive, loud music all night. Renters can't put in sound-proof windows. Therefore, by the transitive property, the people pumping the music, hitting the buckets with sticks, blasting Disney music, are all elitist assholes driving the renters out of the neighborhood. Fucking yuppies.
52
@40, It's not about leaving them alone. I've seen no indication of any movement among the crazies downtown to just leave all the regular people alone. And you know what, they don't just settle down after dark and leave in the morning, they fucking live downtown and harass people in the streets all day. I'm all for helping people who are legitimately in need of food and shelter, and it's great that those things are in place. But please realize there are people who actually choose to be homeless, drunk and aggressive. Why should they deserve sympathy?
53
Wow, a lot of NIMBY rhetoric here.

Okay, a radical idea from down Texas way (and yes, we have quite the homeless issue in Dallas).

The homeless crisis here, as in most major cities, is complex. I'm on the board of a local HIV-AIDS agency, most of whose clientele are homeless, or in unstable living situations. Comprehensive outreach is the only successful model we've seen.

Unless businesses team with advocacy groups, aid agencies and municipalities -- homeless folks will continue to live where it makes the most sense cash- and food- wise (very free-enterprise oriented).

The Paramount appears to be a community urban theater/entertainment venue.

If this is the case, why don't they team with local shelters and rehab facilities, hosting fund-raising events benefiting local aid agencies? In return, the agencies would reciprocate, "working" the neighborhood more aggressively.

Just a thought.
54

Thanks for this descriptive tale of what Seattle is really like!

I was originally going to fly into SeaTac and take LINK light rail to down town, but now the thought of supine bums littering the sidewalk, makes me not want to wheel my suitcase around town.

I'll be springing $55 for a cab and will stay at the Bellevue Hyatt where everything is nice and clean!
55
I have to say, walking by the Paramount the other night, that music was EXTREMELY loud. I live downtown and I normally put up with all the normal city sounds, but I thought the Paramount had the music up way to loud. And it wasn't even doing the job it was supposed to do. Not even Benroya Hall has their music up that loud. The folks who live in the Tower have my sympathy. You can hear it from a few blocks away.
56
This is a poison pill strategy. It is shitting in your own nest to keep intruders out. We live here; this is not some squat. Why would we want to make our own city obnoxious to be in order to save it from obnoxious street people?
57
Having walked by the Paramount and heard this BLISTERINGLY LOUD music, the writer of this letter has my complete sympathy!

This isn't some dumbass condo buyer complaining about a nightclub across the street that was there before they moved in. This is a situation where an establishment has started blasting music outside on the sidewalk with the specific intention to ANNOY and HARASS those nearby.

This is really poor civic behavior, folks, and the Paramount should stop.
58
There's an apartment/ndo building in Belltown, at 3rd and Lenora that blasts opera. I presume for the same reason.
59

I think the guy is just pissed off because he paid $500,000 to Paul Allen for a 1-brm condo that is now worth less than $140,000 max.
60
@40 As someone who used to work at a business that was frequented by the homeless and had to clean up the various messes that would be left, they were hurting me. While this solution is pretty stupid I can see why they might want to prevent their doorway from being used as a bed/bathroom/kitchen.

How about a $100 per space tax to fund homeless services in exchange for greater enforcement of the no sleeping downtown laws?
61
I ride past the Paramount every morning at 4:50 and they play music every single day. Over the last 11 months that I've taken that route, "It's A Small World" is what plays 95% of the time. The music was a little louder for a couple of days last week, but it doesn't seem to have bothered you up until then. Maybe just ask the Paramount to turn it back down a little.
62
@60 -- We could enforce a "no sleeping downtown" rule, but we'd have to force the people sleeping downtown into shelters or out of the city.

If the men sleeping under the Paramount's awning wanted to sleep in shelters, they would be sleeping there already. Between HMC, detox, and the traditional charity housing, people who want housing can find it most nights.

It seems there is always some number of people who don't want to follow our rules and don't care or are unable to care about the people who have to keep them healthy and clean up after them.

The Paramount's management has to know by now that the music isn't working. Maybe they're just trying to share their misery with their neighbors.
63
I had a friend who lived in Tower 801 and I would crash there from time to time. On most nights, (read: Sundays & weekdays) it's pretty quiet after 10 pm or so, with the predominant noise being other buildings' rooftop HVAC systems. I can definitely see this being an annoyance to those residents.
64
@62 Give them a choice, a night in jail or a ride to the shelter. And bring back forcible commitment for the severely mentally ill.
65
@63,

Those commenters howling that these residents should just move to the 'burbs apparently like to pretend that Seattle is a real city. All neighborhoods in this town get quiet after 10 p.m. on weeknights.
66
@52,

Who says I feel sympathy for them? A certain subset of the chronically homeless won't go away no matter how much money you throw at them. There's no political will to force them to go away, so there's nothing we can do. Making downtown unlivable for the working stiffs who need to get up early is no solution.
67
@62 --

A night in jail costs money, creates undesirable work for the police and jailors, and requires us to treat their medical conditions.

Forcing them into shelters turns the shelters into jails. The shelters become (even more) horrible places for the people who want to be there.

I'm all for forced psychological treatment for the severely ill and dangerous. For the rest, we'll have to go back to the days when anti-social behavior was treated as a mental illness.

Really, no one wants to deal with the chronically homeless.
68
The Paramount should treat the area under their balcony like they treat the area above their balcony.

They invest in well-designed deterents to keep the pigeons from nesting. They should invest in well-designed devices to keep the homeless from nesting. The music isn't working and it pisses-off the neighbors.

Maybe a sprinkler system? Maybe a bed of nails?
69
#68, how about a rent a thug with a metal pipe and a garbage truck, I mean that's what you're really saying.
70
67, yes "THEM", like vermin to you, aren't "THEY?"
71
I am a resident of the Tower 801 building next to The Paramount Theater. I called the police twice about the noise, and so did the security guard for our building. The second night was when a notice was left for the Paramount. The noise ordinance is from the hours of 10pm and 6am. If you do not have a permit, you are breaking the noise ordinance.It is really that simple. Unable to sleep from the hours of 10pm and 7:20am Friday and Saturday night, I was in a freaking Disney World NIGHTMARE!! Everytime I thought it was going to end.. it started all over again. The worst part of it all is that during all of this there were at least 5 people still sleeping under the overhang that was blaring the music. I know that many other businesses downtown have tried these tactics.. and they NEVER WORK!! The Paramount has done this before, but never had it been that loud. It was an assault not only to my ears, but my sanity as well.

The noise level in the building from the street is not bad at all, to all of you that are under the impression that it is always loud there. The most noise you can hear is from the skateboarders flying down the hill and sirens. The building is concrete, and very well built. I love living there and have always been a happy neighbor to the Paramount. However, I am not going to be purchasing any tickets from STG any time soon. I am sickened by their actions.
72
#61.. Actually.. I walk my dog EVERY day @ 3:30am and they have only played the music a handful of times in the past 2 years. ALSO No one has complained until now because it hadn't been as loud as it was on Friday and Saturday. If The Paramount wants to pipe music out into the streets during the noise ordinance time frame, they need a permit..
73
About time this got attention. Six months ago I tried to file a noise complaint about this, and was ignored. The Paramount is blasting their music loud enough to cause hearing damage at close range. Even the homeless have a right to the full function of their eardrums.

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