Residents of New York City’s Roosevelt Island have been left confused and annoyed by loud animal sounds, though there’s certainly no farm nearby.
The driver of a black Dodge Challenger with tinted windows has been blaring loud animal sounds at all hours of the day, often playing sound bites of cows mooing, dogs barking and chickens clucking, as well as sirens that are audible while the car is well out of sight.
Residents told the New York Post that the driver has been making appearances for around two years, but has been heard up to three times a day in recent months.
Roosevelt Island is located in New York’s East River. Measuring just 3.2km long with an area of 0.6km2 and a population of fewer than 15,000 people, it’s accessible by car only via the Roosevelt Island Bridge.
The Dodge is known to cruise along the island’s Main Street with animal sounds blaring from its open windows, though the driver isn’t thought to be an island local as they never stick around very long.
Residents hope the car could soon be gone for good, as the driver may be in violation of city noise laws banning Challenger-sized cars from playing sound audible from 150 feet (about 45 metres) away.
A video of the Dodge in question was posted to the @rooseveltislander Instagram page, which can be viewed here.
Not all residents wish for the mobile barnyard to be evicted, however, as resident Tim McManus told the New York Post that his daughter was “obsessed with it”.
Mr McManus wrote in an Instagram post that she calls him “chicken man”, a name that has stuck in various reports on the matter.
