Assignment from Hell!

Few things are worse than going to work with a terrible hangover and not knowing what story you’ll be sent on. Few things are worse than standing in busy Times Square with a hangover listening to the terrible roar of traffic. One dire Sunday shift in June 2004, I shuffled into work with a pounding head, hoping for a quiet day in the office. No such luck. Moments later, the Sunday news editor Steve Marsh appeared at my desk with a device to measure sound and told me to go to Times Square and measure the loudness of screeching taxi brakes and roaring bus engines. That week New York’s Mayor Bloomberg had introduced plans for noise-pollution legislation, with people to receive fines for disturbing their neighborhood. The editors at the Post thought it would be hilarious to measure the loudness of public transport in Times Square. For me it was the assignment from hell. Sweaty, shaky, and with the headache to end all headaches, I had to spend two hours behind buses and taxis measuring their din.