You hear that? Terrifying isn't it—the soul-smothering SILENCE of Midtown Manhattan now that the Muse Hotel has caved to neighbors' caviling that their bellman's whistling was destroying their inner peace. You'll recall that the cacophonous sound of the cab-calling whistles became so obstreperous that one person described it as "Chinese water torture." And then the police had to intervene after a hotel employee left a threatening message for someone who was making a stink about the whistling (the Times has it; it's hilarious). Anyway, peace has now returned to the valley of West 46th Street. It's quiet... almost too quiet.
"Indeed, the whistling has stopped," a spokesman for the New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council tells City Room. "A mutual agreement was reached; they were not looking to annoy neighbors." Now when the bellman want to flag a cab, they've been reduced to sadly raising a silent hand in the air. "It’s New York City!" griped one whistleless bellman today. "People don’t move here for peace and quiet." That may be, but on the other hand, New Yorkers do love telling each other to SHUT UP ALREADY!
