Tim Mulligan moved to central Manhattan so he could be closer to work and avoid a daily ordeal on the rattling, screeching subway, just one part of the urban noisescape that tests New Yorkers every day.

“Even with your earbuds in, turned all the way up, you can’t hear anything for the whole commute, and you’re ruining your ears at that level,” said Mulligan, a US Marines veteran who lives with PTSD.

At his home close to New York’s tourist hub Times Square, Mulligan has sealed his windows with high-density soundproof foam, draped them with double thick curtains and invested in earplugs to sleep.

On the street he has resorted to noise-cancelling headphones, and he prefers bikes to the subway for getting around.

New Yorkers and visitors to the megacity of 8.5 million people are bombarded

See Full Page