The mystery of the high-pitched squeal on Fifth Street has been solved! It turns out, the tea-kettle-like wail was being caused by some faulty equipment at New York Methodist Hospital.
This week, the hospital promptly replaced the broken equipment — six dried-out fan belts inside one of the cooling towers on its Seventh Avenue side — after The Stoop made inquiries.
Neighbors greeted the relief with … relief.
“It’s awesome that I don’t hear it anymore,” said Valerie Zilbersher, who lives on Sixth Street near the hospital. “I’m really glad that it’s over, it was freaking me out.”
A neighbor, Chris Deoudes, added, “Oh yeah, I’m relieved it’s gone.”
Hospital spokeswoman Lyn Hill said Methodist responded almost immediately after being told of the problem.
Hill said they had the same problem eight years ago with a similar set of fan belts.
A louder sound caused by a busted gearbox inside another cooling tower was discovered after the belts were fixed, but the hospital squashed that problem, too, Hill said.
