• Cityproof

  10-11 43rd Avenue, Long Island City, 718-786-1600; cityproof.com

  What New York apartment doesn’t come with noise issues—garbage trucks, street cleaners, raucous drunks on late-night cigarette breaks? For a quick fix that won’t run afoul of the building code, call Cityproof. Since 1960, the urban-noise pros have been installing custom-built sound-dampening windows with extruded aluminum frames all over town, including such cacophonous locales as ground zero. The company can hush just about any type of window without affecting the style of the original panes or their operation. Prices start at about $500 per window and top out around $4,000.

From the 2003 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine