A Staten Island resident and Lamborghini owner is suing after receiving a "noise camera" ticket from the city of New York.
According to The New York Post, Anthony Aquilino received an $800 ticket after driving his 2018 Lamborghini Huracan Performante.
Aquilino contends in his lawsuit, filed in the Manhattan Supreme Court, that New York City law only allows the city to issue noise tickets to cars with modifications to increase their engine noise.
NYC ‘car addict’ sues after his $315K Lamborghini supercar gets ticket from noise camera https://t.co/jMcQVKuB5S pic.twitter.com/3j4gJJrKh0
— New York Post (@nypost) August 27, 2024
The fine amount is $800 for the first offense. The second offense is $1,700 & the third offense is $2,700," Aquilino told the New York Post. "How can anybody afford that? Especially if the city wants to move these cameras all across the five boroughs."
Aquilino told The Post that he went and had his Lamborghini tested to ensure that there were no aftermarket parts or modifications before suing. He also said that speed was not a factor in the noise generated by the car because he received the fine when he was "slowing down and going up 41st Street."
The 2018 Lamborghini Huracan Performante is not a particularly quiet car at speed. The supercar features a V10 engine that revs to 8,500 rpm. It produces 631 horsepower and 443 lb-ft of torque. This car can go from zero to 60 mph in 2.2 seconds.
According to the suit, "Aquilino did not 'cause or permit' the total sound from the Vehicle to exceed the sound level restrictions as he did not modify the Vehicle in any way and operated the Vehicle in an ordinary and reasonable manner."
Aquilino's ticket is not the first issued to the owner of a stock sports car. Since the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Transportation began working together to put cameras and microphones across the five boroughs, other car owners have received the $800 fine.
One example, according to Road and Track, a car owner named Jerry H (he wished to keep his last name anonymous) received an $800 fine for driving his stock 2010 Porsche 911 Carrera S. The car generated 90.4 decibels while surpassing the 85-decibel threshold.
Jerry H made two appeals with the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings and he faced off with lawyers from New York City and the Department of Environmental Protection. He lost both appeals.
Jerry H's case followed one from October 2023 before the city council passed the Stop Spreading the Noise Act. The owner of a 2018 Jaguar F-Type received an $800 fine for going one decibel over the "allowed limit."