No recommendations on batting, but a few other ideas to toss out there.

She should talk to the neighbors and see if they have the TV on the shared wall between the units. If they do, ask them nicely to move it, either to another wall or 6 inches out from the wall. That can help a lot with reducing the transfer of sound.

Bookcases full of books on the shared wall will also help with noise reduction.

Instead of drapes, consider hanging a large quilt on the wall.

There's also noise-reducing foam which could be hung on the walls and covered with fabric or drapes. I think that might work better than batting.

Thanks, camlan.

Unfortunately, the neighbors have the tv on the outside wall, not the one nearest the bed. These places follow the irritating trend of dictating where your furniture has to go: only wall long enough for a headboard larger than a twin is the connecting wall, and the room isn't really big enough to move the bed very far from the wall (like putting bookcases behind).

I should have been clearer: by batting I was trying to come up with a generic term for the noise reducing foams and other materials (some of which are very like quilt batting or roll-up insulation). I wasn't thinking of buying batting from a crafts store. It's just that every noise reducing material touts itself as the best and I can't find nearly as much info about those as about things like green glue or quiet rock.

I think she should talk to them and perhaps gently suggest headphones and/or a hearing aid. It's not fair to subject all neighbors to a blaring TV. Are there neighbors on the other sides that might be affected?

She should speak to the rental owner and let that person take care of it.

Thanks to you both for your suggestions, but I also live where there are many older persons, and here it would only produce very bad feelings to try something like that. There aren't any other neighbors who would be affected by it: it's a + shaped fourplex so there are two shared walls, and no one wall is shared by more than one other unit.

And the rental owner lives on LI (or did till last week, anyway), so that's definitely not a possibility for some time, alas. I'm sure he's got plenty of problems of his own right now.

It's not utterly hateful (nothing like some of the neighbors I had when I lived in South Beach), just audible in the bedroom and she'd like to tone it down some. I've seen that some people say that hanging acoustic blankets helps a little. I suppose that's worth a try: the blankets with heavy curtains over them. She can always return the blankets if it doesn't work well enough.

I also saw a suggestion from someone who used organic acoustic batting as the foundation for an upholstered headboard. He said it did make a difference. It's an interesting idea.

Since this is a bedroom, ear plugs or a white noise machine (or both) could be part of the solution along with batting or bookshelves or whatever else your friend decides to try. In my efforts to reduce sound I bought a special sound reduction window (this was for outdoor sound). Biggest waste of $$$ ever. I am very glad I decided to try ONE before getting the whole house done. Which leads to my next point - before making any costly changes (even in a rental, sound reduction foam is expensive) your friend should try it out and see if it's works (if at all possible).

By the time you buy enough panels to cover the walls, then material or drapes on top of that, I don't think your friend will be happy with the amount of noise reduction...not to mention the time and trouble of transporting panels.

I'd start with the drapes first then if she wants more insulation she could search thrift stores for quilts, tapestries, etc. and hang them behind the drapes.

She should also check the vents if the apts use any forced air or heat. In our house the majority of noise travels thru the vents.

Another option......buy a small indoor fountain for the BR.

I've seen carpet tiles suggested as a sound dampener on walls because they have a rubber backing and a fabric layer. You would probably want to use Command strips to hang them on a rental wall rather than the adhesive that comes with them, though, and it wouldn't be inexpensive. You could also buy a standing floor screen and cover that with foam and fabric to create some separation right at the head of the bed.

Make sure that the headboard isn't right against the wall. As other posters have mentioned, add white noise of some kind...a white noise generator, a fan, a fountain, etc. Earplugs are uncomfortable, but they work.

Here are some links: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/good-questions-6-64325
Some people suggest dynamat, http://www.dynamat.com/products_architectural_introduction.html

Here is a link that might be useful: soundproofing for renters

Thanks, judithn, annz, Fun2BHere, and nosoccermom, for all the suggestions. Ironically, it just occurred to my friend that she might become a victim of Sandy, in a way. If the owner needs cash (and all his children also live out on LI) to finance any repairs, he may decide to sell the unit, given that real estate in this area has really chirked up the past few months.

(I have several neighbors here who really live in Breezy Point/Rockaway Beach and just come down for a few weeks in the winter, and very few of them have all the insurance they need to rebuild without massive out of pocket, so I can see this being a very possible, maybe even likely, scenario.)

So she's just going to wait and see for the time being. Just a set of heavy blackout curtains on that wall for now, till she knows whether she's going to be able to stay more than a year.

I hope it all works out for her, Writersblock.

Unfortunately as some others have mentioned, there is not a lot you can do to reduce sound transmission through a wall by insulating it. Blocking off any ducts, light switches or outlets might help but most sound waves propagate through the solid material and are not sufficiently reduced once she spends lots of money of foam, drapes etc.

I used to play bass in a band, and we played in several shared student houses as well as rented practice space. We had special acoustic foam but all it does is help reduce feedback/stray soundwaves it doesn't reduce noise transmission through the walls.

If I were her, I'd just move ASAP, and use a white noise machine and earplugs in the meantime.

I am severely hearing impaired and recently found wireless headphones by Sylvania at Big Lots for $15.00. It is easy to connect to the TV and works for me, I can walk around the house within a reasonable distance and still hear the TV. Your friend could buy 2 of these and present them to her neighbors. They may need her help in connecting them and they require AAA batteries and it would be less expensive for her than purchasing things that may or may not help.

I am severely hearing impaired and recently found wireless headphones by Sylvania at Big Lots for $15.00. It is easy to connect to the TV and works for me, I can walk around the house within a reasonable distance and still hear the TV. Your friend could buy 2 of these and present them to her neighbors. They may need her help in connecting them and they require AAA batteries and it would be less expensive for her than purchasing things that may or may not help.

WHITE NOISE.

With teenagers, I don't think I would be sane if I didn't grow accustomed to sleeping with white noise. I highly recommend it.

And one of my grown daughters will be working night shift as an RN, so she's going to have to sleep with white noise, as well. With the bathroom exhaust fan running, and a white noise machine in her bedroom, she probably wouldn't hear a bomb going off across the street. :)

Thanks, tinan, dorothy9, and bird_lover6. I agree that the optimum solution would be to get them to use the headphones, but I get the impression that they're still at the stage of strenuously denying that there's anything wrong with their hearing. Maybe if they get to be friends she can make the headphones a gift after a while.