Best tip I ever got

If you want to find out how noisy the neighborhood is that you will move to, go bar hopping on Columbus and Broadway, walk past your new house at midnight and become the very nuisance that you will want to avoid once you've moved in by standing outside the house looking up at the empty apartment for a long time, then sit down on the steps and wait to see if drunk people relieve themselves on your new doorway.

An easier option would be to spend the night at Washington Square Inn around the corner instead.