Stephen Rex Brown Tommy McKean points at the air conditioner that keeps him up at night.

Last week, a city inspector validated what a group of residents in a 13th Street building had said for over a month: that a ventilator unit on the roof was too loud.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Protection said, “The kitchen equipment made more noise than is allowed by the provision that sets a standard in decibels and our readings.”

Now, the management of the Hamptons Marketplace deli that uses the unit must go before an Environmental Control Board in November, where a judge will levy fines (generally from $560 to $875) if it’s found the business is not in compliance.

But Tommy McKean, a resident who lives directly below the ventilator is not satisfied, and raised the possibility of picketing outside of the deli at First Avenue with his neighbors should the equipment on the roof continue to whir.

“People are pretty irate about this, and the lethargy of the whole process,” said Mr. McKean.

Mr. McKean is still annoyed by the whir of the two air conditioning units above his apartment, which cool the deli and also a Dunkin’ Donuts. (The units have not been checked, since the D.E.P. takes complaints one at a time, according to Mr. McKean.)

Stephen Rex Brown Mr. McKean’s building at 13th Street and First Avenue.

“The Dunkin’ unit is noisier, but it goes off and on, so you have relief from it — like someone who talks a lot and they shut up so its OK for a while,” he said. “The deli unit is nonstop and I literally can’t get a good night’s sleep. It’s terrible.”

Mr. McKean has also filed a complaint with the Department of Buildings regarding the positioning of the air conditioners and vent, which he suspects are too close to the edge of the roof.

A manager at the Hamptons Marketplace did not return a phone call regarding the cooling unit kerfuffle.