Author Topic: Stupid, Irritating Neighbor  (Read 5612 times)

Offline bella

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Stupid, Irritating Neighbor
« on: April 23, 2013, 10:20:10 PM »
So it is 4 minutes to midnight local time.  Here is my story:

I live in a divided brownstone in Manhattan, 4 apartments per floor, 5 floors total.  My apartment is at the back of the building and one of two with backyards (since we're on the ground floor). 

We moved in here in 2006.  Because of the layout of the building/placement of stairs, we only have one neighbor whose apartment is actually adjacent to ours.

From the beginning he was a really nice, kind guy.  Older dude, kind of a loner, quiet, but whatever.  My husband and I never had any noisy parties or anything like that and all was well.

Until.

When the economic crisis hit, the landlords revised our leases from "no pets allowed" to "ALL PETS WELCOME!!"  The two vacant apartments on our floor were quickly filled with dog owning families, and last year, I got a dog as well.

My dog is a rescue, though I got her very early on (3.5 months).  She has a huge problem with men and is very protective of me.  She will bark to ensure I don't wind up coming too close to a strange man.  Over the months she has been mostly trained out of this, but it has taken 9 months of very dilligent training etc.

Every time my dog barks, my neighbor starts pounding the wall between our bedrooms as hard as he can, no matter the hour of day, the number of barks, etc.  Hard enough to rattle the paintings on the shared wall.   I am very sensitive to my dog's behavior -- I hate it when she barks at me and at this point she only does it when she senses a threat, and I know how to calm her down.  But sometimes it takes a minute or two.  She is not a dog that just sits around and barks all day for no reason (or for any reason).

For the past six months, the neighbor has been pounding and making threatening phone calls to my ex husband (he doesn't have my number and doesn't know we split up) regarding the dog.  It has seriously escalated since two more dog families moved in directly upstairs. Tonight, my dog and I were both dead asleep when said neighbor started pounding the ever-living crap out of our bedroom and kitchen walls.

I don't know what to do, especially since I'm moving in a little less than a month.  I currently have my ex (who is still my best friend) run interference and personally just ignore the fucker (while ensuring my dog is a good neighbor). But pounding us out of a dead sleep for NO  reason crosses the line, in my opinion... Plus what if he interferes with our references from the leasing company?  That could make getting a new place to live VERY hard down the line. 

I've no desire to engage this guy at all, I'm far more concerned about what, if anything, to tell the leasing agent when we move out.  When either of us apply for a new apt, they will call our current leasing agent, and I don't want them to hear "HORRIBLE NOISE DISTURBANCE DO NOT RENT." 

I'm thinking a neutrally-worded "we had some problems with a particular (unnamed) tenant accepting the change to a pet-friendly policy, which led to some confusion over noise complaints" is the best way to go on our exit interview.

Thoughts?  Experiences?  Am I the crazy one here?  Honest feedback please!



Offline buddha

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Re: Stupid, Irritating Neighbor
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2013, 07:05:34 AM »
Go and speak to someone at your local police precinct about this problem. Tell them what's been going on and ask what your options are as far as calling the cops on this a$$wipe when he starts acting out. They may tell you something that you don't want to hear but at least you'll know where you stand. If they say they can arrest him, since you are in a "dog friendly" building then you might want to call the gendarmes the next time he does this and then slap him with a restraining order once you get something on paper.
Police reports are important, they can be introduced as evidence of a pattern of behavior. So make a report as often as needed and make sure you get the report number.
"Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it never really care for anything else thereafter."
Ernest Hemingway, On The Blue Water.

Offline tomgallagher

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Re: Stupid, Irritating Neighbor
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2013, 07:19:04 AM »
Buddha has the right idea. If the building is pet friendly then you have to expect a dog to bark once in a while but banging on the bedroom and kitchen walls in the middle of the night for no reason crosses the line. Turn the SOB in... :popo

Offline bella

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Re: Stupid, Irritating Neighbor
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2013, 10:15:34 AM »
Thanks guys.  My friends have been urging me to just keep it under the radar and not "ruffle feathers" but I really feel like it's getting out of control, me moving soon or not. 

My brother-in-law and uncle are both NYPD so I'll shoot them an email outlining the situation and stop by the local precinct this afternoon, just to see what the options are.  Even if there are no legal repercussions I can start documenting to my landlord that I am not the problem here. 

Offline schro

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Re: Stupid, Irritating Neighbor
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2013, 10:42:56 AM »
Please keep us posted, Bella.
Good luck in dealing with this moron while you're still in the building.


Agonizing over what cannot be is an insult to what is.

Offline warhawk

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Re: Stupid, Irritating Neighbor
« Reply #5 on: April 24, 2013, 10:55:30 AM »
Hi Bella:  Buddha gave you some great advice.  I hope this idiot stops.  Definitely keep us posted.

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Offline Mikekoz13

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Re: Stupid, Irritating Neighbor
« Reply #6 on: April 24, 2013, 04:32:27 PM »
Personally I would go see him face to face and ask him politely to stop because it isn't usually my dog. Hopefully he would respond appropriately.
If he did not respond appropriately, I would tell him if he did it again I would knock the sh*t out of him.

Sometimes the fear of an ass whipping is all it takes to rid yourself of a fool.

"What contemptible scoundrel stole the cork from my lunch?" W.C. Fields

benlen

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Re: Stupid, Irritating Neighbor
« Reply #7 on: April 24, 2013, 04:36:01 PM »

I've no desire to engage this guy at all, I'm far more concerned about what, if anything, to tell the leasing agent when we move out.  When either of us apply for a new apt, they will call our current leasing agent, and I don't want them to hear "HORRIBLE NOISE DISTURBANCE DO NOT RENT." 

I'm thinking a neutrally-worded "we had some problems with a particular (unnamed) tenant accepting the change to a pet-friendly policy, which led to some confusion over noise complaints" is the best way to go on our exit interview.

Thoughts?  Experiences?  Am I the crazy one here?  Honest feedback please!


I'm from Boston, so I'm unfamiliar with how rentals in New York work––are you saying that this guy could complain to your current leasing agent, who would then tell other leasing agents not to rent to you?


Offline bella

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Re: Stupid, Irritating Neighbor
« Reply #8 on: April 24, 2013, 05:00:32 PM »
Mikekoz -- sadly I'm 5'3" and he is a pretty big guy so unless I paid a big male buddy to come over the threat of an ass whooping wouldn't scare him much!

Benlen -- when you rent in NYC, the potential landlord considering your application will (besides checking your credit, bank balances, etc) call your former landlord and ask if you were a good tenant.  If you ever paid rent late or caused any kind of complaint, say goodbye to a legal rental.  It's not like a job where the potential hirer agrees not to contact your current employer -- if you can't submit good current credentials you're SOL. (for legal rentals).

Everyone -- I did my research today and my brother-in-law recommends calling the cops the next time it happens, he made me take photos of the adjoining walls to show the "before" in the event the neighbor knocked something down.  He also suggested I get "character witnesses"  :*)) for Bea, (i.e. her vet, the place where I take her to board, etc) to prove she's not a big barkity bark. 

The 19th precinct says they can't do anything unless I feel unsafe.  Truth be told, I know this dude isn't going to break down my door, but I do have a ledge above my bed with multiple framed paintings and if any of those were to fall on my head, I'd be seriously injured (he knocked down a small, 3"x3" painting last night). Uncle recommends moving the paintings and calling the cops after I move out.

I'm really hesitant to move the paintings because it means he wins, but I don't want my eyes gouged out by broken glass, either. 

I did talk to another dog mama in the building who said that she gets blamed all the time for the yappy dogs upstairs (she owns a bulldog, if you can't tell their bark from a chichi, I'm sorry for you). :*))

Offline smoothsailing

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Re: Stupid, Irritating Neighbor
« Reply #9 on: April 24, 2013, 07:05:25 PM »
lol character witness.

Offline tomcj2

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Re: Stupid, Irritating Neighbor
« Reply #10 on: April 24, 2013, 09:18:48 PM »
........................... they can't do anything unless I feel unsafe.  ............

 If you say you "feel unsafe"  they should be required to take some action.  It would not take much for me to "feel unsafe".  (I feel unsafe right now)


Offline tomgallagher

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Re: Stupid, Irritating Neighbor
« Reply #11 on: April 25, 2013, 07:25:08 AM »
I am 6'4" tall and weigh 250 lbs. so I kind of like Mike's approach to the problem. Tell the guys in the 19th to get off their butts and have a talk with the guy. He is "disturbing the peace".... :x!

Offline bella

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Re: Stupid, Irritating Neighbor
« Reply #12 on: May 02, 2013, 12:10:18 AM »
So I just heard from my ex-husband that the neighbor called him screaming about the dog at 2am last night.  The only problem is that Bea was practically comatose and didn't make a peep all night.   I know when that dog farts, let alone starts barking her head off.  It's not a big apartment.

So now we definitely know that he's either trolling or blaming us for every dog in the 20-apartment building.  Either one, not cool.  But this time we have the record of his call whereas his unwarranted pounding last time was just my word against his.

Since ex-h waited till late tonight to pass on the message I'll call around tomorrow to see what I can do.  I do plan to mention this to our super, who adores me for some reason (he bought me a bouquet of tulips once he saw all the repairs the former super had neglected in my apt, 90% of which he fixed in about 2 hours.  He's always around the building tinkering and we always have a nice chat).  But I'll also talk to the guys at the 19th again. 

And resist the urge to leave a bag of dog poo at this moron's doorstep.   ;D

Needless to say, super glad to be moving out in 3 weeks.

Offline Sir Harry

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Re: Stupid, Irritating Neighbor
« Reply #13 on: May 02, 2013, 01:40:26 AM »
Sounds like this guy has a personal vendetta against you....it's not the dog, trust me....When some people have a beef with you, nothing you do is right no matter how you try. The sooner you get away from this douche (excuse the term I used), the better.
Even when the d is removed, the devil is still evil.

Offline bella

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Re: Stupid, Irritating Neighbor
« Reply #14 on: May 02, 2013, 03:48:42 AM »
Eh, douche would be a compliment for him to me at this point  :P

I'm not sure it's a personal vendetta per se, but I think he associates us with "dogs in the building" because our two apartments being at the very back of the ground floor really are quite isolated from any of the other units.  I really have to make a point to know anything at all about any of the other units and I made it a priority to learn who had dogs and what kind, how they behaved etc mostly as data points but also as potential playdates.  Before we got Bea, we were really quite friendly with the old guy.

He is the oldest (not in terms of age but in length of tenancy) tenant in the building, and he is the only apartment besides ours with backyard access.  However, he won't allow the building to remodel his apt so that he has actual access to the yard (he has a window where we have a door, balcony, and stairs down to the yard.  Right now his yard is just sitting there not being used by anyone.  The yard property was purchased by the building after he moved in). 

I suspect the building is trying to pressure him into letting them remodel and tripling his rent, or trying to force him out altogether.  He has lived in the building long enough that his unit may be rent-controlled, as well.

Not that any of that excuses his behavior towards us.  There may be some personal issue about us or our unit that I'm not getting, but I really don't care.  Being a jerkface to your neighbor isn't okay.

(Oh, and his excuse for pounding on the wall?  Because one night when he pounded on my door so hard the loose (now fixed) deadbolt nearly flew off, I didn't answer.  So it's my fault.  Cos a lone female is really going to answer the door to someone who is nearly destroying your front door in the middle of the night). 

We'll be outta here in 3 weeks.  Still, I'd like to leave as much evidence as I can with building management and the authorities that this is not the case of us keeping a Cujo in the apartment, for the sake of future rentals.  Karma will take care of him somehow I'm sure.