"Toga!!! Toga!!!I am submitting this after another sleepless night. My upstairs neighbors are living vampire hours, their day begins around 12:30 am with hammering nails in the wall to decorate, blasting corny music which they sing along to, dancing around the apartment in hard heels and laughing hysterically at their own jokes.
I have 2 children, ages 4 months and 2 1/2, who are awakened every night by this. I've called security, and the rookie officer told me that "well, they have a right to have fun you know."
I wouldn't recommend Stuy Town/PCV to raise a pack of dogs in, let alone a family."
E-Mail and photo submitted by a Stuy Town Resident
Since asking nicely apparently hasn't worked and security is, of course, useless, here it what I suggest. When you wake up in the morning (which I am sure is much earlier than your "charming " neighbors, start banging on the ceiling of your bedrooms which will ensure that these assholes are woken up way before they want to be.
You might also consider withholding rent on the theory that by doing nothing about this noise, TS is violating your warranty of habitability and the quiet enjoyment of your apartment . To do this you must keep a log of all noise incidents and each time you call security or the management office and the results of those calls. You also should probably have a brief consultation with a tenant lawyer before withholding rent but you should start the log now.
I would recommend that you call the 13th Precinct when your upstairs neighbors are causing this commotion in the middle of night. Also, record the telephone calls with "security," but be sure to tell them that they are being recorded as per the law. Most definitely your neighbors are causing a situation that violates your "warranty of habitability and quiet enjoyment of your apartment," but I would suggest consulting a Tenants'Rights lawyer before withholding rent. Good luck.
Since asking nicely apparently hasn't worked and security is useless, I suggest that when you get up in the morning (which I am sure is a lot earlier than your charming neighbors)you bang on the ceilings of your bedrooms repeatedly which will wake them up and perhaps get them to change their ways.
You also might consider a brief consultation with a tenant lawyer because you may have the right to withhold rent since TS' repeated unwillingness to deal with this noise constitutes a breach of your warranty of habitability and deprives you of the quiet enjoyment of your apartment. You should keep a log of the dates and times of the noise problems and you should call security every time and keep a log of those calls and the response from security.
Cold and Miserable
Good to see great minds think alike!
Hope you are feeling better
Seems like my former neighbors have moved into your building and I pity your situation. There is no excuse for that kind of noise after 11PM; I even tolerate it up to midnight, just to be a nice guy. But after that, it is a definite violation of your rights as a tenant.
Screw security because they are useless and also the redoubtable Miss Halbersham who is supposed to deal with tenant complaints in the TS office; I once asked, after five nights of next-to-no sleep, for her home number so I could wake her up every time I was awakened by these louts (who ultimately stole out one Saturday morning, never to be seen or heard again...)
Call the cops, over and over. And call a lawyer ASAP. I'm sorry I didn't at the time; maybe having my rent withheld in escrow would have quieted the bastards a bit sooner. Good luck.
Well. It sounds like your neighbors are young, happy-go-lucky night owls who are just frolicking in their apartment at a time you wish they were asleep! I can sympathize, but calling Security is not the answer. The next thing you know, they will start calling Security on you for rolling seventeen-pound Cave-Aged Gruyere cheese wheels counter-clockwise around your living room in white stockings and shiny black clogs every evening! Try this: Set your Sonic Bomb Alarm Clock with Bed Shaker to low, or use some other white noise generators in your bedroom. You may still be able to hear them singing and dancing, but the low humming of the alarm should lull you to sleep. When that doesn't work, I just sneak one of Mother's Seconals!
Beg to differ with Edna, but call security and call the cops. Don't be nice because nice don't work with assholes like your upstairs tormenters. Be as mean as you wanna be and enjoy it!
When you call security get the names of EVERYONE you speak with otherwise they'll ignore you. If you hold them accountable they'll put down the Pizzone and take care of the problem.
Dealing with noisy neighbors when you have a less than cooperative landlord is a very difficult situation. While others have advised to call the cops, retaliate etc., the reality is that these types of situations are very difficult to resolve. You need to be methodical and progressive.
First, find out if these are NYU or New School students. You have recourse through the respective University Housing Departments. If they are not, you have a bigger problem.
Start a notebook log. Write down every occurrence of disturbance outside of legal hours (after 10:30 PM Sunday-Thursday and 11:30PM on Friday and Saturday) Those are the hours when the police are allowed to act on noise complaints. Write down all the "noise on bare floor" incidents. These can't be documented by Security because they don't always happen when they arrive, but if you have a detailed record, then you can prove it's not an isolated or occasional instance.
If the noise is continuous, try to record it, preferably with a video camera that has the ability to superimpose the date and time on the recording.
Security has to actually hear the noise in order to write a report. If you call and they come up and hear the disturbance, note the guard's name and badge.
If there's a wild party late into the night, call the 13th Precinct. Document that call and the responding Officers info.
When you have what you feel is enough evidence to present a strong case, you can present it to the landlord and demand that they act on it. If they do not (or don't act in a timely manner) you then have evidence and reason to move forward legally.
This used to be a no-brainer when MET ran the place because everyone was supposed to treat their neighbors with respect, and if you were a problem to the landlord, they simply wouldn't renew your lease. There were 10's of thousands waiting to take your place. Now, you're fighting greed and an inept management. Procedure and litigation might be your only recourse.
And I should ask because you did not mention it, but DID you go upstairs and have a chat with your neighbors ?? I've found that sometimes (not always) they're completely oblivious about the amount of noise that they make, how it carries to the apt below and even to the fact that people downstairs are being disturbed.
It makes far more sense to negotiate before you retaliate. Use your judgment.
I have neighbors on the floor who were slamming doors, leaving trash out in the hall, etc.. A couple of nice notes on their door seemed to help a lot.
I agree with Anonymous. I've had issues with neighbors a few times, and my first action is always to knock on their door, very politely, introduce myself, and say, "I'm sure you don't realize, but....."
I actually had a neighbor beneath me complain twice, once about hamering too late, once about my roommate's shoes, and both times, we were totally mortified and so apologetic. (I am not saying that your neighbors are so nice; quite frankly, they sound like assholes, but I always believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt, at least initially.)
One time I had late night noise every night, like you, and had to get ST to do a rug inspection, because the people had no carpeting, and it took forever. I called security around 20 times and called the office non-stop. Unfortunately, you have to be relentless to get anything done around here. But, I have to say, the situation totally improved after that.
Good luck!
I had commented on my noise situation in another thread previously. All good advice here. I had to deal with weekend parties till 4AM in a neighbor's bedroom for many months. We shared a common wall in the bedroom but occupy 2 different addresses. They were college students. Security was called many times; I logged everything. ST did nothing except send 1 letter to the offenders. Ms. Habersham is useless. I took matters in my own hands so I aimed my tower speakers right at the wall and blasted the bastards for hours on end. They would bang on the wall in response but I would just let the music play for hours (sometimes for 10 hours at a time during the weekend). I figured if they were going to disturb me I was going to disturb them which I did. In the end, I won the war; they're gone and I'm still here.
As I said previously some people in life only understand force they cannot be reasoned with or bargained with. Being a native New Yawker I'm more than willing to go at it with anyone that messes with me. My message to the noisemakers: You fu&k with me you will get fu&ked in return!
Delta Gamma Douche
I am so sorry you are going through this. I too went to Donalda for help. Useless. She was shocked that I expected the Coinmach machines to be able to wash 3 standard towels without coming out dry in spots and soapy. (Now they boast that the new machines use 50% less water.) The solution was to do my laundry on the avenue. I went to her about my noisy neighbors as well. I remember standing in the street looking for a cab when a man grabbed me and pulled me back onto the curb because a truck was about to hit me. I was in the zone-completely exhausted and brain-dead. I didn't hear or process the "warning" annoying beeps of a truck backing up. For months I had been awakened 3,4 or 5 times before I finally gave up. I would start my days at 1AM, 2Am etc. It was like torture falling asleep and waking 20 minutes later to a crash, a bang or high heels clacking on the wood floor. The research is there about the effects of sleep deprivation and damage to the nervous system. The effect on the brain and the endless cortizol that crosses the blood brain barrier does alot of damage. This is a real health issue. I went ga-ga after the years of stress with the brown water, the odd responses from service, the constant construction noise and my neighbors not letting me sleep. I was impatient, disorganized, yelling and basically falling apart. Start with a certified letter about how the stress and sleepleness is impacting your day to day. Write about how it is affecting your children and their health. Can they pay attention on the playground? Mine would fall asleep in school, couldn't focus-remember. I used to worry at the park about a misstep on the monkey bars because he was so tired. It caused us so many problems-so much stress. I never understood how people were expected to go to work unbathed and without sleep. My son had to take exams after waking up 4 or 5 times the night before. We were incredibly affected as the research says we could expect to be. People are supposed to get to work on time and perform. How can you and your husband go to work without sleep? Ask a lawyer.
Maybe some of your larger, nice neighbors ought to have a sitdown with these assholes. Breaking a few legs might get the message across but if you don't want to go that route ,hit TS where it really hurts, in the pocketbook. Talk to a tenant lawyer and if he/she believes you have a legimimate case a letter should be written to TS saying your are witholding rent because of their continued refusal to do anything about your neighbors has resulted in a breach of your warranty of habitability.
Many years ago there was an article in the ?Post titled "Noisy neighbor fined to the tune of 75G"
The lawyer this woman consulted was Steven Eckhaus. Both the landlord and the offending tenant were fined.
I do not have the digital technology to send the article to Lux Living however, if anyone would like a copy I'll fax it to you to send over here.
Many years ago there was an article in the ?Post titled "Noisy neighbor fined to the tune of 75G"
The lawyer this woman consulted was Steven Eckhaus. Both the landlord and the offending tenant were fined.
I do not have the digital technology to send the article to Lux Living however, if anyone would like a copy I'll fax it to you to send over here.
If it's the same Steven Eckhaus that I'm Google'ing, he's a landlord real estate attorney who personally represented Leona Helmsley. I can't find the case you're referring to, but if you have an internet link feel free to post it. I betcha his hourly is pretty high tho. :-)
Can you post an internet link for the "Noisy Neighbor...." article. Would be nice to have a copy to slip under the door of the offenders. Might give them something to think about.
We live on 12th Street and it has become like a dorm as the landlords renovate tiny apartments to accommodate NYU students. They are transient little kids and they just don't care about their neighbors. Being nice, being mean, calling the police, it doesn't matter, they are narcissists who have never been taught how to be adults.
Re: Article on Noisy neighbor - Steven Eckhaus -no internet link available. I'll fax it over to someone who can post it here.
I have very, very noisy upstairs neighbors who installed a wooden floor without insulation. The noise travels with so much ease, you can hear when they drop a coin. But they are aggressive loud: high heels, loud parties, slamming of doors, crashing of items; and always at night until 3:00AM or 4:00AM. They don't care at all. I have tried everything but nobody helps. Even if I would go to court, I think they would just place a thin rug on the floor and otherwise be so angry at me that the noise might even get worse. Hard to imagine, but possible! My apartment is now on the market for sale after more than a year of this loud noise. I recommend this to everyone: move out and start over again in a top floor apartment, where you can be a good neighbor and think about what your downstairs neighbor might hear and suffer through.