Forum Archive

I am about to do some facade work on my brownstone and my next door neighbor, who is a nightmare, is sure to make things difficult. Previously, he has said that we could not set foot on his property when we needed to paint. We worked around it then — not easily — but this time, for sure we will need to be on his property to chemically remove the facade’s paint and then, to restore the wall to its original brownstone. This wall is the border of his areaway, although it is technically my wall.
So my question is this: does my neighbor need to give me access to do this work and if he doesn’t, what recourse do I have? The mason doing the work can indemnify them on their insurance but should I write a letter advising them of the work and nicely ask them to allow access? Or do I act first and ask permission later? My fear is that if they don’t allow us access the job cannot get done. What rights do I actually have?