Heating Issues


Hi Brownstoners, any insights/ thoughts in this matter would be very helpful, as we are not really sure what to do; I recently moved into a two-bedroom apartment. Our lease agreement requires us to pay for heat and electricity. We have a single-unit boiler that provides us with steam heat through the apartment and we regulate the heat with a thermostat in our apartment.

While most of the apartment stays reasonably warm, our master bedroom is freezing – its uninsulated and seems to be unable to keep in room temperatures above 60 degrees. We were quite surprised to see that our heat bill came to $220 and thought there must be some kind of mistake. We mentioned to the landlord that we were thinking about getting in touch with national grid to come check things out but he told me not to tell them that that we have a boiler for heat because he never received permits to install the boiler, and to avoid getting the permits he linked the heat to a meter so it reads like cooking gas. I know nothing about how these meters read, could this be the problem?

Can anybody here offer any advice on the situation? My instinct is to tell the landlord to either lower the rent or to contact the utility company to have them inspect the place to get to the bottom of this … Isnt it his responsibility to make sure the heat sufficiently works in order to keep our bedroom warmer than 60 degrees even if we pay for the heat?

Thanks in advance.

Categories: Heating
By EAB | 01/20/2011 1:45 PM | Comment

Commercial Tax for Artists Studio


My mother is an artist and rents a studio in a commercial building comprised of mostly other artists as well as some architects, writers etc. When she first started renting (1992) the real estate tax was only a few hundred dollars a year (in the lease stated as 1.5% of the total tax for the building) It is now about $5000 and about 50% of her rent for the year. Does this seem legit? She is paying the same amount in tax as her next door neighbor who has a studio literally twice the size. I’m assuming both my mother’s lease and the neighbor’s lease stipulate 1.5% for each of them but shouldn’t tax be based on size of the studio or does that not matter if the lease has been signed? My mom spoke with the management company at one point (before she spoke with the neighbor) and was told by them that in fact it was calculated by size. And another thing, she signed her lease for a 2 year period (1992 – 1994) and never actually renewed it and has been renting without one ever since so not sure if what the lease actually says is relevant.

Does anyone have any insight as to how this all works? Thanks in advance, wasn’t sure if this was the correct forum to post but want sure where else to turn.

Categories: Taxes
By EAB | 12/08/2010 1:17 PM | Comment

Clinton Ave. Stoop Sale


Hi everyone,

Couldnt find any info about this on the internet so I figured I would check here. I remember last year there were several sales that took place on Clinton avenue from about Myrtle downt to Gates ave. Would anyone happen to have any information about when they are to take place and how to secure a spot?

Categories: Leisure
By EAB | 06/02/2010 1:29 PM | Comment

Grungy Backyard


I have a pretty decent sized backyard that I share with the rest of the ground floor (about 4 apartments) but no one ever goes back there, probably because there is a group of guys always hanging out in the parking lot next door being rude, and also because its not really maintained. That leads me to two questions: 1) Would anyone suggest an easy-to-grow plant that I could plant along the tall wire link fence that seperates the lot and the backyard? I would love it if it were covered in ivy but that would take way too long and I was hoping to have some coverage for this summer. Im pretty sure that the fence gets direct sunlight all day. And 2) could someone suggest some seeds I could plant/ toss into the yard for maybe some wildflowers or something? There is not much sun in the backyard thanks to a huge dogwood tree back there and Im really not looking to spend too much time on this yard nor do I have any gardening experience. Would I have to plow up that dirt back there?

Thanks in advance!

Categories: Garden
By EAB | 03/18/2010 3:06 PM | Comment