Forum: Environmental
March 12, 2008
Stinky Neighbor - Please help!
I own half a brownstone -- the upper half. The bottom half is owned by a person of retirement age that is, well, stinky. In the time I've lived here, I've never heard a vacuum cleaner or anything like it coming from downstairs. I've never seen a window open to ventilate the space in any way. When I've needed access to the back of the building, I need to go through this person's apartment, my eyes start to tear because the odor is so intense. Piles of clothes are strewn all over and the dust is thick as snow.
My motto is live and let live. As long as I don't know this person is there, I don't care. So that was the modus operandi until recently, where I performed a year-long gut renovation.
During the renovation, the odor from downstairs would leach into the construction space as the floors and walls were open and exposed for plumbing and electrical work. However, now although they're all closed, pressurized odoriferous air is leaching through any/every crack and crevice into my brand new living space. I'm at my wits end -- and as I've shouted about it bothering me, my neighbor (obviously overhearing my loud frustration) has decided to use some sort of potent air freshener (like carpet fresh-pet odor eliminator). Now we're inundated with the air freshener ingredient which has made the situation worse because I seem to be allergic to it. A week will then pass, the air freshener will fade and the stank odor will return.
I desperately need to solve this problem. What I can't understand is why the air coming from my neighbor's living space is under so much pressure to force its way through every crack and crevice into my place -- I mean it even comes through cracks in the floor, cracks in the staircase risers, gaps between kitchen cabinets and trim. It's crazy and it, literally, stinks!
How can I get relief other than 1) wearing a face mask, 2) telling my neighbor to pick up some new living space hygiene practices?
My idea is to put in some roof vents to let pressurized air from the inner wall spaces along the parapet walls to escape, thus lowering the inner wall air pressure and preventing so much leaching of air through the cracks/gaps in my living space floors and walls and cabinetry.
Any/all suggestions are welcome!
Thanks in advance!
-G
March 4, 2008
Huge Toll Brothers Dev in Carrol Gardens
Toll Brothers plans to throw up a gigantic 12 luxury condo complex on two highly contaminated blocks next to the Gowanus Canal (on Bond from Carrol Street to 2nd Street).
The proposal is gigantic and quite extreme, and if realized, would cause tremendous
strain on the education system, transportation system, sewage system,
traffic flow, etc. in the neighborhood. It is also,
obviously, a severe environmental liability.
Can't find any photos on the web, but the flier they handed out at a community meeting this evening was crazy...