Forum: Etiquette
May 26, 2008
Aggressive Dogs
My neighbor has several dogs which are often roaming free on our block.
Last Friday night one of the dogs attacked my dog (who was leashed) without any provocation. The neighbor did not come outside (they may not have even been home), and another neighbor helped me so my dog and I could get away. I have called animal control a few times, and this last time called 911. No one has EVER responded to my complaints.
Is there another (civil) way to get my neighbor to tie up/lock up their dogs?
March 26, 2008
Is your basement a toilet for utility workers
Has anyone else had the pleasure of a Con Edison or Keyspan Energy utility worker using an empty box or pail to relieve themselves in the basement? Thats happened to our coop three times now the most recently today with Keyspan - National Grid. I'd like to here from others with similiar stories.
March 10, 2008
New Neighbor's Barking Dog!
Hi there!
We just moved into a new house in Park Slope. Our neighbors are clearly renovating the house next door into what looks like apartments. The problem is they have a huge loud pit bull looking dog that they leave in the yard consistently and barks all the time. Since we've never seen the neighbors we don't know if they leave the dog out when they are not home or what, but the dog spends a major part of everyday outside barking. When we come out on our deck, the dog barks and growls at us. Since we just moved in we don't want to get things off on the wrong foot, but any ideas on this problem? Should we leave a note for the neighbors, call the city or something? What's the protocol? It's so annoying!
February 5, 2008
Really scary dog
Can anyone offer some advice? Opposite my backyard and separated by a right of way (for utilities) my neighbor has a rotweiler/mixed breed dog. Besides barking incessantly it approaches my backyard fence and scares my 3 year old to the point of him not wanting to play by viciously growling through my fence. The neighbor does not have any kind of fencing thus his/her backyard which should be about six feet apart from mine abuts my property. What can I do?
Is there a law regarding mandating the construction of a fence to keep the dog away and respect the right of way for what it is, no one's property? Thanks.
January 5, 2008
Damage to my old house -- who should pay?
The young son (recent college grad) of friends of my husband's family, let's call him "Joe", has been staying with us for a few months while he gets on his feet and searches for a place to live in the NYC area. Joe pays us a few hundred dollars a month, basically just enough to cover the additional utilities usage of having another person under our roof. Right before I left for holiday travels, he asked if his younger brother could visit him for a few days over New Years, and I told him I wasn't comfortable with him having guests in our home while my husband and I are away -- the house is 125+ years old, mid-renovation and has myriad plumbing issues, electrical issues, and other potentially hazardous quirks -- but maybe he could come another time. Joe then informed me that actually his brother had bought plane tickets and was already planning to come... so in the spirit of holiday cheer I acquiesced (my mistake).
Naturally things went from bad to worse. Joe's little brother shows up, along with his girlfriend (surprise!), just as I'm returning from Christmas with my family and about to fly away for New Year's with my husband's family. Joe was nowhere to be found -- turns out he was traveling for New Year's, too, double-surprise! -- and these two teenagers were going to be completely unsupervised in my house for 6 days. Soon after they arrived, and just before I left for the airport, the girlfriend took a shower in my upstairs bathroom and pointed the showerhead directly at the wall instead of down into the drain. This being a vintage Brooklyn bathroom, the walls are about as waterproof as a slotted spoon, and upon seeing a cascade of water come through the ceiling of the room below the tub, I had to run up there and yank her out of the shower and explain the problem to her. After a quick lesson in how to direct the water toward the drain, rather than all about the room, I said a quick prayer that my house would still be standing in a few days and then I left to catch my flight.
When I returned on New Year's day, I found a 3' by 3' section of the ceiling in the room under the tub had collapsed, and everything below was waterlogged. The bathroom is directly over my kitchen, or more specifically, my pantry shelves, so I had to throw away at least a hundred dollars worth of groceries and a couple of small appliances (there was 2" of standing water inside my toaster). Repairing the ceiling will probably be in the neighborhood of $800-1500, but it doesn't really make sense to do it until I solve the problems in the bathroom above, so now I'm on a fast-track with that very expensive project, which I'd been hoping to postpone for another year. Anyway, sometime between completely losing my cool and throwing these two youngsters out on the street, I asked them for their parents' addresses and informed them that they would be receiving an itemized bill for the groceries, the small appliances, and the ceiling repair. When good ol' Joe returned from his vacation, I told him he would be sharing the cost of the repairs as well.
But now my husband thinks that they shouldn't have to pay -- his reasoning is that the house is very old, and under normal circumstances their actions wouldn't have caused any damage, and we were eventually going to renovate both of the rooms affected anyway. And he is swayed by the same sense of obligation to these family friends that caused us to let these people into our home in the first place, so he doesn’t want to rake up trouble with them. I, on the other hand, want blood. Sure, the first time they caused the flood it wasn't their fault, but to repeatedly damage the house in the very same way, over and over again in the course of several days, after they had been adequately warned, and when they are both sighted, sentient, intelligent beings with the capacity to recognize water leaking through the ceiling, or at least to notice when a large chunk of the ceiling has collapsed... and when I left them a list of emergency numbers and explicit instructions to call if they noticed any more problems with water leaking or anything else... c'mon, shouldn't they at least share the responsibility of repairing the damage?
Has anyone else out there dealt with a similar situation? Is it fair to ask these jokers to pay up? If so, how much of the cost of the repair should I pass on to them?
(And, by the way, does anyone out there have an affordable place for "Joe" to live? He needs to move in ASAP; he’s a great roommate. HA!)
January 2, 2008
negative attitudes
Are you sick of negative, nasty remarks on this site?? We are so sick of these haughty and cocky comments - everyone out there can't be such A-holes, so those of you who aren't, help me out (please....). I also think that there should be some compassion for those brave enough to actually take on these renovation projects - thank you for bringing back these fabulous brownstones!!! Without these do-it-yourself-ers, Bed-Stuy risks becoming just another investment neighborhood -- we, on the other hand, live here, love our homes and our neighborhood, and should be celebrated for that. We use this site to learn from our mistakes and to share our knowledge, so maybe we should remember to be a bit more helpful and a lot less critical. Amen.
December 20, 2007
LP Gas Grill on a Balcony
I am considering buying a small LP gas grill for our small condo balcony in Bklyn.
Can anyone tell me:
What the city laws are regarding the use of an LP gas grill on a balcony in a multiple dwelling building?
My condo bylaws express nothing specific in this matter except an expression of refraining anything being done or kept that will increase the rate of insurance or the cancellation of insurance of the property. Is LP gas applicable to this bylaw?
What is "unofficial" law of the land? Don't ask, Don't Tell- keep the grill smoking to a minimum so your neighbor doesn't call the FD.
Thanks for your input!
November 20, 2007
Items missing from condo that are in the offering plan?
I am closing on a condo in a couple of months and I noticed in a recent open house as I went into my unit that their are several items just missing in the condo that are on the offering plan? Like a dishwasher. The cabinets are already in so they are not planning on putting anything in. Their are also inproper models of stated finishes and general construction issues - What is my recourse?
September 24, 2007
Open House Etiquette
I seem to remember this topic a while back. I would like to go to open houses as an interested neighbor (read that lookieloo) but feel it may be bad form. For those who go to open houses, what it the proper way to address brokers as they meet you. Is it okay to just look?
August 8, 2007
Working Day Restrictions
Does any one know if there are rules about what time of day work in a single family dwelling/brownstone must stop and start? My GC and his team have been staying late -- like after 6 -- and my neighbor told him that they have to stop at 5? Is this true? I want to be a good neighbor but at the same time I'd like to know what the truth is about any restrictions that exist. Please advise.