Neighbor Relations
So I have a brownstone on a beautiful block in Park Slope, and I bought it because I like clean, but am not a clean freak or child hater or anything. I understand that I bought into a child friendly neighborhood… but it’s a clean block. One of my next door neighbors lets their children…
So I have a brownstone on a beautiful block in Park Slope, and I bought it because I like clean, but am not a clean freak or child hater or anything. I understand that I bought into a child friendly neighborhood… but it’s a clean block.
One of my next door neighbors lets their children draw all over the sidewalk with chalk. They draw up and down the sidewalk and never clean it when they are finished. Whenever I walk over it I is transferred to my shoes and gets tracked through my newly renovated apartment. It has even turned up on my clothing. Also, it just really isn’t very attractive.
I am on good speaking terms with this neighbor, she’s otherwise nice and her whole family is nice. And so on the two occasions this has happened, I just went over and asked if they could restrict their drawing to their own yard and spray it with a hose when they were finished.
Her response is that in all her years in the neighborhood, nobody has ever complained about chalk, and so therefore I just haven’t been in the neighborhood long enough to understand that this is how things are done.
But it’s not how things are done. It’s an otherwise clean block, and everyone else mentions the cleanliness of the block as an asset.
Whatever. My question is this. I feel as though I have two choices:
1. Keep talking to her and keep getting agro and “you haven’t lived here long enough and it’s not your neighborhood” type responses and inflate the conflict.
2. Start calling 311 and never ever admit that I am the one doing it and preserve any remaining harmony between the two stoops.
One feels dishonest, the other feels like nothin’ but feudin’. Any opinions? Any other ideas?
upon reading the noise post, I actually think this person may be trying to race bait and see how people respond differently and then call it racism. how many people think really really loud music and chalk on sidewalk are analogous?
Clearly you are not a person who would have been living in this city pre-giuliani if chalk on sidewalk is a quality of life issue for you. Why don’t you move to the suburbs where everything is “clean”, your feet never have to touch the sidewalk, let alone – god forbid – tread on someone’s sidewalk chalk! I’m sorry, your complaint is truly pathetic, and a perfect example of the lame people a sanitized New York attracts.
Graffiti artists can’t even create on the street (even if their works aren’t permanent) with the new New York City ordinences, so it is definately not OK to vandalize your block and damage your clothing or apartment so be assured no matter how they did things in your neighborhood, this is not OK.
But how to deal with the neighbor….. At what time of day does this happen? Forget about the rest of the neighborhood and what they used to do. If you want to have a relationship with this woman, you can try to explain the effect on you personally, that it disturbs whatever it is you are doing, that it is costing money in cleaning, etc. But do you think she would give a shit? That is key since you spoke to her twice about it. If not, just call 311. They send a squad car.
As far as sitting around the campfire together and singing Kumbaya, forget it. I am for good fences make good neighbors and that goes for noise.
Remember it is your neighborhood now too.
Thanks Bob!
This offense may actually be covered under graffiti laws. I’ll bet you could have charges filed- or you could just throw trash in front of their house.
Grow up.
One of the greatest dangers of satire is being misinterpreted by literal-minded people.
“Is this a joke?” DUH!
LOL–what a great parody!
Is this a joke?