How to Keep Smoke from Another Unit Out of my Apt.
Yes, this is another post complaining about cigarette smoke from a neighbor. I’ve read previous posts on this topic and, as this is obviously a touchy issue, I would like to try a different approach, if possible. I purchased a co-op that I (mostly) love in Park Slope a year ago. The building was built…
Yes, this is another post complaining about cigarette smoke from a neighbor. I’ve read previous posts on this topic and, as this is obviously a touchy issue, I would like to try a different approach, if possible.
I purchased a co-op that I (mostly) love in Park Slope a year ago. The building was built in 1920 and I am on the top floor. During the months before closing, one of the residents in the unit below mine was not around. Shortly after moving in, he returned and I learned for the first time that there was a chain smoker in the building and there is a significant amount of shared air between our units.
The extremity and the frequency of the cigarette (and, occasionally less legal substances) smoke is beyond anything I could have imagined possible. Several times daily, it is as though there is someone smoking in the room with me. Mornings, my place smells like an ashtray. Sometimes I can smell the tobacco on my clothes even when I am outside of my apartment.
I informed the president of the co-op who instructed me to take it up with the tenants, which I have done now many, many times. They are always very nice. Sometimes, the problem seems to get better for a short period (although it has never gone away). It always returns as bad as ever, prompting me to have yet another conversation that sometimes is somewhat effective, sometimes not.
To try and fix the issue, I put in two additional layers of flooring. I sealed all the corners with expanding foam and/or caulk. I plugged the outlets. I even spent over $1100 on an air purifier specifically designed to address cigarette smoke. Needless to say, this continues to be a problem or I wouldn’t be writing here.
To complicate this issue, I have also been getting severe headaches on a regular basis (3-4 a month, each lasting for a day or two). I cannot conclusively tie the headaches to the smoke, as I used to get about one of these headaches once every two or three years. Suddenly the headaches are a regular occurrence. A nurse told me that cigarette smoke can be a trigger for cluster headaches.
I have spent many days in the bedroom to avoid the smoke in the living room and nights on the couch in the living room to avoid smoke in the bedroom. Twice, in desperation, I moved my mattress to the kitchen and slept there to get away from the smoke.
Unfortunately, selling is not an option for me because of the state of the housing market and the building flip tax. Not to mention all the money I have already invested in this unit.
Just writing this down here, the situation feels over-the-top, and at times it is. But nothing has been exaggerated or distorted. I would love any suggestions about regarding my options. What do the people on Brownstoner suggest? Is there something I have overlooked?
What I wish is that brownstoner would institute a system of voting comments up and down that might allow us to bury the random squabbling and name calling.
As for the OP and exaggeration, I have a friend who has to leave the room if anyone is using dry erase markers. She’s crazy sensitive. The fact that no one else is bothered by it doesn’t make her life easier. On the flip side, I get horrible headaches from over-air freshened cabs. Presumably the dudes driving them all day don’t mind the chem-scent. People are different, is all I’m saying.
I have some smoker friends who swear by these ventilating fans:
http://www.amazon.com/Holmes-Twin-Window-Fan-HAWF2021-U/dp/B00008XET9/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1302014042&sr=8-11
Read some reviews, but if he’s willing to work with you but not willing to quit smoking, you may be able to get him a good fan that will improve ventilation.
It is clear you are going to have to move. For your health. I know someone who developed an autoimmune disease while living with the same problem. My point is that the headaches can trigger a syndrome, and may not go away once you start living smoke free, after a long time of living with them and the smoke. You need to start living smoke-free now – rent out your place (to a smoker, or to someone not bothered by smoke), sleep at a friend’s place and use your home as a storage facility for your stuff for now, or rent a room in an apartment somewhere – your health is too important to just go on living there.
Simultaneously, address the problem. You’ve got lots of good ideas here – from more filtering in your apartment, to also closing off holes and filtering in the smoker’s apartment. I doubt this person can smoke outside all the time if they are a chain smoker – because they smoke practically every waking minute. I doubt that any of this will make enough of a difference to someone who is sensitive to/affected by smoke, but hey, it is worth a try.
Next, see if you can get the board to seriously address the problem. Before you do so, decide if it wouldn’t be better to just sell first. Once you get the board to address it, it is in the minutes, and many potential buyers (unless they are smokers) will be put off, and you will be unable to sell. See what you can get the board to do. If you can’t get them to address it satisfactorily, maybe you can get them to forgo the flip tax, due to their unwillingness to do their job and insure that your apartment is habitable. Use an attorney for this.
The law is changing rapidly in this area, ever since second hand smoke was found to cause cancer, not just asthma and other respiratory disease in non-smokers. You need to talk to an attorney about taking legal action to get the board to deal with the issue ASAP. Make sure the attorney helps you map out a strategy first, that will start not with a suit but with letting them know you are serious about demanding that they address the problem. You should also talk with your attorney about what possible effect legal action against the tenant could have. Your chances of getting action on smoke are greater now than any other time, due to the recognition of its harm to others, finally. Good luck.
Smoking is a disgusting nasty habit, and a non-smoker’s health should not be compromised by second hand smoke.
The person should go outside to smoke or get some type of ventilation system for his apartment. There was a case similar to this at a Manhattan coop a few years ago. The non-smoker took the smoker to court. I don’t exactly remember the outcome, but I think the judge ordered the smoker to install some type of ventilation system.
Really can’t do much legally to RS tenants. But it’s worth a try. You can’t continue living there. It’s dangerous to your health.
Just another example of how the stinky RS system hurts us all, not just owners of RS apartments.
Smokers are often selfish assholes. Discuss.
In the words of Stephen King: “Anyone can quit smoking, it takes a real man to face lung cancer”. He said that on the Dick Cavett Show many years ago.
This may not be the coop’s board first time at this rodeo. If OP can find reference to the problem in the minutes, or proof that the seller, smoker, or board colluded to hide this problem, well…..
Second and third hand smoke is not just a “smell.” It is carcinogenic and addictive. The OP is getting more smoke in his/her apt than the others because his/her apt is directly above the smoker’s and smoke travels up.
The smoker has the right to smoke in his/her apt. The OP has a right to live in a smoke-free apt. These two rights are in conflict.
I agree that OP is going to have appeal to the board to resolve this. It may not be resolvable. But let the smoker work on it. If it doesn’t work, can OP rent the apartment? To a smoker?
I used to smoke. I Loved/Love smoking. I never realized how much I stunk until I quit. I smell it on customers when they come in and sit by my desk. Yeah, it’s pretty raunchy but I deal with it. I still love the smell of someone sparking up a fresh one.