Ugly Cinderblock Extensions Make Bad Neighbors
A reader who has the misfortune to have had this ugly cinderblock extension and wall go up along one side of her garden wrote in for some advice last week. “The developer has left the extension unfinished on our side,” she writes, “Including a pole that was painted on every side expect ours.” Despite being…
A reader who has the misfortune to have had this ugly cinderblock extension and wall go up along one side of her garden wrote in for some advice last week. “The developer has left the extension unfinished on our side,” she writes, “Including a pole that was painted on every side expect ours.” Despite being a lawyer herself, the reader was not sure what obligation (if any) her neighbor had to either finish, or pay for finishing, the wall on her side. As it turns out, the developer did start finishing the wall yesterday, but the question is still an apt one. It’s possible that the “right” thing to do and the “legal” thing to do are not the same in this case. Anyone know for sure?
It is every New Yorker’s legal right to complain bitterly about their neighbors.
Anyone actually know the legal rights and responsibilities in this situation?
Plant Ivy…I love the cinderblock walls in my backyard. Once the ivy grows, it’s beautiful and peaceful.
Isn’t this just complaining about the weather? If neighbor/developer builds and violates code/zoning, then you’ve got a beef. If not, you’re just living in the city – which means your views/sun/etc vulnerable to construction next door or even down the block. The much more awful version of this is losing a lotline window to next door construction. But again, them’s the breaks, no? If you really want unobstructed views/space etc then you pay for them.
The key is to speak with your neighbor.
In order to have the wall finished you have to give the contractors permission to go on your side, Often this permission is denied, especially I may add, by citizens who work in the legal profession. If the guys cannot get to your side to parge and paint, you have to do it yourself.
Having a garden in the city is such a blessing, wall or no wall.
I agree with Petunia. My next door neighbor built a two-story extension three years ago, and that wall certainly does affect the enjoyment of my patio/yard and has also increased my electric bill. Even though my backyard faces south, I have to turn on my kitchen lights at 2:30 pm with the lower angle of the sun in winter. In summer, I have to turn them on at 4:00 pm on a sunny day. (I know about CSF bulbs saving electricity costs, but they don’t fit my kitchen fixtures, and I’m not about to replace the fixtures. I have CSF bulbs elsewhere in the house, so don’t jump on me to change over). I also get “hit” in the face with the 25-foot high brick wall whenever I go out to my patio. I just pray that the house on the other side of me doesn’t do the same thing, otherwise I’m boxed in on both sides and that for certain will affect the market value of my house when/if I put it up for sale. If I go farther out into my garden, I also feel like I’m in a fishbowl since my neighbor spends most of the time on his second-story deck. When you’ve lived with ample light, air, and relative privacy in your backyard for 30+ years, it’s quite unnerving to no longer have it. I’m sure I’m not alone in those sentiments.
Explain, pls.
Neighbor insisting that I give up sunlight in my garden so that he can have extra living space = bad.
Neighbor insisting that I give up extra living space so that he can have sunlight in his garden = good.
Anon 11:48, you make a good point–I would be responsible for my vines weakening my neighbors wall. Course, those vines have been there for 50 years, easy, long before my time. But you’re still right.
You and your kids will be long dead before any measurable degrading to mortar will be done.
Probably good idea to at least ask neighbor if you want to paint or attach anything to cinder block.
I let ivy grow up cinder block bldg against back of my yard… but owner pulls the top off (as is his right- could probably tear it completely down)when starts growing over top.