partying in my neighbor's back yard

brooklynpotter

Subject: partying in my neighbor's back yard

so... it would seem that some new people have moved into the ground floor apartment behind our building and one over.

they have a lot of friends. they like hip hop. they're popular. they're having a fantastic time. yay for their good time!

i know it's early (even though it's been going on for days), but it's getting louder and i KNOW it's going to go through the evening.

how do i make this go away? turn off the lights and *nicely* yell out the window and ask them to turn it down? i don't so much want them to know who i am. if i knew their address i'd call 311. how do you find out the address of the building behind and one over?

d_luxx

If its that bad, maybe you'll get lucky and the other tenants in the same building will take care of the complaining for you
Also, do you think the people who live above me can come to the party too ? Sounds like they'll get along great.

d_luxx

Oh, also, once I was at a loud party in a backyard, and the thing that got us to all go inside was when the neighbor threw a can of shaving cream at us. Just sayin.

brooklynpotter

i've found a friend: google street maps. found the building, got the address, called 311. i hope i got the address right.

i'm sure your neighbors will love them!

xlizellx

did you call about noise right then? (you posted that you found the building at 7:30pm!) I think that people should always be considerate, but if it's before 10pm on a Saturday there should be slack. Did they quiet down or did you call? Did it make a difference?

brooklynpotter

xlizellx, this party had been happening, on and off, day and night, since thursday. (and last summer, it was going on most evenings). i did call, nobody came, and it went on till about 1-2. just like last summer. like a boombox in my apartment.

i'm all about a party, and i deal with a lunatic neighbor with crazy noise on a daily basis. i just don't want this to start up again.

xlizellx

No I understand -- we have neighbors who must not own clocks...or ears...since they apparently play the loudest music at the oddest times. I just didn't know if the police laughed off people who called in noise complaints based on time of day or whatnot. Sucks that no one came. It's times like this (warm weather and people being loud) that I miss the dorms in college when an RA was a phone call away and he/she would fine people with loud music.

brooklynpotter

it would not be the first time the police didn't come, but now i have the name of the owner of the building. good, because he also has a very very bright spotlight mounted on the back of the building, shines into the windows of several buildings. wish i had thought of google street view before

tybur6

I've discovered a new thing.... calling the precinct directly. 311 doesn't deal with noise very well. But if it's after 10pm, you can call the non-emergency number of the precinct and they will put it in the queue for a drive by by the police. Not sure if this will work for residences, but it's worked for a bar in my 'hood that has loud live music and doesn't like to close its windows.

independent mind

brooklynpotter, more importantly, while you are devising the best solution for those inconsiderate turds, do something nice for your sanity. I highly recommend noise-canceling headphones as a last resort, but also try simply having a pair of ear-plugs on hand for when your blood starts boiling. Don't let yourself do anything you might be embarrassed of later.

brooklynpotter

i have a white noise machine. i can't deal with ear plugs because i can hear my heart beating in my head.

today was quiet outside, here's hoping.

brooklyngigcenter

Buy a can of skunk juice.

bluemagoo

Subject: How to Handle Chronic Noise Problems

1) Get the exact address
2) Call 311 give them all the info & write down complaint number in a log you are going to start.
3) Wait ~ 1 hour and then call the local precinct, if they answer politely them them you called 311 and the noise is still happening.
4) Don't expect anything to happen at first but if it is truly a chronic issue keeping calling 311, log the complaint #, call precinct and then start contacting your local pols, using your complaint call list as ammo.
5) Hopefully an officer from the precinct will contact you and offer to help you out and possibly even give you their cell or e-mail address. Contact them immediately when future noise complaints happen and cc your local pols.
6) Hopefully doing all this will have some impact on the noise occurrences & loudness, if not prepare to move I guess.

brooklynpotter

thanks bluemagoo. i own, and they're renters. the owner of the building has bad judgement about his tenants and his property, i want to tell him that ANONYMOUSLY

armchair_warrior

fight fire with fire, goto a store that sells prank stuff, throw some stink bombs over.

fafner

Careful.

http://gothamist.com/2010/03/22/noise_complaint_instigated_bronx_da.php

drunken revival

Noisy neighbors do suck.

My naked criticism stems from everyone's unwillingness to confront the offenders in person. A simple knock on the door and polite mention that they try to keep things down. And, for Christ's sake don't do it in the middle of their party - this would be viewed as a direct affront to their right to party. Go over there when things are quiet. Ask politely but sternly.

Or, you can do what I did a few years ago. They were renovating next door and someone (either a worker or a squatter) was "living" there. The person was clearly no stranger to ampetatmines. Anyway, for days/weeks every night techno music would play....late and all night. Louder than I thought the human body could endure.

I did the 311, the precinct, asked nicely, even went up to cops on street to complain.... obviously, it didn't work. The morning I solved the problem found me on his fire escape (5th floor walk up) with a cinder block and a 2x4. The 2x4 was for knocking on the window, the block was for show. I looked in his dazed and glazed eyes and saw barely a hint of shock as he notice me, a man wearing a suit and smashing his window with a 2x4 at 7:30am.

I told him to "turn down the fucking music and don't make me come back here again". He did, I and didn't.

jeffrey

what kind of suit?

carmen

birthday suit

ezn

jeffrey wrote: what kind of suit?

<--waiting on "birthday" as the answer. Please let him say "birthday"

brooklynpotter

i don't confront drunk people. or other peoples' tenants. i don't think either would bring good consequences

drunken revival

I believe it was a Burberry suit actually.

jimmy

brooklynpotter wrote: i don't confront drunk people. or other peoples' tenants. i don't think either would bring good consequences

If you're unwilling to confront the problem, odds are nothing's going to change. From your description, it does sound like you're in the right. Having a loud, late party on a Saturday afternoon/evening once in a while is one thing. Consistently doing it is another.

But if you want things to change, you're gonna have to suck it up and do something about it. Like DR (I think) said, go over there in the morning or early afternoon, while they're not partying, and say your piece. If nothing happens, you're going to have to escalate.

Or you could move. One or the other.

flynn

brooklynpotter wrote: i don't confront drunk people. or other peoples' tenants. i don't think either would bring good consequences

i don't understand. you talk about this being a problem for you but are unwilling to do anything about it except call 311?

anytime myself, or my friends, have had a problem with a neighbor, knocking on their door and reaching a compromise solved the problem. human interaction goes a long way.

maybe they will even invtie you to the party!

tyroneshoelaces

Can I recommend Side Two of Yoko Ono's Season of Glass very early in their hangover window?

seasidearms

No real Brooklyn born home owner would complain about noise.

sweet tea

aaaannnnndddddd: scene.

:roll:

bluemagoo

Subject: I'm a Brooklyn Home Owner, Yo!

seasidearms wrote: No real Brooklyn born home owner would complain about noise.

I've been a Brooklyn home owner since 1980 & I will complain to the authorities about chronic noise issues whenever I think it's needed. The key word here is "chronic". One off loud parties, esp. on weekends are just a fact of life you may have to deal with anywhere, but even then the noise should end at a reasonable hour, say not too long after midnight.

peanuts

I used to live near the carriage house - they used to play blasting music with the doors open and wake me up at 3 in the morning (and I was 4 buildings down). I called them, they kept doing it - I called the police (pre-311 days) - nothing changed. So I called my Assemblyman's office (at the time it was Brennan) - not only did they visit the Carriage House with someone from the police department - they also reported back to me - and yes, the situation improved.

And I can understand not confronting drunk people - and considering what they're doing, they don't seem to be very considerate people - so I would avoid speaking to them as wel