Smoking in the backyard! Need your opinion

Could be. I had a neighbor once who sat outside and smoked all day. If I left the door to my garden open the smoke would come into my house. It also killed my enjoyment of my yard because if I was outside I was only about 10 feet away from her cigs.

It really depends on how your yard is set up and how much or little your neighbors use their space. It sounds like you're conscious of the potential for this to bother your neighbors which is the most important thing. Just continue to be aware of it, see if they are outside often, if they leave windows open, etc. and ask them if you are unsure. It could be as simple as moving to another part of the yard or there may be no issue at all.

No this is wrong. A little preemptive courtesy can go a long way. If you're doing something that probably will affect other people, the burden should rightly be on you to minimize or mitigate it.

brooklynpotter wrote: smoke until anyone asks you to stop.

personally I feel that you have done your considerate neighbor duty by going outside. You have no control over the wind and which way it blows nor do you have control over your neighbors windows. As long as it is still legal to smoke cigarettes outside then you need do no more.

If your neighbor comes out and complains, tell them you pay rent too, and that last you checked, America was still a free country.

I realize what the question was daver, no, Imboogie is not being inconsiderate to his/her neighbors next door and if the neighbors don't like the smoke that may just happen to waft through their windows then they can close them.

Imboogie, welcome to Brooklynian. I like that you're thinking about your neighbors. And not wanting them to hate you when it's pretty avoidable.


I wouldn't wait for someone to yell out their window. Smoking at the back of the yard is a great suggestion, 'cause smoke really does travel in to other people's windows if the wind is right. I used to get it in my living room from a neighbor on his front stoop, but that's not nearly as bad as getting someone else's smoke in your bedroom, which is usually what's in the back of the building for the quiet.

The other thing is to make sure you don't start a fire. Should be obvious, right?
Meh.
My neighbor set a wooden stockade fence on fire late one night - the smoldering cig set the wooden bench she was sitting on alight after she went inside. We ran out at 1am to her trying to put out a blaze with water from a tea kettle. She was stressed out, tired, distracted - it can happen to anybody. Don't let it happen to you!

as someone who lives 2 floors above smokers, yes, you probably are not smoking unnoticed. I can bet they can smell your smoke. Whether it bothers them personally is another story. if you are considerate enough to wonder to us, why don't you ask them (and be prepared to stop if they don't like it)?

I would go ahead and smoke. If they can't muster the sack to ask you to stop, then it it isn't bothering them that much.

Seriously, though, people have gotten waaaay too sensitive when it comes to a little cigarette smoke. I used to go out in the alley behind our building (accessed through the basement) for a smoke when I was waiting for a laundry cycle to end or whatever. Of course the building tool/busybody complains that his wittle sniffer caught a whiff of smoke when he came down. Ridiculous. It's the basement! Tell ya what: 1) Nobody lives down there; and 2) The place always smells like garbage, paint, mold, whatever. Hold on, now I've gotta go punch this fool.

It doesn't sound that bad to me but I've been known to smoke the occasional cigarette in my own backyard. Maybe you could alternate the backyard cigarette with one on the stoop. Actually, my neighbor used to smoke so much pot on his stoop late at night that it stank up my whole house (I don't mind the smell but he smoked a lot and it was kind of overpowering.)

My neighbors have a grill that is basically right next to my living room window so I get to smell their nasty carcinogenic meat every night (I'm a vegetarian).

What can you do? We live really close together in Brooklyn and have to smell each other's smells, for better or worse.