tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post3013958521501982488..comments2024-03-28T12:11:12.965-04:00Comments on EV Grieve: The real story behind the so-called Lower East Side hoarderUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-5065396246663617292017-07-21T12:00:14.386-04:002017-07-21T12:00:14.386-04:00I mean, I appreciate the nuanced look, and am shoc...I mean, I appreciate the nuanced look, and am shocked at the (grudging) acknowledgement that this wasn't all the landlords fault, but at the end of the day sympathy has to be limited.<br /><br />Yes, hoarders and people with mental illness are human beings and deserve compassion. But that is when their affliction is occurring in a vacuum. This guy was outright endangering his fellow tenants, and even if he isn't entirely responsible for his actions due to his mental state, his fellow tenants deserve better than to have their health and well-being put at risk just because we're supposed to be compassionate. A mentally ill person who won't accept help, and who continues a dangerous action, forfeits their right to our sympathy. You wouldn't give a dementia patient a loaded gun and tell them to wander the streets; similarly, there should be an expedited eviction process for a person such as this man, for his own safety and those whose lives he is endangeringAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-54104246566715615462017-07-19T18:50:28.236-04:002017-07-19T18:50:28.236-04:00@4:33PM In fact, that is a very good definition of...@4:33PM In fact, that is a very good definition of one of the consequences of hoarding. Your definition applies to collectors, not to hoarders. This is the American Psychiatric Association definition of hoarding. Maybe you should send them your definition if you think it's better than theirs:<br /><br />"What Is Hoarding Disorder?<br /><br />People with hoarding disorder excessively save items that others may view as worthless. They have persistent difficulty getting rid of or parting with possessions, leading to clutter that disrupts their ability to use their living or work spaces.<br /><br />Hoarding is not the same as collecting. Collectors look for specific items, such as model cars or stamps, and may organize or display them. People with hoarding disorder often save random items and store them haphazardly. In most cases, they save items that they feel they may need in the future, are valuable or have sentimental value. Some may also feel safer surrounded by the things they save.<br /><br />Hoarding disorder occurs in an estimated 2 to 5 percent of the population and often leads to substantial distress and problems functioning.<br /><br />Consequences<br /><br />Hoarding disorder can cause problems in relationships, social and work activitives and other important areas of functioning. Potential consequences of serious hoarding include health and safety concerns, such as fire hazards, tripping hazards and health code violations. It can also lead to family strain and conflicts, isolation and loneliness, unwillingness to have anyone else enter the home and an inability to perform daily tasks such as cooking and bathing in the home."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-26610006656024331692017-07-19T18:04:02.372-04:002017-07-19T18:04:02.372-04:00You sound like a very compassionate person. You a...You sound like a very compassionate person. You are a better neighbor than I would be considering, as you said, many people tried to help and the landlord actually bought him out rather then throwing him in the street and made attempts to send an exterminator and he would curse at them.<br /><br />So there is a video posted and people make comments. Who cares! Your neighbor moved into a new apartment; he probably isn't listening to what people are saying. He needs treatment not enabling. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-59464935860495033262017-07-19T17:11:10.700-04:002017-07-19T17:11:10.700-04:00Thank you for helping us all remember the human be...Thank you for helping us all remember the human behind the headline - incredibly heartfelt and honest perspective. Glad to have you in the neighborhood.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-87942286878239088922017-07-19T16:33:28.530-04:002017-07-19T16:33:28.530-04:00@8:47am: It's @7:43pm here, and in NO WAY did ...@8:47am: It's @7:43pm here, and in NO WAY did I try to "rationalize hoarding". I simply showed that the sentence "The fire hazards created by storing huge amounts of paper and old flammable belongings cannot be nersestimated" is, in fact, an extremely weak way to try to define "hoarding."<br /><br />My remarks are true and accurate, and I'm sorry if my ability to think analytically is a problem for you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-42613392164643933512017-07-19T15:12:13.630-04:002017-07-19T15:12:13.630-04:00Thank you for this beautifully written post. My mo...Thank you for this beautifully written post. My mother and one of my brothers is a hoarder, a friend of mine grew up in hoarder conditions, I myself am a pack rat, I have way too many art books and textiles but they are at least organized on shelves. The difference between me and those I know who are full on hoarders is mental illness, lost dreams and abuse of their humanity to be poetic but NO ONE DOES THIS BECAUSE THEY LIKE IT. There is something wrong with someone who loses control. Like any illness and addiction they need help not ridicule. Thank you for your post- this I hope helps people understand this better and be compassionate.C Merryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02889678088884100262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-26568412106455391992017-07-19T10:26:59.844-04:002017-07-19T10:26:59.844-04:00There needs to be anti-hoarding provisions added t...There needs to be anti-hoarding provisions added to leases. As well as city laws passed allowing forced removal of junk after fire department inspection. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-32540453867012364602017-07-19T10:09:28.558-04:002017-07-19T10:09:28.558-04:00Yes, compassion us one thing, but this tenant caus...Yes, compassion us one thing, but this tenant caused an infestation of roaches and other pests harming other tenants.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-4394586535001058292017-07-19T09:07:39.635-04:002017-07-19T09:07:39.635-04:00Let's stop denying the facts: Hoarders create ...Let's stop denying the facts: Hoarders create a dangerous problem for themselves and other living things. Many hoarders also hoard animals, sometimes hundreds of them, whcih end up being neglected and living in squalor. But hoarders are human beings who also deserve to be treated with respect. The problem is that they have proerty rights and leases which they are abusing due to their mental illness. The law protects them even when their hoarding creates a danger to other people's lives. That is where the law and society is falling short, We allow these conditions to persist for years before they can be rectified. A hoarder has to practically become mentally incompetent or physically unable to survive before anyone can step in. <br /><br />We have many hoarders in out building, and one of them just went to the hospital with broken bones from a stack of her belongings falling on her. She came home after a month in rehab, and found that her relatives had cleared the junk out her apartment. They had also gone to great expense to eradicate the bedbugs and rooaches. So now she has filed a police report and wants to have her relatives arrested for stealing the junk that put her in the hospital, the junk that might well have killed her, and which posed a hazard to all her neighbors. Hoarders only see their own needs, that is part of their illness, but we need better laws to protect the rest of us from them, and to protect them from themselves. . Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-38401099240399019672017-07-19T08:47:37.132-04:002017-07-19T08:47:37.132-04:00I'd just like to respond to the person (July 1...I'd just like to respond to the person (July 18, 2017 at 7:43 PM) who is trying to rationalize that hoarding is not a fire hazard. It is not so much an issue of flammability, but that access to the apartment is blocked. We had a hoarder in our tenement building in the late 1980s who had an electrical fire in the middle of the night. His apartment was one solid mass of trash. The fire consumed his apartment and damage was done to the surrounding apartments. The firefighters said because all egresses to his apartment were blocked it made it very difficult to fight the fire. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-39876847266005120322017-07-19T07:41:47.890-04:002017-07-19T07:41:47.890-04:00Thanks for both of these posts. I've lived in ...Thanks for both of these posts. I've lived in full view of the apartment in question, and despite the various non-empty food containers sitting on the fire escape for months, had no idea the extent of what was going on in there. The myriad pest problems in these apartments have a lot to do with the age and terrible maintenance level of the buildings, although it's nice to know that some improvement might be possible now and that the landlord is not actually oblivious to the conditions (which I sort of suspected last time my rent went up...)<br /><br />The memory of a cute cat sitting out on that fire escape maybe a year ago is now permanently branded onto my brain D:Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-1870645149897796622017-07-19T07:07:07.381-04:002017-07-19T07:07:07.381-04:00There needs to be some compassion for the other te...There needs to be some compassion for the other tenants and the Landlord for putting up with this guy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-21063187787269178852017-07-19T02:20:24.779-04:002017-07-19T02:20:24.779-04:00AgreedAgreedAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-56781695574703593192017-07-18T22:42:05.461-04:002017-07-18T22:42:05.461-04:00Agree 100% with all who mentioned the poor cat. Le...Agree 100% with all who mentioned the poor cat. Let yourself rot, illness or not, but that cat probably agonized before it finally died.Mikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-64080752311608961422017-07-18T21:35:28.070-04:002017-07-18T21:35:28.070-04:00This letter is one of the most compelling and movi...This letter is one of the most compelling and moving posts i have ever read in the E.V. Grieve.It deserves wide circulation.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10552111110833316795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-48632489055704439602017-07-18T21:29:14.794-04:002017-07-18T21:29:14.794-04:00How heartening that this neighbor took the time to...How heartening that this neighbor took the time to provide a more nuanced, human take on this story, taking care to see things from all sides. The embodiment of neighborliness, and good manners. And Good on you, EV, for sharing it with your readers.Chief Primatologist of the East Village Inkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12388915586868842622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-73221025640197987322017-07-18T21:02:58.357-04:002017-07-18T21:02:58.357-04:00Compassion; difficult and important to keep practi...Compassion; difficult and important to keep practicing. <br />Sorry for your struggles. You seem like a good Neighbor. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-60281938500327566002017-07-18T20:38:51.364-04:002017-07-18T20:38:51.364-04:00I think one solution is for the city to assign bui...I think one solution is for the city to assign buildings just for hoarders and care for them. That way us, neighbors, don't have to suffer. I live with one in my building. Bed bugs infestation galore.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02132403329546359837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-59555372160321167492017-07-18T20:20:27.573-04:002017-07-18T20:20:27.573-04:00As much as everyone wants to say that the this guy...As much as everyone wants to say that the this guy wrote was so nice and thank EV for posting it. I will call bullshit. Yes his life was going down hill and yes some of the tenants did talk and some got along but everyone hated this tenant after his life spiraled down. Not one good thing was said and everyone was dying for him to be gone. Some even ridiculed him and now this 1 tenant wants to criticize the contractor for posting a video, call it bad taste and poke fun of his YouTube channel. I see a man who is trying to write a sweet letter of lies and of course leave it to EV to post lies. I have not had many chances to speak to Martin but one thing I do know is that he does not do anything in poor taste. He did not make fun or name anyone. I just see a guy making a video of his work. And here we have many people loving lies. The letter is pretty and though most should be things that should happen in a perfect world. But it's a lieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-62884492744386573972017-07-18T19:43:41.074-04:002017-07-18T19:43:41.074-04:00@11:40am: You wrote "The fire hazards created...@11:40am: You wrote "The fire hazards created by storing huge amounts of paper and old flammable belongings cannot be nersestimated"<br /><br />Why do you think only the sort of hoarder written about here is a fire risk? How about all of us who love books & have hundreds or even thousands of books in our apartments?<br /><br />Should we legislate against books, or against people owning more than one or two books at a time? At what point does someone's personal library turn that person into a dangerous "hoarder" who is harboring "huge amounts" of flammable materials according to your definition?<br /><br />Same issue with fabrics, which are also flammable. Do those who sew as a hobby and keep quantities of fabrics around eventually get called a "hoarder" too?<br /><br />Do we just need to live in apartments with no upholstery, no rugs or carpets, no curtains, no pillows, no mattresses, sheets, towels, etc? Everything must be rated fire-proof? Because by your definition, almost everyone living indoors is a danger to everyone else.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-67498836534342869612017-07-18T18:51:54.851-04:002017-07-18T18:51:54.851-04:00There is a real selfishness at play when this man ...There is a real selfishness at play when this man could let a cat die under his bed. It is animal abuse, and it is not acceptable. The man who tossed a dog from a car in Montclair the other day is being called a monster, and people are brushing this hoarder's actions under the carpet. It's not okay. I agree he is a sick person, and he shouldn't get away with killing this cat.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-7096626625650481522017-07-18T18:26:08.983-04:002017-07-18T18:26:08.983-04:00Thank you for this letter.
Thank you for this letter.<br />takicathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03459242431705532196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-60524401370484490402017-07-18T17:05:12.585-04:002017-07-18T17:05:12.585-04:00It is a lovely, thoughtful letter, but I am not so...It is a lovely, thoughtful letter, but I am not so sympathetic. I'm with the other commenter who mentioned the cat. That broke my heart, imagining the suffering it must have experienced before it finally died alone in a sea of cockroaches under the bed of some self-involved nutbag who couldn't be bothered to take care of it. This person had somewhat of a choice to live in filth and torture his neighbors with it. The cat did not. And since that super was stuck cleaning up that mess at risk to his own health, he has every right to document and post his process. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-70169784625072138612017-07-18T15:20:32.004-04:002017-07-18T15:20:32.004-04:00Excellent letter.
No one is saying that the nei...Excellent letter. <br /><br />No one is saying that the neighbors didn't suffer (obviously, the letter-writer did!) or that action didn't need to be taken (as many people in the situation were trying to arrange). Just that the person was clearly a very ill fellow-human, and doesn't deserve to be mocked or gawked at. Obviously, a very frustrating and difficult situation for all involved, but no one has to forfeit their humanity here.Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-58870991530455602482017-07-18T15:19:54.928-04:002017-07-18T15:19:54.928-04:00Thank you for writing this letter, and thank you G...Thank you for writing this letter, and thank you Grieve for publishing it. I'm so glad to know that this sort of clear-eyed compassion is out there. We need more humans like you in this world. Isoldehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16173911176561685595noreply@blogger.com