A reader shared this Urban Etiquette Sign from a building on East Third Street.
The top part is direct enough: "Get your fucking drugs out of the building. We're calling the cops."
OK!
And the handwritten part, presumably from the accused, reads:
"To the idiot/s that left this under my door let this be the last thing I receive from your dumbass/es!
At the very least leave your Name + # so I can help you get to the bottom of your accusations. Otherwise, I implore you to call the police!"
Updated 9/16 ... added this link...
Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader mailbag: What do I do about my new neighbors who smoke pot all the time? (66 comments)
47 comments:
Probably loud fratstitute type assholes with "lets spend the whole weekend drunk" parties...
Used to have a nabe above me who smoked her pot right by the window with the smoke wafting into mine, scared the shit out of her when my head popped up the ladder and asked her to stop it and she never did.
Eventually there will be more info.
Marijuana is hardly a drug. New yorkers complaining aboutvpot smoking ?
Man this city really has become a defanged suburb
Smoke of any kind is an issue for people with breathing issues, and anything that alters your mind is a drug even booze.
No reason I need to close my windows because of others assholish/insensitive behavior.
ShutUpHooker - Glad you feel that way. So you agree all the restaurants that make noise should close.
There was a great This American Life segment about an East Village apartment in which a lady in the building just assumed, without justification, that her new neighbor (the storyteller, at the time a young college kid), were drug users and drug dealers. And harassed them to leave the building. I wonder if it's the same building and the same lady!
Call me crazy, are people coming to NY for the fresh air these days? One of my neighbors complains about noise. No idea. Anyway, "wrong neighbor blaming" with notes is a rage inducing epidemic. Anyone who leaves a rude unsigned note can go to hell. Least favorite kind of person.
Well NyGump, I live on St Marks Place so I know all about noise, glad to say my landlord made sure the restaurant on the ground floor of my building has everything go up ducts to the top of the building; also glad I live in the rear of the building helps... and there is a huge difference between the smell of food and pot [never cared for it and find the smell of it nauseating; same as cigar smoke]
Anonymous 9:21 quoth:
There was a great This American Life segment about an East Village apartment in which a lady in the building just assumed, without justification, that her new neighbor (the storyteller, at the time a young college kid), were drug users and drug dealers. And harassed them to leave the building. I wonder if it's the same building and the same lady!
Nope: same shit, different day.
It sucks to be falsely accused and the storyteller has ever right to be pissed off. As for the other comments about "this is not the suburbs..." People are not crammed together in tenement buildings in the burbs. Anything that leaves your apartment, smoke, noise, vomit, trash and bothers your neighbors should be kept in check. If you want to do anything you please at anytime without regards to your neighbors I suggest Montana or live with a survivalist group in Idaho where nobody (in theory) you will not have to follow someone else's rules. Alternatively if you want to live in a vital neighborhood with a lot of intelligent, artistic and progressive people learn to play nice with others and reap the benefits of civilization.
The overwhelming vast majority of intelligent, artisic and progressive people smoke pot.
Yeah but, those people smoke it intelligently, artistically and progressively. Not like self entitled fucking ass-wipes.
There are an awful lot of people are jumping to conclusions about the nature of this complaint as well as making assumptions over who exactly is the target of the arrogant note writer's venomous pen. What I see here is a shitty note written by a horrible neighbor, and a response that is direct, to the point and open to address the accusations. The asshole who wrote this "complaint" is more than likely a newcomer, who all of a sudden is the self appointed boss of the building, ready to police the neighbors who have been there for years with threats and nasty notes. The person who wrote the response doesn't seem like a frat boy, and has every right to be irritated. The police aint got time for this shit, especially if its some stupid complaint about pot. The fact that so many people here seem to automatically side with the accuser and condone this decidedly hostile note is not a good sign--this is not very neighborly like behavior. Since when did the E. Village get so tight assed?
@ShutUpHooker
As someone who smokes the herb and blows it out of my window, what do you suggest as an alternative? If I exhale within my apartment, not only does my apartment reek, but the rest of the building will smell as well. What would you recommend as the least disruptive for exhaling smoke?
Not saying this is the issue and apologies to those with extremely sensitive/allergic mucous membranes but pot smoke is not nearly as insidious and pervasive and binding as cig smoke, you know it and I know it. It hardly leaves a trace. And pot smokers tend to take but a couple puffs at a time. Smoke a single tobacco cig in your apartment and it could take years before the odor's fully gone.
Let's see, as someone who is not artistic, very definitely not " progressive " as that term is used, and only arguably intelligent, I have found ways to absorb and metabolize a great variety of chemistry over the last 45 years or so without stinking out my neighbors. Similarly I have listened to a variety of music without annoying or waking my neighbors. I have danced without stomping on a roof at 3am.
What is my secret?
Have some damned consideration for your neighbors if you want to get along in a densely populated place like NYC.
Sorry if this news is distressing to you artistic progressive types.
Really - if this is about pot smoking I would be surprised. Every stoner I know is quiet, mellow and generally easy to get along with. yes, sometimes the smell can be a bit strong, but I will take it over frat boys shouting as they chug beers, or sorority girls woo-wooing and clomping around in their high heals to bad music. I also concur on the note issue, just go knock on the door and politely ask them to do something to mitigate the smell if it is indeed weed. But that would be impossible for the socially inept, self-absorbed nitwits who live in the hood now.
Agree with everyone saying that complaining about weed in NYC is insane. Move to ... I dunno ... Salt Lake City? It's going to be hard to avoid weed anywhere. How about move to a nice cedar basement level cedar studio in Greenwood Cemetery?
My neighbors below me smoke pot. As someone who used to smoke, but no longer partakes in the herb, occasionally I'll think to myself "wow--it smells like a skunk" and then I remember, "no it's just good weed" as it wafts through my window. I like my neighbors. They are nice, considerate and they have no other questionable issues, they collect my mail when I leave town, and they are generally respectful, polite and creative. The pot smoke doesn't make them "druggies" and I'd hate to see them get arrested. Sometimes you just gotta get over yourself. If you can recall the days when you had to step over junkies, and crack pipes, when there were lines outside of certain neighborhood bodegas selling every type of drug you could imagine and your neighbors used to beat the shit out of each other at two in the morning while strangers ran up and down the stairwells 24/7--then the smell of pot is not going to get your panties all up in a tangle.
I second that we don't know if it's about weed. I've lived in buildings with drug dealers and it's the ones that sell harder stuff like heroin or meth or (in the good old days) crack) that bring in the unsavory types; the ones who break into apartments, trash stuff, and cause a general ruckus.
Maybe they're accusing drug guy of being a meth head. That is some scary shit.
First of all, lets break it down by class, could we? The underlying anger of the "dumb-ass" is likely based on the fact that they live in their apartment as their real home. This seems preposterous to tenants who do not think of some $50,00.00 a year rental in a walk-up with a roof play pen could ever be taken seriously as their "home".
All of the conjecture about which drug the "dumb-ass" is calling out is useless.
If you want to call the police, go ahead and call them. Likely they will not come at all. But, you will have a record and keep on doing it.
As far as this being a contest as to who is the better educated, that is too stupid to flesh out. We are all people, not value measured by degrees. If that was the case then I would be some high rolling, arty, brilliant human. HA! Silly assessment.
Treat people like they were worth something and take it from there.
Can we all agree that the “move to” line must die ASAP? Because for 90% of the time, it is said by some recent transplant who does not want really want to become a New Yorker. Again, you don't have to be born here to be one. No more "Little Madisons”, “Little Chapel Hills”, etc. , please.
I'm not saying for certain this works, but I have it on good authority that blowing your pot smoke into a recycled paper towel tube, covered on the opposite end with a fragranced dryer sheet, can even contain the smell of skunk weed. So says Martha, you know, when she's hanging with Ice T making dat pot butter for BROWNIES. Will all those seeking pure air and Cronuts just make a grand exit already?
wouldn't vaping solve the problem of the awful smell of weed?
Let's leave aside what particular drug is being called out in this note. The thing that stands out is rudeness, plain and simple. And it seems to me that both parties are equally at fault. Yes, the original writer was rude, but the respondent did him/herself no favors by responding in kind. The death of courtesy and respect in the East Village.
And if we are discussing the drug in question, why does everyone assume it's weed? I can see a tenant being quite upset, feeling unsafe and needing to call the cops if there's a meth lab or shooting gallery next door. (Again, I'm not excusing the tactics the writer employed.) Back in the 80s in my building, my upstairs neighbor was behind on rent and was letting junkies pay him to come inside to shoot up. That came to a blistering (literally) halt when a junkie nodded off with a lit candle and started a fire. There are safety issues here, people.
"The overwhelming vast majority of intelligent, artisic and progressive people smoke pot."
Yes but all that fades over the years of smoking.
Oh please..
Do you support the nypd arresting people for weed? Seems odd to have so many anti weed people in the ev. While many places move toward legalization nyc is the leading arrester of pot smokers. Guess you approve of that. How suburban of you. Is the 4am last call going to be attacked next?
4:24
Someone falsely accusing you of something and/or threatening to call the police deserves courtesy? What LES did you grow up in?
Maybe the person who received the note is similar to my 20 something neighbors that come home at 4 from the bar and hang out with friends until 6 or 7 am. I highly doubt a pothead would be "hanging" out until daybreak. Then again unless they are having a stream of guests that look like "the guy" I don't know how the neighbor would even know if this person was on the harder stuff.
I just want to say, that for all we know, the drugs being referenced in the note may well be something other than pot. Maybe the note is the result of constantly finding syringes or little drug baggies all over the apartment hallways (I've never seen this, but I'm trying to think of ways that drugs other than pot might be a neighborly nuisance). Maybe there are smashed liquor bottles or crushed up beer cans all over the place. Or maybe there are extreme noises and odors coming out of that apartment at all hours, falsely being attributed to drug use?
Regarding the question of how do you smoke pot in your apartment without "bothering" your neighbors - the best answer is to just do it outside. On a fire escape, in a backyard, etc (no one is going to arrest you, no one is going to care). If the apartment isn't privy to any of those things, then out the window or through a vape is just about the best you can do, which, as was previously mentioned, is still a lot better than smoking cigs out the window.
There are old timers that don't want to smell that shit so don't just blame the newcomers. It can be a valid complaint depending on the circumstances. It's not about if weed is cool, safe, urban vs suburban or old school vs new school its about the right to live in a moderately neutral environment or home. Leaving notes are lame and both sides of this should talk face to face instead of this passive aggressive shit.
Don't just call the cops, call the landlord. If they are smoking weed indoors and causing a nuissance their lease can be terminated, or just not renewed assuming they are market raters.
The reason they call some pot skunk weed is that it smells like skunk, an obnoxious smell that you can't un-smell. I have neignobors that used to smoke it in the stairways, until they put in spy cameras to catch them and warned everyone they would be evicted if caught.
People also have legitimate health concerns, athsma, COPD, and kids who have breathing probems. But smokers just don't get it: Most non-smokers cannot stand the smell of any smoke, whether it's cigarette, cigar, pot, or burning toast.
I like the vaporizer idea, at least that doesn't smell. I see people smoking e-cigarettes all the time and it never bothers me. The health issues are their concern..
Yesterday the news said smoking in NY is on the rise, we have 1 million smokers in the city again for the first time since 2007. It's mostly young people who didn't get the memo that smoking kills, usually slowly and painfully. Tobacco and pot is expensive, but at least the cancer is free
giovanni why would a landlord terminate the lease of a market rater based on this if a poor old person complains.. you think the landlords are going to make it comfortable for us? it is in their interest to fill all open apartments in tenements with the most obnoxious people possible..
Vaping is the solution. My neighbors bought it as an Xmas gift. Solved the smoke problem. Now its all good. No need to get angry about some weed. Reasonable adults can solve the problem. Giovanni - please don't discuss tobacco and weed as being the same. They are not.
@2:26 PM: You are probably right about that, the landlord probably wants the rent stabilized tenants out first, its just that they could get rid of a bong-head tenant by not renewing a lease if they wanted to. On the other hand, if the building was all market-raters, the landlord probably would quickly take action to keep everyone else happy and to stop them from leaving when their leases are up. Because as we all know life is all about money, screw the consequences. I think Bernie Madoff said that once.
Ridiculous. Terminating the lease of a tenant in NYC, especially one that is paying their rent more or less on time, is next to impossible and takes years and multiple court appearances, filings, etc, not to mention tangible proof of violations. The idea is of terminating someone's lease for smoking pot is beyond silly.
the red-head who thew paint around wasn't actually evicted by her landlord, no? this was a misunderstanding. I seem to recall some disputing on the comments that her eviction was misreported wrong on whatever blog.. so if they can't evict even her good luck for this in an america in 2014 with many states that have legalized weed..
A tenent right here in the neighborhood that was many months behind in rent, had physically threatened the landlord and the super and other tenants, blasted top volume radio music at every hour, left garbage bags in hallway, etc I could go on and on, had very threatening people coming and going at all hours (yes I know I must be a racist) anyway the eviction proceedings went on for 11 months and even then only ended when this guy was thrown in jail for some assault he did a few years back. Mind you the eviction was not executed but he surrendered the apartment with looking at about 2 years in jail, this was about his 5th violent offense by the way.
Evicted for pot? Yes right.
By the way I saw him again on the street less than a year after he started his "2 year" sentence, he is a "good behavor" I suppose! He looked even bigger and more dangerous than when he went in.
We have has at least 2 tenants evicted for smoking pot, in one case it was so bad the tenants all got a petition together and the management company evicted the tenant for creating a nuissance, in another case they took them to court and were able to get them out. Other tenants have also been warned not to smoke in their aprtments, and they stopped. If its in the lease that you cannot create a nuissance then yes the landlord can evict.
7:28,
I will not comment on the spelling, perhaps English is not your native language.
The stories you report, however, are not reasonably possible in the NYC housing court. Been there, done it.
Whatever your native language.
Re evictions, it is in my lease that we will be evicted for weed or any other drug, and much as I don't like it I know that since it's illegal there is probably some legal basis for it. But it is also in our lease that we will be evicted if any musical instrument is played live in the apartment--guitar, keyboard, whatever. That seems less enforceable.
Sorry Moe, I don't know what you're smoking but it all depends on the lease. To prohibit smoking in a rental unit or house, a landlord must state this prohibition in the lease. If the issue of smoking is not addressed in the lease, the landlord cannot prohibit smoking until the lease is up and a new lease (which specifically forbids smoking) is created.
Such restrictive leases often prohibit smoking on private terraces and balconies, where smoke can waft from one unit to the next.
It is relatively easy for landlords to restrict smoking in common areas, such as lobbies, hallways, parking lots, laundry rooms and around swimming pools. They must provide reasonable notice to tenants of the no-smoking policy (usually 30 days); describe what areas are to be non-smoking; and post signs in those areas. The landlord may also designate specific areas where smoking is allowed.
First, the comments have completely lost track of the post.
Second, the cops will not come to your house because a neighbor says you have drugs, they need probable cause and much more proof than a phone call. They need to build a case with 3 buys by an undercover cop. Imagine how little they will do because some random person says you aren't dealing, but using. I do know from personal experience living next to a drug dealer for many years that resulted in shootings and robberies in our building, and speaking to detectives about what could be done.
Third, anybody who lives in an apartment for any amount of time, or weren't raised by assholes, would know that to coexist peacefully you must compromise on things that bother your neighbors, be it smoke, noise, or my 7 year old self playing jacks on the floor making the guy downstairs, who I never saw with my own eyes, crazy, causing him to bang on his ceiling with a broom handle until I understood what it all meant (ie my mother finally came in the bedroom to see what all the noise was about).
There are many avenues for a tenant to be evicted for creating a nuisance, and once they drag you into housing court you go on the tenant blacklist whether they win or not. That's not something any tenant who wishes to ever rent again in NYC should risk.
If you are in a co-op the board can revoke your occupancy agreement and kick you out. If you are in a rental the landlord can evict you for breaking your lease agreement even for smoking cigarettes if that is in your lease. Any illegal activity can get you evicted under most lease agreements.
Unless by "fucking drugs" they are referring to Viagra, the tenant causing the nuisance can be dealt with by the landlord. A simple letter from their attorney might do the trick.
Its not worth the money or hassle to live here anymore.
No one here knows just what this is about. But so many strong opinions anyway.
Snitch ass newbies
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