I don't know what to do with my asshole neighbor

[La Lioness Priyanka]

He plays the saxophone in his apartment without muting it for 3 hours a day.

So for three hours, I can't be in my apartment.

I've called 311, the local police depart, written to my landlord and to my neighbor and no one has done anything. Not sure what to do next.

[backwoodsbob]

1. shoot him

[Kali]

2. we could start the asshole neighbor club

'cause I have a set of them too. :rofl: They don't play sax, but they sure do play games.

I don't know what to tell you, if it is during the day and limited to 3 hours on a regular schedule, all I can think is how much worse it COULD be. Maybe try to view it as being one of the charms of living in NYC? That is about all I can come up with. sorry :hug:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Take bagpipe lessons?

We once had neighbors downstairs from us who were incredibly noisy - they played very loud music all hours of the day and night. No amount of pleading or threatening affected them; they basically told us to go fuck ourselves; it was their music and their apartment and they were going to do whatever they damn pleased. And whenever we called the cops they'd stop, then start up later.

So one night we had a noise party.

We invited friends over and asked them to bring the noisiest instruments and/or devices they owned. Among other things there was a chainsaw, a bagpipe, a trombone, a vacuum cleaner, pots and pans to bang, opera on the stereo (all the way to eleven), and a bowling ball rolling down the hall -- all at once.

We never had much trouble with noise after that.

[Deep13]

5. She may have to resort to that. nt

[Demoiselle]

14. I like this idea.

Maybe the same effect could be achieved with a stereo turned up very loud with bagpipe music, etc Timed, of course, to start the moment he stops his saxophone practice.

[RedCloud]

43. Record him and play it back when you leave and he's at home!

[Demoiselle]

47. Yes! Brilliant!!!! (nt)

[KurtNYC]

45. I have a store below me that plays "Look of Love" "The Girl from Ipanema"

and "Besame Mucho" over and over. Music was on a timer -- daily from 11am to 6pm.

Their speakers are right below my bedroom. Asked, pleaded, etc. Basically said "it is not that loud" "you make noise too" and in so many words GFY. After 12 months, I got a sub-woofer. Put it in the middle of the floor and turned it on whenever they turned theirs on. What seemed to bug them the most was Enya -- not the rediculous bass from 1980s pop music, not Hip Hop and Rap, but Enya's smooth pipe organ, layered music. They keep it low now.

Seems juvenile perhaps but I had no leverage until I made noise too.

[geardaddy]

68. I live in a condo and play the bagpipes

I won't practice at home, because I have neighbors who freak out over us walking across the floor.

[Deep13]

4. Is there a way to pay your rent into escrow...

...until the landlord does something about it? I know in OH there is a procedure for doing that if the apt. has become uninhabitable for whatever reason.

You could also simply file a criminal complaint for disturbing the peace.

This is just friendly advice. I don't have a license to practice law in NY and anyway, you are not my client. I had a neighbor like that (it was concert hall-size stereo system) when I was studying for the bar exam. It was so loud, I could not be sure it was coming from next door or even from the same floor since in the common hallway it sounded like it was coming from everywhere.

The best thing would be to figure out a way for him to play the sax when you are away doing something else. Maybe now that the weather is nice, he can do it outside or on the roof. Of course all this assumes some degree of reasonableness on his part.

Is there anything you can hold over his head? People who are assholes to that degree usually ignore people's rights in all areas of their lives.

[Iggo]

6. That's weird. My neighbors LOVE it when I play my guitar for hours on end.

Don't they?

[seabeyond]

10. ah hahaha. lol . ya. right. they get free entertainment, right? nt

[Iggo]

12. Exactly.

And they probably appreciate how I play the same four bar section over and over and over until I get it juuuuust right!

[seabeyond]

17. so.... lol. ah ha. nt

[La Lioness Priyanka]

55. Lol

[Tripod]

56. Have sex.

Such as my neighbors did this last hour. Banging the wall for a very long time. Fuck them. I guess not,,,, they fucked each other.

[JVS]

7. Buy earplugs and be happy that he isn't playing at night.

[otohara]

8. Any One Else Complaining?

I'd gather any other neighbors who aren't happy either and write a letter to the building owner or managers, have all sign.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

28. i am thinking about this.

[Deep13]

37. +1

[ChoralScholar]

9. First of all

A little punctuation would really change the meaning of your subject line:

"I don't know what to do with my asshole, neighbor!"

As much as I try to avoid confrontation - have you tried talking to him face-to-face? Just be honest without being angry. "Hey - I don't know if you realize how loud it is in other people's apartments. I have to leave to get away from it."

[La Lioness Priyanka]

31. yes, also written him a letter and written the landlord a letter

[Rabrrrrrr]

52. Or "I don't know what to do with my asshole. Neighbor?"

:rofl:

[MilesColtrane]

11. Ask him, nicely, to practice in a closet.

I assume that what he is doing is legal since the cops haven't shut him down.

If that doesn't work, tell your landlord to soundproof the sax player's apt. or else you are out of there.

[Blue-Jay]

13. No such thing as a saxophone mute.

I guess you could stick a sock in the bell, but that would result in making the entire lower stack out of tune.

Is he a good musician at least? If so, deal with it - If not, stab him in the neck with a pencil.

[DFW]

15. Get a killer sound system.......

Put on the 1812 Overture at full blast when he starts up, with a loop to repeat it when it's done,
then see a film, and then go grocery shopping.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

30. we do a version of this now but our speakers are relatively quiet

cos we are not assholes

[Lucinda]

16. I think i'd just invest in some good headphones

Cheaper than soundproofing. But I like the sax. Is he any good?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

29. nope.he has been practicing scales for 2 months and still cant get it right

[era veteran]

57. Absolutely the worst instrument to be around

when 'the artist' is first learning.
'Switched on Bach' played on a moog synthesizer is how I used to run people out of nightclub at closing, works very well.

[hunter]

18. In Japan, land of many musicians and small apartments with thin walls...

... may be found all sorts of mutes for any sort of instrument...



http://www.morizono.co.jp/BEST%20BRASS%20e-Sax.htm

[MiddleFingerMom]

20. That invention is pretty damned IMPRESSIVE!!!!!

.
.
.
Noise laws and regs usually don't come into play until 9 or 10 PM.
.
.
.
Until those times, your neighbor probably has the RIGHT to pursue
his happiness (even at a potential cost to your own)... at least
until it interferes with "normal" sleeping hours.
.
.
.
Just be glad he's not a dedicated and constant home improvement person.
.
.
.
Headphones or counter-noise to blunt his efforts might be your
only legal option.
.
.
.

[Orrex]

36. What's that man doing to EVE?

[WinkyDink]

19. Drum. Play Sousa music. Play a tape of a barking dog.

[DBoon]

21. Play Yoko Ono really loud

point the speakers at his apartment

Maybe he will get the message

[Ikonoklast]

63. International agreements over the use of weapons of mass murder

proscribe ever using Yoko Ono recordings against living beings in 143 nations, including this one.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

22. I used to play the Scherzo from Bruckner's Fourth Symphony.

Lovely horn fanfare.

Because I had a landlady living downstairs who hassled me. The last straw was when I went out to eat, came back, and the cops were preventing me from going in my apartment. I asked them, "Do you have a forcible entry and detainer?" which they didn't. They were city cops; no jurisdiction over rental matters. They couldn't keep me out.


Other good selections: Mahler's First Symphony, Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony, the Pines of Rome by Respighi.
Saint-Saens Organ Symphony (No. 3). Hector Berlioz' Requiem.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

24. that's lovely.

:eyes:

playing your music so loudly, that you disturb people around you is nothing to really boast about

[MrsBrady]

23. is he good? n/t

[hobbit709]

25. Here's some help from Bugs Bunny

http://vodpod.com/watch/3656571-bugs-bunny-long-haired-hare

[zabet]

26. If he is really that bad....

buy a pair of expanding foam earplugs like are used in industrial and construction settings. Less than 2 bucks a pair and blocks an amazing amount of noise.

I grew up listening to my brother not only play the sax, but the clarinet, the flute, the coronet and the french horn. I actually have fond memories of listening to him play in the afternoons after school. He is a master at the french horn and played in the state symphony for several years before pursuing other interests.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

27. we can hear him over those. and over white noise.

[zabet]

34. Wow! I am sorry

it is that bad. :(

[Starbucks Anarchist]

32. Blast an air horn back at him while he's playing.

Start it off with random bursts, then try to play something like "Mary Had A Little Lamb."

When he comes by to complain, say, "This is what you sound like, dumbass."

[Amerigo Vespucci]

33. "Right to quiet enjoyment"

That's the legalese in a standard rental agreement that means you get to live there without things like 3 hours a day of loud saxophone.

Unfortunately, what I can tell you from experience is that the assholes often win for a couple of reasons.

First, the average landlord wants to collect the rent. That's about it. There are landlords who will fix things when they break and do other landlord stuff, but for the most part, they just want that monthly check.

Part of their job...by virtue of your lease...is that they are supposed to go to bat for you if another tenant violates your "right to quiet enjoyment."

Most landlords won't.

I lived in a townhouse a few years ago...a newer one, well-built, heavy floors, thick walls, the whole nine yards. The woman next door and her girlfriend liked to listen to Euro-Disco music...that real amphetamine throbbing stuff...and she had earthshaker speakers. This was a two-story townhome. They'd be in the living room on the first floor and I'd be upstairs and to the left, at the far opposite end of the home, in the bedroom I used for an office. You'd feel the boom-boom-boom-boom of the bass in your ass as you sat in the chair.

I went to evening Mass at church on the one year anniversary of my mom's death. I came home around 9 PM and there it was...throbbing, shaking the house. I went next door and rang the bell and the two of them came to the door and I didn't yell, but I was emphatic..."Leslie, please turn down the bass, you're shaking the whole house." She yelled "I'm ON IT" and slammed the door.

The next day she complained to the neighbor across from me, who was the on-site member of the homeowners association. He, in turn, complained to my landlord, who asked me to move out.

See how that works? You have rights, and if you attempt to exercise your rights with the wrong cast of characters, you get smoked.

So my advice is to do one or more of the following:

1). Move

2). Get earplugs

3). Hope the neighbor moves or loses interest in playing the sax

It's not fair...but in the world of rental housing, the bad guys win more often than the good guys. Tread lightly and good luck to you.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

39. can i sue him? or the landlord?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

40. If you have a lease...

...the landlord is obligated to uphold your right to quiet enjoyment.

If you don't pay the rent, trash the place, etc etc etc, you are in violation of the lease.

But a lease isn't a one-way street where you do everything you're supposed to and the landlord just collects the check.

If this person is disturbing you for three hours every day and you've notified the landlord and they haven't done anything, the landlord is in violation of your lease, and you can consult with an attorney and seek damages in court.

The relationship is between you and the landlord...you don;t have a relationship with the other renter. That's how the court would view it.

You can use Google to find free or low-cost landlord/tenant legal & mediation services in your area. My suggestion would be to have an initial conversation with one of these services, and they will inform you of your legal rights. You can specifically say that the other tenant is violating your "right to quiet enjoyment."

They will most likely offer suggestions for approaching the landlord in a way that will result in cooperation and avoid a legal battle. No one wants to get involved in landlord / tenant legal battles...it is always viewed as the last resort. But you do have rights, and if you take the alternative paths to seek resolution (make sure you document times, dates, everything) then going to court is most certainly your right.

[RadiationTherapy]

35. You need this video and a loud stereo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaoLU6zKaws

[LynneSin]

38. I would have 3 hours of loud sex every night. He'll get the hint

Nothing is more annoying than listening to your neighbors have loud sex.

[AngryOldDem]

41. This may not work, but...

...it seems to me that your landlord should be taking some definitive action about this situation. You have the right to peace in your apartment, and this doesn't sound like the usual "neighbor noise" that you have to put up with as an apartment dweller.

Several years ago I lived in a place that had only two temperatures of water. Cold and scalding. I complained endlessly to the apartment manager to no effect. Finally, I consulted with an attorney who said I could put my rent into escrow until the issue was solved. I informed the manager of that and they got on the problem tout suite.

This would probably be your last option, but money ALWAYS talks with these people.

Is anyone else in your building bothered by this jerk? If so, strength in numbers.

[Xithras]

42. I had to deal with this once, and I concur with the loud stereo idea.

My neighbor was big time into hip-hop and would play his stereo with the bass cranked for HOURS. I asked him to turn it down several times and he refused. He told me that it was his apartment, and that he'd listen to whatever he wanted.

I resolved it by finding the local public radio station, which played jazz, classical, and bluegrass (depending on the day and time). Whenever I left the house, I'd crank it WAY up and let it run while I was gone. Home stereos generally don't burn that much power.

I came home one day, after spending most of the day at a family BBQ, and was confronted by my neighbor. It was apparently bluegrass day, he'd had ladyguests in his house, and he WASN'T pleased. I explained to him that I always leave the radio on "to scare off burglars", and he went on a rant about the "horrible shit" I was playing and that it wasn't really even music. I replied, "Sorry you feel that way, but it's my apartment, and I'll listed to whatever I want to. I don't mean to be inconsiderate, but that seems to be the new norm around here."

Landlord called me up the next day. The neighbor had called him, and promised to keep his radio turned down, if I'd turn mine off.

Never had a problem with the guy again :)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

44. i want to do this as a last resort, cos i dont want to annoy the neighbors next to me

or below me either

but that is a good story

[KurtNYC]

46. hopefully it is not the guy who plays on the 7th ave platform for the L train

fast solo sax avant garde jazz at top volume. Absolutely painful.

Had a similar situation here. They are below so I could use a subwoofer on them with very little volume up here. They gave up after 3 weeks. But if he is next door a sub-woofer won't work. In my experience these types don't care until it affects them. You need some type of leverage on him since nice didn't work.

Did 311 offer any ideas? Can you send him certified mail, just stating the problem and be specific that this is displacing you. Keep records of when and how long he displaces you. Then file in small claims for damages -- any expenses related to not being able to use your own apartment during his sessions. If that fails, sue him and your landlord for moving expenses and broker fees.

[RT Atlanta]

48. "Quiet enjoyment"

If the LL cannot ensure your quiet enjoyment of your premises, without unreasonable interference from other tenants, it may very well be breaching local law (of quiet enjoyment) and you may be able to terminate and walk away. You should review your lease for a quiet enjoyment provision and presuming it has one, specifically refer to it in your next written correspondence with the LL.

[Orrex]

49. Unihibited sax must be met by extreme violins

[struggle4progress]

50. You need to start "The Big Amps All-Girl Electric Punk Rocker Band" -- which practices

in your apartment whenever Mr Saxophone wants to sleep

[Old Troop]

51. Have you told him how much it bothers you?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

53. yes.

[Incitatus]

54. Make some noise of your own, when you know he is trying to rest.

[Phentex]

58. I like Amerigo's idea best but years ago, we took the childish route...

when I lived in a condo with a roommate, we had the neighbors who would blast country music late at night. It was impossible to sleep through this. We started off asking them nicely to keep it down. We pleaded for our sleep, etc. but they just seemed to laugh it off. We called the police and that helped for a day or two but you can't keep calling the police every night as they just don't care.

Finally, we resorted to the payback. I was an early riser so we got help setting up those huge speakers from the 80's against the wall and we blasted alternative music around 5:30 in the morning. They blasted at night. We blasted in the morning. Took *two* mornings before the late night music stopped.

We became sorta friendly with them after that. I think they were just clueless as to how loud they really were!

[EOTE]

59. Is he playing "Baker Street"?

Because if he is, I don't see what the problem is.

[EstimatedProphet]

60. And I don't know what to do with my neighbor's asshole!

[snooper2]

61. Play 2-Live Crew "Nasty as they wanna Be" at 5:00 A.M.

[xchrom]

62. i gotta go with talk to the other neighbors idea.

since the landlord is ignoring you -- talk to them next -- and maybe three or four of you send a note to the landlord -- and maybe there can be a concerted effort at making noise to bug the asshole neighbor.

sorry dahlink -- that's no fun.

[UTUSN]

64. Some cops don't "GET" the legal concept of "Disturbing the Peace"

What you're describing is just that, "Disturbing the Peace."

1- I don't know anything about whether rental properties have different legalities. It doesn't sound correct.

2- My situation started out sounding odd or complicated or off-the-wall, but it boiled down to just plain "Disturbing the Peace."

There were renters in a house one house away, that is, one house between the noise and mine. Here's the twist: It was a car alarm. This thing was sound activated and very sensitive, would go off with any passing truck on the street, and the city lot was at the corner of a busy street. The alarm was in an old, re-painted pick-up truck, not exactly a classic vehicle and the re-painting was short of a fancy restoration, not a museum piece, plus it barely ran and they kept it parked in their carport all the time. Motorcycles or just about any semi-loud vehicle would set off the alarm. The thing went off at ALL hours of day and night, with the owners there or not, and they never would shut it down when it started, letting it run its full course of 45 seconds or more.

I wrote a letter to the landlord and got zero response. After six months I started calling the police. I had kept an exhaustive log with the dates and times of all the soundings off all the time I was home. This was 10 or more times per day and night.

Here's what seemed to be different: The city's noise ordinances cited loud parties, loud music, loud nightclubs as examples. For one thing, the cops tended to take the examples as the ONLY violations, instead of seeing them as EXAMPLES. For another thing, the cops seem to be younger these days and tended to see me as a stereotypical old codger versus the truck's young dude owner and they identified with the young dude. In five different sets of cops responding to the complaints, they also saw the car alarm as a recommended law enforcement preventative tool. Plus, as young dudes and dudettes, the cops tend to like loud noises, loud music, and loud whatever themselves.

They were impressed with the log of the dates and times, which went on for a score or more of pages. Mostly, they were sympathetic when they talked to me first, but then they would go talk to him and he would tell them he had been robbed before and the alarm was to prevent it again, which sounded reasonable to them. Plus, he would tell them he wanted to talk to me, either with the cops present or otherwise, to work things out, and the cops were swayed by that, too. The cops would come back to tell me the dude wanted to talk. I said there was nothing to talk about, that the noise was a nuisance, that he was either going to stop it or not stop it, nothing to discuss.

Plus, after the first time, I was prepared for the been-robbed-before angle and told the cops that wherever he was robbed it wasn't in THIS neighborhood, and while it might happen anywhere, there was no excuse for their letting the alarm run its full course every single time.

Finally, I took another look at the Disturbing the Peace ordinance. NOWHERE did it say that there is a ten P.M. curfew for noise. There can be night workers who sleep during the day, so noise is noise ANYTIME. Also, it specifically said that Disturbing the Peace is defined by ANY ****ONE**** person who feels disturbed. So, you don't need numbers of other neighbors on your side. In my case, the neighbors were approached by the cops and refused to get involved because they suspected drugs were involved at the renters' place.

After all the cops refused to take action, I went to the Municipal Court's investigator, who took the complaint and ran it by the County Attorney, who agreed that this was a valid Disturbing the Peace situation and accepted taking the case for charges. I never heard back about a case actually going to court, but by this time a year's lease had gone by and the renters moved out ---- with a final going-away loud bash, I might add.

Anyway: 1- It's Disturbing the Peace, pure and simple. 2- There is no curfew for when it is or when it's not. 3- ONE complainant is all it takes, not a multitude. 4- When cops, landlords don't respond, go higher.

[miscsoc]

65. I got complaints about my guitar playing

So I stopped doing it. He might not know quite how audible he is in the adjoining apartment, even if he got your letter.

If you're reluctant to talk to a stranger yourself, you could get a confident friend or relative to go round and politely explain the problem. POLITELY, mind you. Compliment him on his playing, even;. but explain how the sound travels through the walls and that it's disturbing. If he persists or is hostile, talk to the landlord, then the police.

[Orrex]

66. Is there any way you could arrange to have someone take a dump in his saxophone?

Although it wouldn't necessary correct the problem longterm, it might afford you a few hours of silence.

[MilesColtrane]

67. Hire this guy to stand outside his door.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaoLU6zKaws