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How do you know for a fact what kind of work is taking place? Do you go look at the apartment while they're working? You assume because it's loud that they're doing demo work?
I haven't been up there personally. I'm going by what the work permits say (Demolition) and by what others in the building, who have been in the apartment, say is going on up there. The severity of the noise betrays that there's some serious sh*t going on. Which is fine!!! Hey I realize that work needs to get done and that it makes noise and that sometimes you gotta get the big-boy tools out. The problem I'm having is that they should've been able to get it done by now. It seriously sounds to me like they've been doing the same damn thing for months now. One could reasonably expect things to start out noisy and then taper off as the big stuff gets done and they work their way toward light/finishing type of things. Four months on, it still sounds like they're tossing around a wrecking ball up there.
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I wouldn't use this as part of any claim.Landlord will turn it against you and say you are not supposed to be conducting a business on the premises.
I'm a freelancer. I'm working on an opensource software project. It's about the same as a writer working on a novel. That's not really /running/ a business out of my apartment. I need some peace and quiet to flesh out my ideas just like a mom needs it quiet so her kiddo can take a nap from time to time. Eight hours a day of pounding directly overhead for months on end is just really egregious.
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Sounds to me like they are trying to drive you out anyway.
I'd follow the advice of the lawyer and ask for the 25% off. You could hire a lawyer, spend a fortune and by the time the proceedings are complete the construction is done anyway and you end up with some measly amount after legal fees. In my opinion, it doesn't sound worth it.
You're probably right. Believe me, I would rather for it all to just be done with tomorrow. It really irks me that I have to go to such lengths just to get back to some kind of normal existence.
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Is it possible for you to haul a laptop to a coffee shop or other public space and do your work there?
I suppose anything is possible, but I refuse to be driven from my home. If it were summer I'd get on my bike and go riding all day -- I'd still be pissed about it and I'd still ask for a reduction. I pay my rent for a space that's reasonably free of noise, that's not what I'm getting. What I'm getting is shattered nerves and a pissed off attitude that carries over into the rest of my life. It's like having a job that you hate going to, only they bring it to me. The weekends are bliss and then Monday rolls around... The sound of them walking around up there at 8am, getting ready for the workday, puts a pit in my stomach (Tues, Wed etc. are attended by similar dread)
If it were at night it would be downright illegal.
Well that's nice for you. This is also NEW YORK. Not everyone goes to work from 9 to 5.
There's something called the warranty of habitability. It says you're entitled to the quiet enjoyment of your living space. 6 MONTHS of overhead pounding qualifies as a habitability issue IMO. It would seem that the legislation I cited agrees.
I've seen construction crews renovate an entire house in six weeks, why it should take six months to do a one-room apartment is beyond me.
Warranty of Habitability is quite correct.
This law, in your circumstance, will allow you to break your lease and move on, w/o penalty. I suggest you save the rent withholdings and use it to move.
It is likely you can come to some agreement, where the LL will forgive a few months rent, if you agree to move.
That is the besg you can hope for! The fact is you live in a low level building, likely with a reasonable rent; yet, you appear to want *Tiffany* service. Not happening.
If it has taken them 3 solid months of 8 hour days to renovate one apartment, I'd start worrying that they were just making noise to cover up some nefarious activity, like an operation where children are ground into paste for sale on the Chinese exotic-foods market, or what have you.
I'm hearing the same thing from next door. They bought in October and they put in a hardwood floor little by little...tap tap tap bang bang bang every afternoon. They must be putting in 5 boards a day becasue it has taken months. For god's sake it's a 650 square foot apartment counting kitchen, bathroom and closets...myust be under 500 square feet of wood that a proo could do in an afternoon.
Now they are banging on the walls doing something, God knows what.
I'm easy to deal with but I sometimes want to scream: "Get ON with the fuqing thing."
Our building forbids construction after 5PM and on weekends but nobody has told this couple.
I'm reminded of the movie THE SORROW AND THE PITY when Pope Julius kept walking into the Sistine Chapel and shouted up to the ceiling for months on end: "When will it be at an end?"
And Michaelangelo shouted back "When it is FINISHED!"
If the Pope had been Jewish he'd have exclaimed a loud "OY"
I have a townhouse and the couple who bought next to me pretty much gutted their place before moving in.It was loud with the constant banging ,esp. on the common wall.One day I was getting angry,went outside for a smoke.One of the construction guys complimented my Mets hat and we talked baseball for 30 minutes.Calmed me down.Then I met the couple who were moving in.Nice people.They apologized for the noise and gave me a tour of what was done.I have to admit,it is beautiful in their place.They have been good neighbors.So,to sum up,it was noisy for a while,but it worked out in the end.
They apologized for the noise and gave me a tour of what was done.
I hope my neighbors give me the same tour. I have the mirror image apartment and am at a loss of what to do to make it nicer without spending a fortune. Mine is strictly 1975 from stem to stern except for new windows.
I thought it seemed unlikely also. But apparently they've amended the law to state that certain kinds of construction/destruction require this. I'm just not sure if there's any chance of getting it enforced.
The rules for "minimal noise impact" only allow for after-hours construction. They're allowed to be noisy during working hours (7am - 6pm weekdays). If you want peace and quiet, the city probably isn't the place for you.
I'don't think peoples realize how important the noise free environment to Human existence.I'am going through the same thing they taking apart the whole apartment above me and I' think if something like this happens the LL have to relocate you temporally into a Motel or whatever until the job is been done.but they don't wanna pay for your comfort because that is not he's priority and frankly the peoples who working don't give a dam about you're feelings so the only solution I' see if you can't control it go to the Library or to the Park and force yourself to exeptable enviroment because the only person is going to suffer is you
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