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Hello,
i am new to this forum and i need help. i am currently renting an apartment in nyc. i have being living here for 10 yrs. i paid my rent, i don't owe anything. the problem is that since i have lived here, i have had 7 consecutive yrs of respiratory infection secondary to second hand smoking. last episode was last yr. i am the only person in my building who does not smoke. i smell all kinds of fumes entering into my apartment day and night, including marrijuna and cigarette esp from the person who lives across from me.the hallway sign says no smoke, but one always smells cigarette as people are passing by with lit cigarette. I have asked the management to transfer me as i am currently expecting and knowing the danger associated with second hand smoke, it is not safe to bring a new born to this place. i have asked the management to transfer me to another building but they refused citing that my lease is still active and that since they deals with different land lords, they cannot move me from one building to another. i have also asked them as a last result to change my front door which has big gaps between the door pole allowing air to seep in easily, but again they refused. i have checked on online to see if i can find info about my tenant rights under nystate law, but no success. i have tried to reach some attorneys found in nystate court website and even legal aide society but no one has returned my calls for about a month now. i would like to know if there is any attorney who can give me some feed back as to what i can do to challenge this people who seem to care more about their rent than the health of a newborn.any legal suggestion or anyone specifically that i can contact to learn more about my rights,will greatly be appreciated. i am currently looking for another place, at the same time, i don't want the landlord to take me to court for breaking the lease. please help i need suggestions. thank you,
baby2014
If you want to be smoke free then move to California where laws are much stricter. We all love your baby but the world doesn't revolve around it. Maybe NYC is NOT the place to raise your baby ? Actually I think it is cruel that you are raising it in this god awful city.
Smoking in the hallway is just plain wrong...AGREED but what people do in their $3000+ a month apartments are their business and you have NO right to tell them otherwise. You probably breath more toxic fumes walking the streets of NYC !
Seriously there are plenty of places where the anti smoking nazis can hibernate. Your baby will not suffer in your apartment...I was raised during the 70's and guess what ? I am still alive today....smoking in airplanes movies my home cars etc. People are neurotic these days about EVERYTHING.
Good Luck to you. I hope you find a new place which is more appealing to you....CALIFORNIA is where you want to be !
I hate smoke as much as the next person, but I also do not believe in second hand smoke. Both my parents smoked, and if me and my sister have not died from it yet, we never will.
So while I agree it is a horrible smell, you cannot tell other people what to do in their apartment.
If it is that bad and you really can't stand it, the solution is simple, save up and move.
thank you for your post. I am not neurotic.second hand smoke goes beyond the smell, it's the health consequences that is of great concerned, not the smell.go online and search for effect of secondhand smoke in general and i bet you'll find some stuff you did not know before about second hand smoke. for CNYC, just because someone is paying $3000 does not justify him/her to disrupt others safety/ peace of mind with their smoking. the NYstate law says that everyone should enjoy their environment (log in to NYState health / second hand smoke and you will find out).if you are saying that the person has a right to smoke so do others have a right to enjoy their apartment without nuisance. do I not have a right to enjoy apartment? after all, we all pay rent, right?
You could try the hotline at Met Council on Housing. But there's probably very little they can do, especially since you continued to live there through 7 years of being ill from the second hand smoke. They may wonder why you didn't leave earlier. Didn't you have the opportunity every year to not renew the lease?
When they talk about the effect of second-hand smoke on children, they mean babies breathing in the air that their own families create by smoking inside the apartment. And it is bad - causing asthma and many other problems for small children. Yes, all that's online. It's great that you will keep a smoke-free apartment for yourself and newborn.
But keep it real. If your current hallways smell smokey, and even if that's seeping inside for you to detect, that much is not likely to harm your baby if you move out within the first year. You won't spend much time in a lobby or hallway with the newborn. So don't mix up your allergy to smoke with fears for your baby.
You don't want to get sued for stopping your lease before it ends, or lose the money. Keep your life orderly with a new baby coming. The wise thing is find a new apartment to begin as soon as your lease runs out.
As you look for places, tell people you're "very allergic" to smoke (not just that you don't like it) so need to know serious answers. Is it a smoke-free building in everyone's lease? Ask other tenants whether their "no smoking" building policy is taken seriously. For example, what happens when visitors walk through the hallways with lit cigarettes -- anything? nothing?
If you see a few smokers right outside the building, that's a good sign; it means they aren't smoking inside around their own children.
If you try to break a lease over second-hand smoke from other apartments for a newborn, it doesn't really sound convincing as a legal out. But it IS the right way to go for your baby's health and yours. Just WAIT a bit, letting this lease expire by itself. You don't want to add commotion, stress and financial hits into your life as a new mother. If you get out before your baby's first birthday, you're doing fine~!
Last edited by BrightRabbit; 09-01-2014 at 04:30 PM..
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