NYC Tenants Sue Neighbor for Smoking (apartment, legal, noise, lawyers)

[cottonwood2420]

ksl.com - NYC Tenants Sue Neighbor for Smoking

[ESFP]

I smoke, but I'll admit it stinks. My habit has been relegated to outdoors. And, here's the kicker (don't quote me, but I heard this rumor), if a Maryland resident owns less than 2 acres, his neighbors can prevent him from smoking outdoors. Help! I'm being exiled!

[aragx6]

I pray to God that is only a rumor.

1984 here we come.

[Dave1215]

This is the real danger with a lot of the feel good legislation. Looking at a single issue the legislation makes sense and its hard for the general population to argue against; however, when you compound all of them together it is not far fetched to see the government reaching into private homes to outlaw smoking. Once that is done than its easy to go after the next thing and the next and the next.... doesn't take too long for a lot of your civil liberties to be taken away.

Can't smoke inside in public buildings, then can't do it inside in private buildings if you employ others, than you can't outside on a public sidewalk, then you can't outside in a public open area (like parks), then you can't in a private residence if it has a common wall or floor with another, then you can't in a car with a minor.... these are all real and one just lead to another... the private home if within 2 acres of another is very real situation to envision. I hate smoke, I hate being around it, but this is way beyond a safety issue and is a civil liberty issue when you add them all together.

[kjg1963]

I also smoke. Nasty habit, but I was young and dumb when I started. What is the point of all the restrictions. Geez, just get it over with and make it illegal. That's the way it feels. I'm like a herion addict hiding in the shadows to enjoy my drug of choice. Having said that, lol, I plan on quitting in the near future anyway. Might as well do it on my own then have the government decide for me.

[happycal]

My new neigbor smoke on his balcony and the stinky smell comes into my apartment. Can I do anything about it? Its bad smell, my throat is sore and I have thet smell in my throat....I always need to close doors and windows....HELPPPPPPPPPI can't live like this for the next year!Can anyone help me with advice what to do???????

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by Dave1215

This is the real danger with a lot of the feel good legislation. Looking at a single issue the legislation makes sense and its hard for the general population to argue against; however, when you compound all of them together it is not far fetched to see the government reaching into private homes to outlaw smoking. Once that is done than its easy to go after the next thing and the next and the next.... doesn't take too long for a lot of your civil liberties to be taken away.

Can't smoke inside in public buildings, then can't do it inside in private buildings if you employ others, than you can't outside on a public sidewalk, then you can't outside in a public open area (like parks), then you can't in a private residence if it has a common wall or floor with another, then you can't in a car with a minor.... these are all real and one just lead to another... the private home if within 2 acres of another is very real situation to envision. I hate smoke, I hate being around it, but this is way beyond a safety issue and is a civil liberty issue when you add them all together.

Exactly. And a lot of folks forget that what goes around, comes around, and when it's their civil liberties that are being removed, they'll have lost the right to object in any way, shape or form because they trampled on those of others. (Don't smoke, but really HATE the violation of civil liberties that some indulge themselves in in order to feel superior to someone else. Or the ignoring of those same violations of civil liberties because it's not their ox that's being gored - yet.)

[bentlebee]

The library has a rule "not to smoke within 15 feet of the doors"...Great and I would hope it would be a standard law!

[mishigas73]

Honestly....as long as there are lawyers that will take these cases, there will be this issue. (And, yes, I AM a lawyer.)

I'm a smoker who lives in an area where there is that "20 foot rule" (or 25 foot rule, I forget)...bottom line is that I'm still waiting for the cop to come with his or her tape measure.

But, with that being said, if someone complains about me smoking in my apartment, can I then turn around and complain about the guy below me who uses WAY too much charcoal fluid on his barbeque, so much that I can smell it throughout my place?

Or, what about those intolerable children who insist upon riding their bikes and scooters around the complex, cussing at every turn?

Let me just find a lawyer who will take the case....

Silliness. Pure and simple.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by mishigas73

Honestly....as long as there are lawyers that will take these cases, there will be this issue. (And, yes, I AM a lawyer.)

I'm a smoker who lives in an area where there is that "20 foot rule" (or 25 foot rule, I forget)...bottom line is that I'm still waiting for the cop to come with his or her tape measure.

But, with that being said, if someone complains about me smoking in my apartment, can I then turn around and complain about the guy below me who uses WAY too much charcoal fluid on his barbeque, so much that I can smell it throughout my place?

Or, what about those intolerable children who insist upon riding their bikes and scooters around the complex, cussing at every turn?

Let me just find a lawyer who will take the case....

Silliness. Pure and simple.

Yep, I agree. And, sad to say, there's always some lawyer willing to take the case on the chance (again, sad to say, too good) that the insurance company will settle rather than fight the case. (I say this as a former legal assistant who watched folks "attorney shop", sometimes going through four or five or six before they found one who would tell them what they wanted to hear.)

Your point is excellent. If someone can sue a smoker for smoking in their own apartment, then why can't you sue someone who makes another odor that you don't like, or someone whose children disturb your peaceful occupation of your own apartment with their noise?

The answer is, as we eliminate the pool of unprotected classes against which we can discriminate, some folks (way too many) have to keep coming up with new ones so that they can feel superior.