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I'm amazed your family has lived on that street for 30 years and you have no idea who the enemies are.
In the boros its more common not to know most of the neighbors on a block. We tried numerous years ago with block parties and still didnt know most of the neighbors.
I would not react to the complaints other than to tell the complainers (with a smile on my face) that the noise and disruption is temporary and apologize for it being a disruption in their lives. Assure them that all work being done is legal and permitted and leave it at that.
People like your neighbors are looking for drama and conflict - don't give it to them by reacting (over-reacting) negatively to their complaints. You are feeding into their need for negativity.
Ever state and city has an open records law which requires building inspectors and police and zoning people, everyone, to provide copies or inspection (usually free of charge) of every written document they receive ro notation of verbal communications they receive.
All it usually takes is a short letter request, mentioning a date limit (last two years, etc.) and an address. Find out for sure who is complaining. Facts are your friends.
This made my day! Thank you! The thing is that there is an open record online of the complaints made about each building but doesn't say who complains.I guess to ensure the safety so we don't go after them or anything.
i'm planning to take action to this and sue for defamation and anything else we can add to it. I personally think someone has a personal vendetta against us. I usually don't like to make a big deal out of things but it's disheartening to see how much distress it has caused my family. Hasn't even been a year and there have been 3 complaints already..it's ridiculous how bored people are.
FOREVER, I have a better idea. When you find out who complained, by writing a letter to the record place, instead of suing people and all that stuff, be the BIG GUY in this. It's gotta be someone who is far enough away from your existing family home two doors down from the worked-on home in order for them to not know you. Anyhow, when you are FOR SURE done with everything to do with that house and you've spent a few nights there, THIS is what you should do.
Once you find out who the person might be, then pick three people, with THE BAD GUY as number two on the list, and buy three small but sweetly decorated cakes from the bakery and three vases of some flowers from a florist, and visit all three new neighbors, bring someone in family with you to hold the stuff, and explain to the neighbors (THE most important info) that your family has lived down the street for 30 years and you are so happy to have gotten this house so you can remain in the area, and point to it, but that the contractor company you hired to do interior updates took rather longer than you thought, and so you wanted to give your new neighbor these small tokens of peace because you are so happy it's over, and you appreciate so much their patience while all that craziness was going on, and you welcome them to contact you if there is ever anything at all you can do for them, and give them a card with your name, address, and phone number on there. Tell them you intend to visit a couple other neighbors the same way, that your family has lived in the area for so long (good to repeat this), that it just seemed a neighborly thing to do!
Then let all the anger and upset stuff go. It's over. And you will have officially made up for what the bad guy was upset about, and by everyone being told you're seeing three neighbors equally, the bad guy will not realize his cover has been blown. Plus you will have impressed the heck out of your other two regular neighbors. AND if you DON'T find out who the errant neighbor was, by picking your three closest neighbors, then odds are the bad guy will be in there, and if not, then the three will be so pleased with your manners and so relieved you are an old neighbor, that they will always at least be polite to you. And if perhaps you missed the bad guy, he will fade into the background, he got it out of his system, and so did you, only in a much more straightforward and pleasant way! KEEP US POSTED. We want to hear more about the BLOCK WAR!!! Smile. GG
Let me tell you about Queens and Brooklyn. The houses are very close to each other. They are usually seperated by a shared driveway (or less than 10'). Neighbors will complain about the most stupidest items. I had neighbors complain that the bumper of my car hung two inches into their driveway (on street parking), I had neighbors complain that my dog was barking inside my home at 11am and I have a barkless breed,I had neighbors leave me notes on how to properly leave out my garbage for pickup day. I can go on. These people treat complaining as an art. I'm so happy now that my nearest neighbor is nearly 400 ft away from my house.
Just to show a different perspective - having ongoing noise for what you say is almost a year now can be grating on even the nicest of neighbors. I started staying home with my infant son in 2010, and only then did I notice a neighbor would keep his large dog outside all day long while he went to work. I kid you not, the dog barked all day long. After a week, I mentioned it to another neighbor of mine who knows the man well, he spoke to the guy, and the situation has improved.
I couldn't imagine having to stay at home with a baby and listen to ongoing construction, all day and even into the evening, for almost an entire year. I hear you, we bought a foreclosure and pretty much gutted the entire bottom floor, rebuilt the kitchen, did at least three months where we did lots of loud sawing, etc - but only on four days out of every week, and only for three months, and you can believe we always chatted with our neighbors and told them to please let us know if they were expecting company, needed a break, were having an outside party, etc - because we felt that three months was a long time to be dealing with this. We were new to the area, and didn't want to be on bad terms with neighbors we planned on living near for the years to come. Even quiet, inside work would often require us making cuts in the garage, so nothing was ever truly quiet.
Have you bothered to befriend these neighbors? Is there any reason at all that they should see you as anything but the new guy in the neighborhood who has been destroying the peace and quiet of the neighborhood for almost a year?
How about this "different perspective"? The OP is improving a property on their street. Their real estate values will go up as a result. As long as the work is within the permitted guidelines and is done during the day, these harpies should be over at the house under construction thanking the new owners for what they are doing. This situation is in no way comparable to a barking dog.
How about this "different perspective"? The OP is improving a property on their street. Their real estate values will go up as a result. As long as the work is within the permitted guidelines and is done during the day, these harpies should be over at the house under construction thanking the new owners for what they are doing. This situation is in no way comparable to a barking dog.
He mentioned doing heavy construction, which IMO, for a much longer duration, is MUCH more annoying than a barking dog.
I doubt they care much right now about property values improving - in that section, if these neighbors have been there a long time, their own houses are worth well more than what they paid regardless of what OP does to his house. It's NYC - property values in the boroughs, unless he is building on a vacant lot, won't be affected by his improvements.
I'm not saying they handled it the right way, however, an ongoing year of this might very well drive people to measures such as these.
How about this "different perspective"? The OP is improving a property on their street. Their real estate values will go up as a result. As long as the work is within the permitted guidelines and is done during the day, these harpies should be over at the house under construction thanking the new owners for what they are doing.
Not necessarily. The neighborhood is in transition. Lower income residents get pushed out as property values increase.
Where I live at ealst noise such as constrution noise is governamtn by law. Not before 8am and not after dark. That includes inside hammerig etc. Id no complain tho of course they never enforce like most laws such as this. We don't even cut grass until 8am here to be good neighbor. Know my enighbor had to work late on friday and delay the start to let him get some longer sleep in the morning.
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