smoked out

annarebeck

So whenever I have the windows open in my rented top-floor apartment, I get horrible, choking fuel-exhaust fumes from the chimney of the building next door (311 Lincoln is where I think they're coming from) blowing in. It's really bumming me out. My questions are: Anyone else noticing these particular fumes? Anyone dealt with something like this in the past and know if I have any recourse?

bkchickie

This is a 311 call, if not a call to your local fire dept. Those fumes might be from the building's boiler and they might contain CO. CO itself is colorless and odorless, but it's often present in furnace/boiler/heating system exhaust.

opossumqueen

^^
I second what BKC said.

anonymous

Subject: Call 311

Make sure that you are patient when calling 311. They are usually polite and really want to help but may not know things right off the bat. I make sure I am ready to call and wait because when I have been patient they have given me good advice or help. Case in point...the house next to me was demolishing walls, etc. etc., and not one permit. Debris was falling out of the window. Got help from 311, more than I thought. Be ready to give your name. It is wort it. See if you can ask neighbors to call also. Good luck. You are helping your health, your neighbors, the air quality and one more illegal event that some...building owners get away with.

annarebeck

Thanks, everybody. I did call 311, and I opened a request with the Department of Environmental Protection, so hopefully I'll be hearing from them soon.

rockhound

I smelled this stink too this week - so 311 is the culprit? It was pretty foul. I'll call 311 as well. Don't want my birds dropping off their perches.

rockhound

I wonder if this is the issue with 359 St Johns Place rearing its ugly smoke again.

http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=500023&sid=710054451af504122a5daa237cd667cc

I believe the 311 boiler is brand new. If there is a north wind you will get the nasty smoke on the top floors because 359 is just north of us on St Johns.

kellyjelly

Is anyone still smelling this? We have been inundated for a while now. It went away the past month, but we'd smelled the exhaust for a few months by then, mentioned to my landlord who said "I'll check it out..." The smell went away THAT DAY and now it is back, a month later. I know our boiler (292 Lincoln) is about 16 feed wide by 8 feet tall... older than any boiler I've ever seen in any historic building. It works sporadically, and all residents have had many complaints over the 17 years I've lived here (as in, it keeps going down so we are without heat and hot water). But for some reason, it is still being used. We are on the second floor, and have gotten slight confirmation from two apts on the 4th floor that they smell it, too. We were the only ones in the building, though, with all windows open through the summer (everyone else had AC).

What was the response from the EPA? Anything? We're calling 311 tonight, the first of what I expect to be many many times.

Any news is appreciated.