Really? Are you from NY?
So I guess I have a new downstairs neighbor. Last Saturday, he complained about my surround sound. It was late, after midnight, so I turned it down.
But last night, at 10pm my doorbell rang. No surround sound, just my TV with the volume at the mid-range.
I understand not blasting my stereo system late at night but to ring my doorbell for the TV? I'm not an old lady, but I'm not going to listen to my TV on low like I have a baby in the next room.
My previous downstairs neighbor never complained. I actually never had anyone complain to me about noise anywhere I've lived.
What are my rights? Do I have any? Because it's October 8th and he's already complained twice.
But last night, at 10pm my doorbell rang. No surround sound, just my TV with the volume at the mid-range.
I understand not blasting my stereo system late at night but to ring my doorbell for the TV? I'm not an old lady, but I'm not going to listen to my TV on low like I have a baby in the next room.
My previous downstairs neighbor never complained. I actually never had anyone complain to me about noise anywhere I've lived.
What are my rights? Do I have any? Because it's October 8th and he's already complained twice.
Comments
-
I had a downstairs neighbor once knock on the door to complain about my roommates massaging slippers!
-
the traditional new york response would be to tell him to go fuck himself.
that said, your rights and responsibilities about noise are probably enumerated in your lease. -
Do you have your TV mounted to the wall? If so, even if you don't think it's 'loud', the sound will really travel.
-
2 points: From experience, if he calls 311 the officers that respond will generally make a judgment on how loud the noise is. If it is blatantly loud they will "suggest" you turn it down. However, if they judge the noise to be normal, and that's a pretty wide range, they will admonish the complainer and tell them it is a landlord/building issue. The other point, any "hard" contact with the building will cause even low volume to travel through the building. Besides mounting on the wall, sitting on a table that sits on the wood floor or speakers sitting directly on the floor will cause a problem. You could be an asshole and do nothing on principle I guess or go over to Canal Rubber (on Canal St.) and try some AC vibration pads or maybe some other rubber pads. (if that's the problem of course). I live in a loft with terrible noise problems, you could count the fraps in the farts of the people above me. I and the upstairs neighbors conspired to complain to the LL about the noise, they complained about me as much as I complained about them. I got a new insulated dropped ceiling out of it.
-
In your position, if I felt that the volume was reasonable, I would ask the complainer to let me hear what it sounds like from their apartment upon the next complaint. Most likely, he's just being a whiner, but there's a slight possibility that the sound is being transmitted just right... anyway, if he is being too touchy, he'll probably back off when you take the initiative... that, or he'll let you in, you can hear it for yourself, and then tell him he's crazy and to go fuck himself.
Oh, also, if he just moved in, there's a chance that the place isn't very well furnished, and that his apartment is still "live" acoustically. -
I had this problem with a former upstairs neighbor (we've both since moved) who kept a radio on top of a metal filing cabinet. The filing cabinet somehow amplified the sound that was being transferred down into my ceiling. It got to the point when I could tell what track of what CD she was playing--that was too much.
I agree with WhyFi, why don't you ask to hear the sound in the neighbor's apt. It might just be a simple fix of moving your TV/stereo away from the wall or putting a small rug down to dampen the vibrations going down.
And, is it just me, or do sounds tend to travel down in buildings more easily than they travel up? -
ask if you can go down to their apartment and listen for yourself. If it's not too loud then just ignore them. some people just like to make trouble. I had a woman below me at my last apartment who came up several times. I finally told her to piss off and she never came back again
-
I would definitely offer to go down and hear how it sounds in the complainer's apartment and if the complaint is justified you should make efforts to mitigate the noise. That being said, some people are super sensitive to noise, whiners or just plain nuts. My younger brother lived in an apartment above this nut job who was always complaining and calling the police or management company about noise. One Monday the management office called him and told him that she'd complained about a noisy party on Saturday night. Problem was he and his wife were out of town from Friday night to Sunday night and had not left the TV or stereo on. When the management company heard that alibi, they never bothered him again and wrote her off as the nut job she was. It didn't stop her calling the police at the slightest provocation, they too got sick of her. My brother and his wife moved when the lease expired.
-
Most importantly, though......don't you just love surround sound?
Creating amateur surround is a hobby of mine. PM me if you want to know more. -
Good call on next time, going downstairs and hearing for myself. I'm not a jerk, so if it really is loud I'll do something about it, but it's just so shocking to have someone complain twice when they just moved in. I guess I give my neighbors a lot of leeway.
I don't doubt that when I have surround sound on the sub-woofer, which is directly on the hardwood floor, will be bothersome sometimes in a way that I won't be able to hear.
The TV isn't mounted on a wall nor is the back up against one. It's on a console that has rubber feet. I've had the TV and the console for years now, and my set-up hasn't changed.
Helpful stuff, guys. Thanks. -
yes go down and check it out for yourself.. thats the best way..and if its mellow and not to crazy .. just leave it...but if it sounds wild..and YOU know if it sounds wild or not just change it up a lil ...
-
A sub-woofer directly on a hardwood floor? That's your problem dude. That bass will travel through the whole building.
-
pastoralia wrote: A sub-woofer directly on a hardwood floor? That's your problem dude. That bass will travel through the whole building.
Heh, I like that imagery. Boooom!
I had that on only once since he moved in. I'll look into how I can deal w/that (suggestions?). -
pastoralia: check your PM.
-
doublediamond wrote: [quote=pastoralia]A sub-woofer directly on a hardwood floor? That's your problem dude. That bass will travel through the whole building.
Heh, I like that imagery. Boooom!
I had that on only once since he moved in. I'll look into how I can deal w/that (suggestions?).
Keep in mind that there's a trade-off, if you decide to take this route - the more firmly the sub is coupled (ultimately, to the ground) the better it will perform, the less firmly, the poorer the performance (the same goes for main speakers). Does the sub have a downward firing port and/or driver? You can try putting it on top of something like an area rug, but if it kills your bass too much... then again, you might be getting too much sympathetic resonance from the floorboards, anyway, and it might be a good idea to tame that... the long and short - try it out. Move it. Put a rug under it. See what works. Lemme know if you have any questions.
Oh, and I really wouldn't do any of this for your neighbor until you can confirm that it's a problem, unless, of course, you just want to tweak the system to perform better for your own selfish gains.
-
ParadeRest--- massaging SLIPPERS? Is that what you call them?
-
Are YOU from NYC? There will always be neighbors who complain needlessly
-
scarlett wrote: ParadeRest--- massaging SLIPPERS? Is that what you call them?
Swear to god...They were slippers that vibrated. The girl is wrapped so tight that I don't think she even knows what a sex toy is. -
ParadeRest wrote: [quote=scarlett]ParadeRest--- massaging SLIPPERS? Is that what you call them?
Swear to god...They were slippers that vibrated. The girl is wrapped so tight that I don't think she even knows what a sex toy is.
Haha! What is she, 80?!?!? -
Smokin' Joe wrote: the traditional new york response would be to tell him to go fuck himself.
I love this tradition!
Also, if you detemrine this guys a whiner, and you have a peephole (which I assume you do), just dont answer the door for him. -
I had this neighbor below me at my old apartment that was just psycho. one time late a night i woke up to get some water or something from the fridge, when i opened the door a block of cheese fell out of the fridge and hit the floor, i put it back, got some water and went back to sleep. About 45 minutes later I awoke to loud banging at my door, it was the police, they where there for a noise complaint. I kid you not.....the guy was out of control. A few times I actually probably was being too loud but after I started toning it down he would just wait for any sound at all and than go ape shit....call management, call the cops, etc. He had it out for me. He complained once on a Friday night at around 9pm because I was "shuffling around" of something. I told him its 9 o'clock on a Friday night and to deal with it.....he was pissed!
-
i think it's kinda hilarious that there's a thread in the lounge where the situation is the opposite of mine:
http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=46026 -
I used to have an upstairs neighbor that was crazy loud. Had an amp on the bare wood floor above my bed and he'd play sections of a song, badly, over and over at like 11PM. Then he tried to learn how to mix music on his computer. My roomate went apeshit and would blare NPR at 6 in the morning to get back at him.
The problem is that the resentment builds to the point where anythihng can set you off. A block of cheese even. The best thing to do is seem like you care. Show some empathy. Check out what the noise is like. Invite him up to see what the noise is like at the source. Brainstorm ways to muffle the sound together. If you can collaborate with the neighbor they won't blame you when a noise invariably penetrates the inch think floorboards. -
By the way... WhyFi has an awesome system and I never am bothered by it.
He has some sound advice. -
doublediamond wrote: i think it's kinda hilarious that there's a thread in the lounge where the situation is the opposite of mine:
and mine's the last post on the thread thus far.
http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=46026
this is not said to be mean or accusatory: do you have rugs? is your tv on a stand and the stand touches the wood floor? (and sub-woofer on the floor. are you kidding me?)
everyone (yes, in this city) has the right to "quiet enjoyment" in their homes. you need to hear what the people below you are hearing because you can make judgments. you need to see that sometimes people have more sensitive hearing, and perhaps it would be nice not to upset neighbors if you can easily do so.
my situation, with the extremely loud neighbor above me gets worse daily, and the more i complain--to her, to my board, to her children, to her attorney--the more she pays me back, by stomping around on purpose, by early morning vacuuming and aerobics over my bedroom, behavior that never happened before we starting fighting about the tv.
i'm not saying you're like the crazy person above me, but a little effort on your part to see if a: there really is a problem, and b: finding a way to solve said problem if you can will go a long way. it is NOT fun living in a building where people yell at one another, hate one another, look the other way in hallways. -
poppy13 wrote: ...sound advice.
Har dee har har. -
brooklynpotter wrote: [quote=doublediamond]i think it's kinda hilarious that there's a thread in the lounge where the situation is the opposite of mine:
and mine's the last post on the thread thus far.
http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=46026
this is not said to be mean or accusatory: do you have rugs? is your tv on a stand and the stand touches the wood floor? (and sub-woofer on the floor. are you kidding me?)
everyone (yes, in this city) has the right to "quiet enjoyment" in their homes. you need to hear what the people below you are hearing because you can make judgments. you need to see that sometimes people have more sensitive hearing, and perhaps it would be nice not to upset neighbors if you can easily do so.
my situation, with the extremely loud neighbor above me gets worse daily, and the more i complain--to her, to my board, to her children, to her attorney--the more she pays me back, by stomping around on purpose, by early morning vacuuming and aerobics over my bedroom, behavior that never happened before we starting fighting about the tv.
i'm not saying you're like the crazy person above me, but a little effort on your part to see if a: there really is a problem, and b: finding a way to solve said problem if you can will go a long way. it is NOT fun living in a building where people yell at one another, hate one another, look the other way in hallways.
Yup, I have rugs in every room, w/a nice thick rug padding. Even runners in the hallway w/padding. TV is on a console w/rubber footing. Subwoofer's on the floor because... well, because I never thought it should be anywhere else. No one has ever complained about noise from it in the x years I've had it while living on top of others.
I'll definitely go downstairs next time if there's a complaint, if the neighbor allows, and then do what I reasonably can. I was pissed when I posted originally because the guy just moved in and I'm quiet in general. I cut my neighbors a lot of slack living in the city, and I was definitely irritated by his immediate complaint. In my world view, one only complains about consistently noisy neighbors.
It really sucks that your neighbor has escalated noise to irritate you. I hope that gets resolved for you. -
doublediamond wrote:
yeah, that won't happen soon. but thank you. (and i didn't mean to be too accusatory, your post hit a nerve.)
It really sucks that your neighbor has escalated noise to irritate you. I hope that gets resolved for you. -
double thats funny, but like i said in my post its rules to it man, you cant be doing that shit after 1am (in my case) i dont care who you are. i PAY rent like everybody else.. yours is a lil different.. did you go down there and see/listen to how it sounds..??
-
"I don't doubt that when I have surround sound on the sub-woofer, which is directly on the hardwood floor, will be bothersome sometimes in a way that I won't be able to hear."
Um... Sorry, but have a bit of consideration for the fact that you're living in an apartment building with other people above/below/either side of you. If you want to live out your home theater dreams go buy a detached house.
Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
- 40K All Categories
- 27.1K Neighborhoods
- 5.1K Crown Heights/Prospect Lefferts Gardens
- 7.1K Prospect Heights
- 2.3K Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy
- 8K Park Slope
- 549 Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick
- 442 Flatbush/Midwood/Ditmas Park
- 657 BoCoCa (Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens)
- 151 Red Hook
- 104 Gowanus
- 304 Bay Ridge/Bensonhurst
- 130 Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay
- 270 Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO and Downtown
- 598 Windsor Terrace / Kensington
- 673 Greenwood Heights and Sunset Park
- 749 Brooklyn and Beyond
- 6.3K Stuff
- 86 Brooklyn Back When
- 1.2K Brooklyn Pets
- 257 Brooklyn Kids
- 241 Brooklyn Eats
- 51 Brooklyn Booze
- 3.6K The Lounge / Random Stuff
- 611 Brooklyn Politics
- 122 Brooklyn Sports and Fitness
- 111 Brooklyn Photos
- 339 Site Issues
- 8 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- 6.2K Listings
- 1.1K APARTMENTS and REAL ESTATE
- 1.3K Sales Openings Events
- 2.3K The Classifieds