I live in a rented ground floor apartment in Brooklyn. There is a garden attached that needs some major maintenance, just two things actually. There is a 70 year old tree that has now grownto span three other properties and is also pressing down on thick telephone cables. I am concerned about having this tree cut back because it is leaning heavily in the direction of a kindergarten school which is right behind the garden. It's on the verge of breaking the fence and possibly those cables. I've asked the landlord over the past two years about cutting it back. He says yes, yes, your're right and then another year goes by. I wanted to find out my leagal rights as a tenant with regards to his responsibilities with this tree seeing that it is his property! How do I get him to live up to his word? Also we had a fence separating our yard from the other yard which is almost nonexistent now. He says that because the property is shared he needs the other landlord's approval to install a new fence, I get the feeling he hasn't ever asked - I've been asking him to fix the fence for four years.
Is there anyway that I can have this landlord live up to his responsibilities??? Do I have any options?? Please let me know. Thank you.