I was wondering if loitering inside an apartment building is illegal? If so, how can I stop it without causing a rift with my neighbors?
My situation is this: I moved into a ground floor apartment a few months ago. Since my apartment faces the lobby of the building I expected some level of noise and I've been pretty patient about it. However, over the past few weeks a group of young guys, maybe 16 to 18 years old, have been hanging out directly in from of my apartment door 3 or 4 nights a week. They spend literally 4 to 5 hours every night just hanging out there talking loudly, playing music, and even playing soccer in the lobby and using my door as the goal. I've asked them to keep it down, especially on weeknights, and they've been polite enough about it, but the problem has been continuing.
I don't want to call the police; I'm worried the NYPD will just make the situation worse. Should I contact my landlord and ask him to post a sign to stop loitering in the building? Or am I being unreasonable? Is there anything else I could do?