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Horrible Construction Noise!

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Horrible Construction Noise!

Postby fortepiano » Fri Oct 03, 2008 12:29 am

Shortly after my husband and I moved in into our new apartment our landlord started major construction works in the basement of our building, which is a 6-story residential building that has about 60 apartments. Substantial part of the basement is now being turned into a medical office. What they are now doing is they are drilling into the walls of the basement removing concrete piece by piece to create openings for doors and windows. Up until today it was actually tolerable as they were drilling walls that are not in our part of the building. But today, they started drilling the wall right under our living room and bedroom. The noise and vibration were so bad that I thought I was going to loose my mind. I normally stay at home during the day and the drilling goes on from 8 am to 4 pm. So, basically, half of my day is going to be an absolute hell for the next month or so. When I called our landlord to complain, he said: "What do you want me to do? Stop my works because of you?" Of course, I understand that he is not going to stop his construction BUT I asked him why he didn't tell us anything when we were signing our lease. He said: "I didn't have to tell you anything. You should have asked".

I don't know what to do. I don't want us to move out, we've just moved in and we love our apartment. Can somebody tell us what our rights are in this kind of situation?

Thank you!
fortepiano
 
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Postby TenantNet » Fri Oct 03, 2008 4:54 am

Do they have permits posted? Do they have a Buildings Dept. notice? Do they start prior to 7 AM or work on the weekends? Start therer.

Also, check to see if they can legally put offices in the basement. Many landlords create illegal spaces in their basements. The zoning may not permit that. Call DOB to get an inspection, but before that go to your local community board about the zoning.
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Postby fortepiano » Fri Oct 03, 2008 10:15 am

Everything they do is legal: they have all their permits posted and they don't work after hours.

I wonder what happens if a 311 inspector finds the noise above limits. What can they actually do?
fortepiano
 
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Postby TenantNet » Fri Oct 03, 2008 10:21 am

Permits do not necessarily mean the zoning is proper (DOB is supposed to check zoning but often does not). Check for proper egress. If the unit is regulated, did the LL take away basement storage space for the tenants? Is there a tenants assoc. in the building?
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