Might need some advice. I’ve been dealing with cigarette smoke coming into my apartment from a neighbor and it’s gotten way worse over the past year. It used to be occasional, but now the place smells like cigarettes basically all day.
I’ve emailed my landlord a bunch of times. They used to at least put up notices / remind people not to smoke, but now they just ignore me. I’m guessing it’s coming through the HVAC/ventilation somehow.
I filed a 311 complaint but it’s moving really slowly. My lease is up in May and I’m not sure what my options are in the meantime
Definitely get a HEPA air purifier with a carbon filter, that will atleast make your air healthier
Thats the landlords issue, if its illegal and breaking terms and he is not stopping them then you may be entitled to discounted rent. If its not illegal and your neighbors didnt sign any papers that ban smoking, his literal signs would mean nothing.
In the first case, I wish you all the luck and discounted rent. Buuuut, in the second case, you should move into a building that strictly prohibits smoking anywhere around it (there are buildings like this) or get an air purifier.
You may be eligible to leave your lease early, but honestly it may come down to others personal freedom where you would have no rights. At the end of the day, if someones paying rent and they didnt sign anything prohibiting them from smoking: its their right and you have no right to bother it lmao we are supposed to find solutions to make our days easier, but not interfere with others.
Ive seen a plethora of people complaining about neighbors smoking weed too, I honestly think anyone who can’t tolerate loud neighbors and weird smells should leave the city. My upstairs neighbors love building during quiet hours and walk like elephants and I’d never think to call 311 for a noise complaint (and i swear these people build beds/closets at 1am). Thats how they chose to live, i chose to live with neighbors above and beneath me. My solution is not making them change for me, but changing myself for myself. So, I got a sound machine and now don’t have to leave a lease early or write about sleepless nights due to neighbors (since i resolved the issue myself, without bothering their personal freedom). When I’m old and cranky I’ll definitely want peace and quiet which is why when those times come I will not be living in NYC.
Oh, and most landlords are slimey. I wouldnt be surprised if he was personally bothered by them and made sure to write it in the next contracts, but didnt think of it before writing out their contract. Some people pay the same rent they paid in the 90s and live in the same building as someone paying 3-4k, so it wouldn’t be unusual for people to have different contracts in your building. A contract from the 90s or even most from the earlier 2000s wouldn’t contain a clause about smoking.
Hopefully they signed that they arent allowed to smoke in their apartment, but I don’t smoke in my apt and my 2020 lease mentions nothing about smoking.. so technically i could? personally dont want yellow stinky walls, but in this case id be free to smoke if i wanted to. When you pay for rent, you paid for that to be your space for the month and technically others have no rights to claim what you can and cant do in your own apartment unless strictly signed otherwise.
Have you tried buying a couple of air filters? I live in the first floor, street facing (all of the smokers go outside to smoke like civilized people but it does come into my apartment) and they work well for me. Really the landlord should not be allowing people to smoke inside if the building.
FWIW and often this gets shit on and downvoted. Have you talked to your neighbor?
I had a neighbor smoking below me and when I finally knocked they were horrified they were causing me dismay and never did it again. Should they have known that it was anyway? Obviously. But sometimes face to face helps.
Oh and one thing I’ve learned from my friends upstate was: If you have neighbors as nice as that, that not only opened the door, but also took in your dismay and decided to help you resolve your own issue, you should most definitely bring that lady some cookies or a bottle of wine because she acted untypically nice for someone living in NYC. Her changing herself for a stranger, which in my eyes is wow, should definitely be rewarded
I mean, your dismay is none of their concern, they must be really nice. We, as in people born n raised here, know our actions could bother people but that doesnt mean they needed to stop over it. Thats that households personal life, its on you to make your life better for yourself by changing yourself to accommodate your wishes and not others. You need a nicer apartment, work harder and get one. You need peace and quiet, move somewhere more remote. New york states to expensive? Thank Goodness we have 50 of them to choose from, with most offering much cheaper houses in much more quiet areas.
Obviously your neighbors arent true to the city, because I wouldve laughed hysterically and closed the door (as a non smoker, native new yorker). Actually, Im lying, I wouldnt even open the door to ya
How many units in your building? Is it a no smoking building? A landlord can not do anything if a rent stabilized tenant smokes in a rent stabilized building.....no smoking or not.
lawyer. file an accommodation request under the ADA for your breathing difficulties. This will put the landlord in violation of the ADA and the fair housing act if they don’t force the tenant to comply. Fight fire with fire do not back down. Get an air purifier and start graphing the spikes in poor air quality. put everything in writing. file a maintenance report every single time that you smell it. Get a video if you can. Point out to the landlord that the tenant could fall asleep with a cigarette in their hand and burn the building down. This happens all the time. Demand an inspection of the in unit smoke detectors as well as the building. Contact the fire department as well if they won't comply, the fire marshal gets shit done. Fuck these assholes. I’m really sorry that you’re dealing with this. I just moved because my neighbor would not stop smoking. Best of luck.
This is amazing. Thanks. Are you a lawyer or you're suggesting a get a lawyer?
Saddens me to see that all of this did not work for naught and you had to move?
I would not call 911 every time you smell smoke.
911 abuse is a felony, and I’m not saying it’ll go that far but you can absolutely get in trouble for calling and reporting an emergency when there isn’t one.
Dispatchers have to handle over 25,000 calls a day and the system is already strained. This doesn’t seem like a good use of this resource, in addition to everything else.
yeah that’s actually a good point.
I feel similarly
Fight them shirtless in the cold
Move
Or catch them in the lobby
If it’s a no smoking lease, talk to a housing lawyer, put your rent in escrow and let it sit there until landlord stops the people from smoking in the building.
Start smoking bro
Might be time to start minding your business
Found the smoker next door
Your business becomes my business when I can fuckin smell your business in my apartment.
Your apartment is poorly sealed and that's an engineering issue
Loser response
For a loser complaint
I woulda been fought them in the lobby
Microwave tuna every day
I had this problem. I moved.
Same. On top of going through my super, I also tried confronting my neighbor directly a few times. Nice at first but then increasing anger. They kept denying it was them but it was coming directly from their wall and i had no other neighbors next to me. Finally moved
It could be possible that the smell is coming from the vents and comes from someone up or downstairs instead of your next door neighbor.
I used to have a neighbor complaining to the building that I’m smoking all the time. The building was emailing me specifically and I had to make the point that we don’t smoke and I can smell just what they can smell too, it’s someone else.
I thought of that, but in my case the smoke smell was coming through my closet with no vents and only shared a wall with this neighbor. Ceiling was concrete.
Do you have a HEPA air filter running
As a non-smoker who hates the smell, none of that shit will work if smoke if getting in the apartment.
I do
Buy a window fan to blow outside air into the room or to draw indoor air out of the room.
The next step of aggressive air cleaning then is buying your neighbor an air filter. Either get them to accept it and run it, or passive aggressively leave it at their door. Try dressing it up like a holiday gift with a closing ashtray and Ozium spray too.
Lol that's not a bad idea I just hate the idea of having to constantly spend money on these assholes I hate!
If it's a smoke free building then maybe the landlord could do something. But otherwise there is nothing that can be done.
hey OP, I had the same issue in my last apartment. Unfortunately, my solution was to move out. I made a thread a while back that may be of use to you. Full sympathy from someone who has dealt with the same thing.
Piss Disc
Oh honey, your 311 complaint is moving slowly? You're too pure for Brooklyn. I think maybe Westchester is a good look for you, and landlord won't care at all if you break lease early. Good luck!
You the Yoga/can I take my cat on Amtrak true New Yorker? Does kitty smell like an ashtray?
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Nah fuck that. I hate that shit attitude some New Yorkers have where they pretend lacking consideration for others is being authentic.
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How's it any different than loud music all day they you can feel in your apartment? Would you be ok with that?
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I have the right to play music in my apartment. If you don't like it, move somewhere else.
It's hard explaining empathy to people
You're not just smoking in your house, you're smoking in all your neighbors houses too. It's basic decency man, not sure why you take such pride in being a shitty neighbor.
Even if you do, you don't have the right to smoke out OTHER people's apartments or in common areas.
Not sure where you're getting this. Many apartments in NYC explicitly prohibit smoking in the rental contract. The question is whether or not that's the case here.
That's the question, op did not address it. If it's not a violation of the rules, then there's really nothing to complain about. In my building it's written right there into the lease that you're allowed to smoke in your apartment.
You can bring a case against the land lord and the tenant. Start creating a proper trail, any health related issues.
Thee is a fair air act! Use it
311 complaint every time
https://www.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/smoke/neighbor-secondhand-smoke-faq.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Plug your issue into AI like GPT for more complete response. Please take care of yourself. We have this legislation for a reason.
Crack your window, can you feel air blow in or out? If it blows in, keep your window cracked. If it blows out, you’ll probably need to use a fan to blow air in. I had this problem as well and it was because my apt had some negative air pressure and was sucking their cigarette smoke in through cracks I couldn’t find (baseboards, around outlets, etc) Keeping the window cracked is annoying but helps. I close it when I’m sleeping or out
Doesn't make a difference. Keep them all open and smell still there. I need to stop the smell from getting in, I don't need ways of getting it out.
My point is that less of their smoky air will come in if fresh air is drawn in through the window instead. Seems like it isn’t an air pressure issue then. Good luck
I have this issue and burning some nice wood-based incense helps neutralize and cover the smoke better than non-smokey solutions. I like the incensio santa fe brand, makes my apartment smell like a campfire.
Well I don't want to have to constantly cover up the smell, I'd rather the smell not be there.
No shit
Understanding airflow is important. OP's advice is good.
Of course that'd be ideal but it does not seem like you have many options for that at the moment. Good luck regardless.
Do something (worse?) to annoy the neighbor back. Play loud porn noises at them all hours of the night, put rotten durian at their air entrances, knock on their door or ring their doorbell at like 3 AM every night, pipe sulfurous gases into their apartment, etc. This probably gives you your best chance to get your neighbors to stop putting the smoke in your apartment.
What you describe would be harassment and probably grounds for a restraining order.
Forget the restraining order, intentionally "piping gases" into someone's apartment is grounds for a law suit lol
You can look into breaking the lease for cause
Sadly not much you can do. Even if indoor smoking is not allowed in the lease the only thing your landlord can do is evict the tenant, and that takes time.
Your best bet is to seal up the vents with duct tape and start planning to break lease.