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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jun 16, 2012 15:36:02 GMT -6
I'm so frustrated at this point that I'm thinking of stealing Simon's idea and starting a second blog just about my nuisance neighbor -- he's not just a nuisance to me, he's a nuisance to just about everyone else around here. It started about a year ago and he hasn't let up -- he blares loud rock music out his open front door early in the morning and stores a bunch of junk on the street right in front of the building, preventing full sidewalk access to the rest of us. I'm friends with the son of the Korean owner of the dry cleaner across the street from this guy. This morning, I stopped in the dry cleaner's across the street to pick up a few items and the son told me all about the "free entertainment" they get almost daily. He informed me that twice already this year, the guy has been arrested and done jail time for menacing (he's very confrontational and on a number of occasions has gotten in the face of the woman who owns the building next door). Since getting out of jail, this guy has only gotten worse. Here are some photos to show you what we have to put up with around here. He put this one out this morning in honor of Father's Day (and in an effort to make a little money): I can't imagine anyone with a job (or any self-respect) wanting to rent an apartment in this building ... My favorite sign -- I wish I could give a prize if you could spot all of the misspellings ...
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jun 16, 2012 17:41:40 GMT -6
Over time? As I said at the outset, he's been doing this for a year. Exactly how long are we supposed to wait? And if he's only getting worse with more jail time, what makes you think that will improve the situation? He won't move unless the police make him move permanently -- that's his mother's building which was passed down to him last year when she died. BTW, he confronted me twice while I was taking these pictures; I walked away both times because at almost 54 years of age, I'm now trying to avoid street fights, unlike in my youth.
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Jun 16, 2012 18:03:39 GMT -6
Rather than a second blog, why not start a dating service? Pair him up with the Mormon lodger, I bet they are soul mates truly meant for each other.
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Post by Chicago Jake on Jun 16, 2012 18:36:43 GMT -6
I think you should offer him a cocktail. The kind that starts with "Molo" and ends with "tov."
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jun 16, 2012 19:05:10 GMT -6
Pair him up with the Mormon lodger, I bet they are soul mates truly meant for each other. That'll be the next set of photos. This afternoon, I met his girlfriend. OMG, you should see the piece of ass this fat fucking slob is getting! She was the one bathing the dogs ... IN A BIKINI! Holy shit!
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jun 16, 2012 19:06:19 GMT -6
I think you should offer him a cocktail. The kind that starts with "Molo" and ends with "tov." And wind up in the cell next door? Uh, no thanks!
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Post by Tex on Jun 16, 2012 21:19:43 GMT -6
You could try to slip a sign up on the junk, "Free, Help Yourself"
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jun 16, 2012 21:43:10 GMT -6
He leaves that shit out overnight and no one takes it -- trust me, the sign wouldn't encourage anyone.
He's really managed to piss off some people here -- someone kicked out the bottom window of his front door and he put out an angry sign on the door. I'll try to see if I can get a picture tomorrow, if I can avoid a fistfight with the guy (which, believe me, ain't easy).
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Jun 17, 2012 6:23:22 GMT -6
It actually looks like the start of a new franchise business "Occupy 'R Us", all sorts of start up materials for getting your own Occupy movement off the ground.
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Ron
Dis-Member
Posts: 240
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Post by Ron on Jun 17, 2012 6:40:34 GMT -6
Next time he's in jail, post his address on Craig's list and just invite people to come take what they want.
Trust me, they will.
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Post by Tex on Jun 17, 2012 7:06:29 GMT -6
The Craigslist idea sounds pretty interesting. There are people out there that if you said "Free", it could be sacks of cat shit and they would be all over it.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jun 17, 2012 9:14:40 GMT -6
A couple of blocks east, there are Section 8 housing projects and guys dealing drugs on the corner outside the bodegas. You would think after all of this time that some of them would come by and take that junk.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jun 17, 2012 18:29:08 GMT -6
The newest sign added to the collection. This one is on the front door to the building so that all who pass by may see. I clipped out the name & address at the top of the door. I guess someone else got just as sick of his bullshit as I have. Clearly, this guy doesn't understand the concept of "inappropriate".
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Post by Tex on Jun 17, 2012 19:55:33 GMT -6
The new sign could be an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Leave the name and number of some big mean bastard you don't like along with a few insults for this turkey and his slutty grandmother who sold asshole door to door.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jun 17, 2012 20:38:49 GMT -6
Great idea, Tex! Can you please PM me Dr. Bob's number?
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Post by innit Geezer on Jun 17, 2012 21:17:21 GMT -6
and be careful around his place, he might get a surveillance camera. Those things are everywhere now.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jun 17, 2012 21:27:19 GMT -6
I doubt this guy can afford a surveillance camera. He's had run-ins with the neighboring shopkeepers. Why they haven't done more about this, I honestly don't know. One night when coming home from work, I overheard one of the shopkeepers telling a woman about how he got into a confrontation with the guy and he threatened the shopkeeper.
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Post by Irish Stu on Jun 18, 2012 9:33:59 GMT -6
Sounds like there are some serious mental health issues here and that is what makes a situation like this all the more difficult. And worrying. I used to get letters from nutters like this when I ran the magazine and although you try to laugh it off I also found it disturbing because you're not dealing with a sane mind, so you can't apply logic and attempt to reason with the person.
Personally, I would do my damnedest to try to let it go over my head, and avoid the guy and see how it pans out. Or, alternatively, get together with the neighbours and shopkeepers and see if together you can do something about this. In both instances though you may have to keep in mind that the ultimate solution is that you will have to move to get away from him.
Be careful, if you let yourself get wound up and react to what he is doing then I fear no good will come of it.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jun 18, 2012 10:01:36 GMT -6
I've been turning the other cheek with this nut case for about a year now. He's hard to avoid because I have to pass his building walking between my apartment and the subway. Many days he'll be standing outside the building trying to engage people, "playing guitar" on a broom handle while the rock music blares through his front door or handing out flowers to random women passing by. I agree, he's clearly unstable and my concern is that the more people rise up against him, the greater the likelihood he'll respond violently.
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Post by Irish Stu on Jun 18, 2012 11:35:28 GMT -6
You must have noise pollution laws? In the UK you can't just blast music into the street. It used to be a police matter but now local councils have noise abatement teams that, after a complaint, will monitor the address and if there is a persistent problem will get a court order to take action which involves visiting with the cops and removing the offending equipment. If this does not stop them they can then be arrested and prosecuted.
Surely you have a process there for dealing with noise pollution?
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jun 18, 2012 12:31:20 GMT -6
Yep, and multiple complaints have been made about him. I honestly don't know how he's been able to get around it so frequently and for so long. My guess is that he's kept the volume down somewhat, but when he leaves the front door open, you'll definitely hear it -- not only before/during/after you pass by the building, but also from across the street as well. My guess is that people are afraid of him and don't want to be bothered standing up to him for fear of their own safety. He's such a kook, you want to do your best to stay off his radar.
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Post by Irish Stu on Jun 18, 2012 13:22:50 GMT -6
Then there's nothing else for it than to round up a neighbourhood mob and take a more direct approach.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jun 18, 2012 13:45:10 GMT -6
I'm all for that, except that the majority of the people in this neighborhood fall into either one of two categories: 1 - they're longtime residents, in which case they're old and not interested in being in a mob or 2 - they're relatively new residents, in which case they're young hipsters who would pussy out
I'm stuck, unfortunately. My best hope at this point is divine intervention.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jun 18, 2012 21:24:21 GMT -6
I suspect his outrage has more to do with the fact that someone got over on him and he was left unable to retaliate.
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Post by Tex on Jun 18, 2012 22:14:56 GMT -6
Much as it might be amusing to fuck with this guy, he may be the one to walk on by. You indicated that the city wouldn't handle it. (Here they would, so I have to adjust my thinking to that) The city won't back you up and this dude is nuts. Sometimes better to adjust to it, go about your business, and let some hothead down the street instigate the big confrontation. It is a deterioration of the culture that the local authorities won't deal with this, IMHO, but what else is new?
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Jun 19, 2012 5:18:40 GMT -6
The obvious solution here is to have him flex his Constitutional rights and buy a gun
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Post by Tex on Jun 19, 2012 7:34:52 GMT -6
Having this guy for a neighbor might be a good reason to pack some heat.
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Post by New Mama on Jun 19, 2012 7:49:00 GMT -6
Maybe a call to the local authorities saying he has a gun will get them involved. Maybe you could photo-shop a gun in his hands during one of his air guitar music sessions. What a pain to live by this guy. Have you ever talked to him? Is he lucid? Does he work?
I have a nutcase that I've dealt with across the street from my summer cottage for the past 29 years. Now I just treat him like he's invisible.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jun 19, 2012 7:52:21 GMT -6
That's basically how I treat this guy -- he constantly tries to engage me in some kind of conversation whenever he sees me but I completely ignore him.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jun 19, 2012 7:57:31 GMT -6
Much as it might be amusing to fuck with this guy, he may be the one to walk on by. You indicated that the city wouldn't handle it. (Here they would, so I have to adjust my thinking to that) The city won't back you up and this dude is nuts. Sometimes better to adjust to it, go about your business, and let some hothead down the street instigate the big confrontation. It is a deterioration of the culture that the local authorities won't deal with this, IMHO, but what else is new? I don't know that the city won't handle it, it just seems to me that not enough people in the neighborhood are applying the sufficient amount of pressure needed to get the right attention on this. It ain't against the law to be crazy or to be a pain in the ass -- he's at least smart enough to know that and realize he can get away with it (for now, at least). Unfortunately, it looks like nothing will be done about this until after something really bad has happened.
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