What would you do if you had a neighbor like this?
Parents in a posh West Side building fear their young son’s health is in danger from second-hand smoke that filters into their home – and have sued a butt-puffing neighbor.
In a suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Jonathan and Jenny Selbin labeled their next-door neighbor in the stately Ansonia “evil” and claim the fourth-floor hallway outside their apartment smells “like a casino.”
“I was not sure I could sleep at night if I did not try to do everything I could to protect my son’s health,” said Jonathan Selbin, a 40-year-old lawyer whose boy, Charlie, is about to turn 4. via the NY Daily News
And the follow up question, which neighbor would you like to have the least, the smoker or the lawyer?
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Well I don't smoke, and I do have some respiratory issues that are made worse by tobacco smoke. I suppose that I have more sympathy for the lawyer who says that he's trying to protect his child from second hand smoke. I haven't been there personally, so it's really hard to say how bad the smoke situation really is.
The lawyer any day of the week. I deal with this issue from time to time as a property operator and I lean on the side of the none-smoker.
I can appreciate this problem. Once I rented an apartment and I lived upstairs of a man and woman who smoked like chimneys not in there apartment but on there balcony. With my doors and windows open I felt ill from the smoke as it wofted up to my apartment. I did not want to leave my windows closed during nice breezy days but suffered non the less. I truly liked these people as they were always outside on the balcony and chatted with everyone and I knew it was a losing battle. If I had to rent again I would check this out first and be sure that there was not a smoke stack leading to my apartment.
For perhaps the first time in my professional life, my sympathy is with the lawyer on this one.
For perhaps the first time in my professional life, my sympathy is with the lawyer on this one.
I am going through this very situation right now!! I need help. I have serious asthma. The building owner refuses to enforce the smoking ban in common areas of the building. PLUS!!! The people directly downstairs are smoking like it is going out of style. It constantly seeping into my apartment making it unbareable for me to stay. I cannot move as I have a rent controlled apartment and I am a student on a very low budget. Besides I have been living here for 20 years.
CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!
I NEED A LAWYER TO SUE THE BUILDING OWNER NOW!!
Take a look at the Selbins' argument, in the New York Times article.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/seco…
I'll bet he is now extremely well versed in the byways of NYC's specific anti-smoking laws, and could help you. I'm thinking of contacting him myself. Don't believe all the anti-litigation-lawyer comments on this link, by the way. Fresh air inside your home should be a given. My sense is that you have a very good case.
Shut up already!
Hey HELP!! I did contact snow's suggestion, he is a consumer action expert not a second hand smoke. Have you tried HUD? I have gone through even worse than the both of you. If you are in New York City and you live in a multi-dwelling building with over 30 units (check that) you should be calling 311 and filling out New York Health and Mental Hygiene Department online smokefree forms. Also you should keep a diary. You should ask your neighbor downstairs if you can work something out to alleviate the smoke conditions. You should ask your landlord first to put up smokefree signs in the hallway, and other common areas. If they don't that's when you call 311 and start filling out online smokefree forms from the New York Health and Mental Hygiene Department. You should check out dylos air monitoring machine because believe it or not the courts want to see that you have measured the air, they want evidence of it, and that you have duly notified your landlord by return receipt mail (expect retaliation but hey what can they do to you that they haven't already done to you?) with full detail and that you have made public testimony, even be it a blog. I have 20 inch box fans with 3M Filtrettes on them, I keep track of when they went on and when they were full, its evidence. I've been fighting for my right to breathe since June of 2007 and I am still fighting. This is not legal advice, this is my experience. Hope it helps.
Lets tell N.Y. Legislators to pass a law requiring people NOT to smoke at all in any homes or apartments, which should include condo's, co-op's, and private homes. Think of all the positive benefits such as no homes fires and possible deaths from a smoker's cigarettes. I cannot think of any negative benefits in this law passes. Call your N.Y. Legislator's office today.
“I understand exactly what they're going through. And we too are having to use legal options to deal with this. You can read about my frustration in my blog http://nuttermom.blogspot.com”
I know exactly what you mean. I've been a smoker for decades and although I know it's killing me I don't have the willpower to quit. But I found these new, "healthy" cigarettes that let me get my fix without damaging my lungs. Check out my blog!
I also need HELP and don't know what to do about my problem. I have a garden apartment off Park Avenue and someone in my building or the townhouse next door throws lighted cigarettes out of their window onto my brand new $2000 15 x 9 foot awning!! Every morning I go out to check how many new cigarette burn holes there are and it is driving me crazy. This is my home for 32 years now and I saved a long time to install a new awning. How can people be so rude? not to mention they know there is a fire hazard and they are destroying personal property. My landlord has sent Notices, my super has talked to some neighbors and I have placed notes under doors appealing for some consideration. Is there a law? Does anyone know how to stop this? I'm trying to find out who it could be but cannot stay outside all night on surveillance. HELP, all ideas and suggestions welcome.
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