Esthetic/Aesthetic

Moving Day

Moving day has come and gone and I'm so happy to be in my new place.  Its so much bigger than I kept thinking it would be, and once all these boxes surrounding me are unpacked and everything is in its own little place, I'm going to really like it here.  The one thing I hadn't thought about before moving here was that since I'm now on the bottom floor, there are people above me, and the sound of feet is very distracting.  I'm sure I'll get used to it, just like any new place.  I got used to the sound of obnoxious bass coming out of the cars waiting for pizza at the last place and I have nothing remotely as annoying as that happening here. 

Yesterday, as I was sitting outside watching the moving truck, a very hip, stylish grandma sat down next to me.   She had spied some Jehovah Witnesses ringing her bell one door over and was going to wait them out.  They were taking their time and we had a lovely chat about churches, politics and most intriguing, my (ex) landlord.  She said that my building has always had a very high turnover rate of tenants.  She knew of my landlord ever since he and his mother had a sandwich shop in the neighborhood years ago.  She also said that the reason the last laundromat people left (I liked the previous ones so much more than the current ones) was because Ed would refuse to pay them because they didn't work enough, according to him.  He would also come in and verbally harass them for not working hard enough.  I said I really hope that karma pays him back someday, and she said that it already has, he has to live with himself. 

Fun with Landlords

Apparently pointing out the discrepancies of my move date have angered the landlord.

For your enjoyment, please enjoy my latest email.

I HAVE NEVER HAD A TENANT LIKE YOU.  I HOPE I NEVER IN MY LIFE GET ANOTHER LIKE YOU, YOU ARE THE MOST RUDE AND NASTY INDIVIDUAL I HAVE EVER HAD DEALINGS WITH.  I FEEL VERY SORRY FOR ANY PERSON THAT MUST DEAL WITH YOU IN ANY MATTER. I NOW KNOW WHY YOU HAVE MOVED SO MANY TIMES ITS PROBABLY BECAUSE  YOU CANNOT GET ALONG WITH OTHERS. I FEEL VERY VERY SAD FOR YOU.  HOPE THIS LETTER HELPS YOU CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE. DO NOT SEND ME ANY MORE OF YOUR
EMAILS I REALLY DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING FURTHER TO SAY TO YOU.

I've only moved 3 times in 10 years in New York and this latest  move is because of her.  The last one was to upgrade neighborhoods and the one before was because I got my own place free of roommates.  Staying in one apartment for a decade when you're in your twenties would be insanity. On the other hand in my building in the last two years I've lived there, there has been 100% turnover INCLUDING the Laundromat that I live above.  Lets hope this is really the last she has to say to me.

Fun!  Now we wait for the drama of getting my deposit back.

Blue Kitchen

It occurred to me that I've painted my apartment my college colors.  Go Bobcats!  Fortunately, I was never one for school spirit, so it doesn't bother me, but it'll bother my brother-in-law who wears a little bit of U of M every day (I'm assuming when he's in his nice clothes that his undies are grey and crimson).

And in other news, the landlord drama hadn't ended.  The lovely lady landlord sent me an email demanding I leave today, Friday, August 31 despite numerous emails AND a certified letter where she was okay with me leaving September 1, Saturday. I re-sent all those emails and  reminded her of the certified letter and have received no response.  I'm assuming the male, neanderthal landlord will be calling me later yelling about me having a lock that he can't get into and that all my things are still here.   

Renters Insurance

Renters insurance is only for peace of mind or catastrophic occurrences.  They do, in fact, cover a stolen bike, but only if that bike costs more than $500.  I foolishly told them I paid only $450 before learning of this rule.  I need to learn how to lie on instinct to make it in this world, apparently.  I should have claimed to invested my life's fortune into a bike that cost more than my college education.  I think I'll go all hipster with my next bike and get a classic, used, road bike that costs no more than a night out.   

Revenge?

I finally sent my tenant termination letter to my landlord, he should have received it yesterday.   What also happened yesterday?  My bike has gone missing from the foyer of my building.  It was a nice bike.  I had a feeling that I should have drug it upstairs for the next month until I leave, but once again, I was naive enough to think people surely can't be assholes just for the sake of being an asshole.  I'm seem to always be wrong about that. 

The Landlord Drama Continues...

Ms. Landlord politely sent me an email asking, "PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE THE KEY TO THE  BOTTOM LOCK TO YOUR FRONT DOOR.  ED SEEMS TO THINK WHEN HE LOCKED IT BY MISTAKE YOU WERE ABLE TO OPEN IT WITH A KEY. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE KEY , THEN ALLOW ME PERMISSION TO ENTER YOUR APPARTMENT  AND CHANGE THE BOTTOM LOCK SO THAT I AND YOU HAVE A KEY." (I warned you she yelled as she typed).

My reply, "I do have a key.  After Ed locked me out a cold January night and screamed at me that I should just know how to break in, I had to hire a locksmith and replaced the lock.  I still have the receipt for both of those things if you would like to reimburse me (something else I was yelled at that was not Ed responsibility) or I can put the old lock back on."

After a couple of days I got this reply at almost midnight (I'm sure these two drink a lot, the yelling always happens after happy hour), "JUST FOR THE RECORD ED HAD NO INTENTION OF LOCKING YOU OUT OF THE APARTMENT  HE THOUGHT THAT YOU HAD A COPY OF THE KEY FOR THE BOTTOM LOCK.  SO WHEN HE LEFT YOUR APARTMENT HE LOCKED BOTH LOCKS THINKING THAT AFTER MANY MONTHS IN THE APARTMENT THAT YOU HAD THE KEY FOR THE BOTTOM LOCKS.  HE LOCKED BOTH LOCKS FOR YOUR SAFETLY.  YOU WILL  BE REIMBURSED FOR THE LOCK AND KEY.  NO ONE YELLS AT ANYONE UNLESS THAT PERSON CALLS AT 11 PM  DEMANDING THAT WE LEAVE OUR HOME TO COME AND CHANGE THE LOCK OR FIX THE PROBLEM (THERE IS A REASONABLE TIME) THINGS DO HAPPEN.  WE HAVE LOVELY TENANTS IN OUR APARTMENTS, AND ALL KNOW THAT WE TAKE CARE OF ALL PROBLEMS PROMPTLY.

Here are the holes in her story;

A). Why would Ed lock me out of a door he didn't think I had a key for, for my safetly (sic) MORE THAN ONCE?!!?  (I now hate the landlord she-devil not just for the all caps assault, but also on the inability to use spell check).

B). Why do landlords have office hours?  When you lock me out of my apartment, there is no way I will know until I arrive home, and I occasionally have a life which means I get home at 11PM, should I have checked into a hotel until a reasonable hour came around?

C).  If I call at 5 PM with an issue I will be dealt with reasonably, but anytime after I deserve to be screamed at and left with numerous abusive voicemails?

D). If the problems are dealt with "promptly" why did it take over a year to fix that fucking leak in my neighbors apartment that started all this?

My email in response (in draft form for now) is this;  "Actually, Camille, I told Ed numerous times when I moved in that I did not have a key to my bottom lock, which he never remedied.  Then, when he needed to come into my apartment, I asked him to make sure to not lock me out by locking my bottom lock, which he did anyways.  And yes, I did call at 11PM because that was the time I arrived home to find myself locked out. There is unfortunately no reasonable time to find out you can not get into the apartment you pay rent for every month.  I will just put back on the old door lock that way no one has a key.  And if Ed thought I had a "copy" of the key, why would we be having this conversation?  Unfortunately, in New York, tenant laws allow me to force you to reimburse me for having been put out for hiring a locksmith OR I can just remain having the one key that you do not have OR no one has a key and I can call up the next time Ed locks me out.  Also, if he was worried about my safety he would have supervised the people working in my apartment.

As I said in my letter I will no longer deal with this unneeded harassment and will defer to my lawyer if you'd prefer to refuse your obligations."

And the moral of the story is - any leeway I thought I had when my refrigerator situation got taken care of nicely is gone. I need a new apartment, NOW!

 

More Apartment Hunting

As an update - I got a brand new refrigerator delivered to me on Saturday, and the landlords wife has been remarkably pleasant (as in a behaving as a normal human).  She does email IN ALL CAPS, so perhaps she yells via email while her husband yells via the phone.  That may the connection between the two of them.  Tonight I went and saw an apartment down the block and it was great.  If it was available in a month and about $100 cheaper I'd be in love.  It was huge!  Easily twice as big as my apartment and had 6 closets (my current apartment has zero closets) and the best thing was that there was a separate room off the bedroom that was turned into a walk in closet and it was as big as my current bedroom!  Amazing.  It gives me some hope after my last apartment search outing.  The only down side was that the living room had one wall that was completely covered in mirrors, which is hysterical at first glance, but would eventually drive me insane if I had to watch myself watch TV everyday.  The ceilings were all original tin, though...so yes, I have a bit of a crush.  The Realtor is going to ask if they'll come down in their price, so fingers crossed, I guess. 

My mind is officially blown

I just received a phone call from the landlords wife and she was nice and reasonable and accommodating...I've never, ever had such a stress free conversation about my apartment.  She was over today to put a thermometer in my refrigerator to test the temperature (she called to arrange this after the Housing Authority got involved and called).   She actually called me from the store where she was purchasing me a brand new refrigerator...and I'm still feeling like Ashton Kutcher has developed some new bad version of Punk'd where the joke is on people who are used to dealing with horrible situations and now are presented with the way the rest of reality lives.   I'm starting to feel slightly guilty that I left all that food (milk, eggs, curry, leftover onion dip) to sit at room temperature for ten days so that opening the refrigerator door would be an assault on the senses, but something tells me that if she lives with Mr. O'Donohue she's used to the vulgarities of life. She wants me to call her later to let her know when the refrigerator can be delivered because she wants to work around my schedule.  Its unbelievable.  I'm having an incredibly hard time processing this new development of apartment living.

Apartment Hunting

    Its depressing.   I wasn't prepared to look for an apartment and now in no time I'm getting my tax forms together, trying to figure out some references (clearly using my current landlord is not an option), and I can't even begin to think about the packing process yet.  I saw two apartments this weekend.  For $350 more a month than I pay now there was a very nice studio on Atlantic Avenue.  The building had clearly been recently and lovingly restored beautifully, but it was on the ground floor looking out on the street directly across from Magnetic Fields, which would be completely unpleasant.  I like the bar, I would not like it after being kept awake night after night because of it.  I also saw an apartment just across the expressway into Red Hook, and by directly across the expressway I mean you could high five people as they drive past your living room window.  It was also right next to a junkyard which included a token junkyard dog that is supposed to be white with black spots but is instead gray with darker gray spots from years of neglect.  It would only cost me an extra $100 than I pay now, but the noose would be extra.

    I'm not giving up hope.  Clearly I have an advantage already living in the area and am able to make contact with the long time residents who've given me some leads on open apartments.   Cross your fingers for me.

The Landlord from Hell

This may be the breaking point for me.  I came home after a plumber was here in my apartment alone in order to fix a leak that should have been fixed last year and my apartment looked like a construction zone.  There was black marks all over my white doors, white table, white chairs and, most heart breaking of all, my new white wool rug, which the plumber had conveniently placed my foot stool over as if in my entire existence I would not remove that footstool to discover the huge unremovable black mark.  I can't even begin to discuss how they used my nice fluffy, expensive towels to wipe their grubby hands with or the fact that they needed more and left marks and dirt proving evidence of having gone through my laundry basket.  I'm so at a loss right now.  My landlord yelled at me saying I should get some cleaning supplies (which of course was my first reaction, but oil doesn't come up) and I should understand they're plumbers.  Do plumbers not carry rags?  Or carry buckets?  Because they also used my dishes which they spread out all over my bathroom. He told me I should just stay home in order to watch over them, and I replied, "I can't, I have a job and responsibilities."  To which he replied/yelled, "SO DO I".   And did I mention that my refrigerator needs some repair, to which my landlord replied, "What do you want me to do about it."  Which is classic Ed O'Donohue; a Carroll Gardens, lazy, misogynistic, cheap landlord.

The Follow-up

He left me a note offering $3 to clean a $600 rug.  Perhaps I can find a nice immigrant woman who is willing to accept that generous donation.  And apparently my refrigerator is cold, according to him.  According to me, my milk is approximately close to 60 degrees Fahrenheit.  And after calling him to discuss he only wanted to talk about how I need to be thankful for him coming over to clean up after the enormous mess.  I hung up on him.  I don't know how to deal with him anymore.  He keeps calling me to yell at me. At what point is this harassment?

The ongoing saga continues

I'm hiring my first lawyer.  How very adult am I that I need one?

And lastly,

I've sent him a certified letter requesting just the repair of the refrigerator.  I will suffer the costs of cleaning everything else. I have also requested no more phone calls unless its an emergency, but instead to be notified via email or letter.  This will not end well.  My lawyer kept saying, "oh no, I can see how this will go.  Start looking for a new apartment."   Everytime I've been driven to drink because of this man I've said I just need to move and get away from him, but now it looks like I have no other option.  I love my adorable little neighborhood but perhaps its time to try out the Gowanus area or Red Hook, both areas I have a little place in my heart for also.   I'm open to any leads! 

ps. thank you Mr Gowanus Lounge for your interest in my drama and sending people here.  Its fun to vent to strangers.