The construction site outside my building is dirty. What Can I Do?
Trash control is one of the ways that municipal directions regulate the disposal of building waste.
Q: For about two months, my Rulers co-op has been putting away development squander in the space between our property and the adjoining property. Rats have taken up home in my flat since it faces the junk specifically. At the conclusion of the venture, the co-op is inquiring me to be “understanding,” whereas it wraps up the work and expels the waste. In any case, since no laborers have been on location in weeks, I accept they ought to evacuate the junk right away, as it would unquestionably fill a dumpster. What rights do I have as a shareholder? Is it lawful for them to store trash in our yard?
A development site’s squander ought to not be your neighbor; in specific, if it is drawing rats, that poses a hazard to the public’s health.
“Clearly this falls on the board of directors,” said James Woods, overseeing accomplice of Woods Lonergan law firm in Manhattan. “It’s their obligation to keep the common zones, the open zones, secure and clean.”
City codes govern the expulsion of development flotsam and jetsam, counting keeping squander contained. The junk heap you portray sounds like an infringement of these codes. The city moreover requires tenant security plans for development locales where inhabitants are shown. These plans require clean control, flotsam and jetsam expulsion, bug control, and upkeep of sterile offices, according to the city’s Office of Buildings.
The board exceptionally likely enlisted the temporary worker to do the work, and ought to have included junk transfer necessities in the contract.
Write a letter to the board explaining that you have seen rats around the construction waste, and that taking trash out abuses city codes. Request that the contractor remove the waste. You can fortify the letter by including any significant provisions from your co-op’s bylaws and proprietary lease concerning junk removal, construction activities, and the board’s duty to shareholders to maintain the common ranges and provide habitable premises.
If the board does not take action and the problem holds on, you might file a complaint through 311, including data around rodent sightings. This will get the board’s consideration, but know the risks: Fines exacted by the city will ultimately be paid by the shareholders, which may strain relations between you, your neighbors, and the board.
But, Mr. Woods said, “If it becomes a wild problem, sometimes you have to take desperate measures.”
