We live in a crowded Brooklyn neighborhood, right next to a large apartment building. We bought our house several months ago, and since we've moved in we have people on the sidewalk right below our bedroom window playing music, drinking, and smoking weed until late at night, including opening our front gate to sit on our stoop. Not in front of any other house on the block - just our house.
I've asked the people doing this to please have some consideration for the fact that a family with small kids lives here, but they laughed at me and said that they were here first, and if I don't like it, I should move. One woman said, "Fuck you, we came with the house." I wish I were kidding.
I've noticed that they're taking advantage of a low wall with a wrought-iron fence that runs around our postage-stamp front yard to place drinks, hang speakers, bags, and coats, and sit. I've tried installing a light in the front, to no effect. I'm thinking of replacing the low wall with something less friendly to people who want to sit there for hours. A different kind of fence, a higher wall, or maybe a hedge. Anyone have any experience dealing with a problem like this? Are physical changes likely to make any difference? It saddens me that I'm thinking about resorting to hostile architecture to address the problem, but the cops don't care about issues like this, the neighbors think it's funny that we want to be able to sleep, and I'm running out of ideas. |
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