What to Do with Pesky Drug Dealing Neighbors

WTF is wrong with you people? This person has to be "extremely uncomfortable" in their own home because it's not cool to tattle-tale on drug dealers? Get over yourselves, and stop pretending like it's some point of NYC pride to just sit around and dumbly take whatever crazy shit your neighbors dish out.

To the OP: if it's really that bad, call the cops; people stupid/entitled enough to smoke blunts in public hallways are stupid/entitled enough to be a dick to you in other, more dangerous ways if they know you have a problem with them. Don't talk to them first, because then when they laugh in your face and continue the behavior, you won't be able to call the cops anonymously.

Dude, you must not be from here.

The first rule of being a New Yorker is MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS

The second rule of being a New Yorker is MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS

The way 8 million people are able to live chock a block on top of each other in less than 215 square miles is to learn to respect each others privacy and right to be left alone - I like to call it "the bubble".

Suburbanites have the advantage of quarter acre lawns to separate themselves from their neighbor's private business - New Yorkers have to have that "quarter acre of the mind"... the one that lets you ignore the person who's thigh is brushing against yours on the subway, which let's you not pay attention to the loud sexual conversation between the couple sitting 2 feet away at the restaurant, the one that lets you walk right past that "aggressive panhandler" (while the hipsters and suburban transplants, lacking "bubble awareness" feel "forced" to talk to and give money to)

If you want to become a real New Yorker, embrace "the bubble".

And a big part of the bubble is saying that I will ignore everything that goes on outside my tiny 1,000 square foot apartment - even if it's happening right next door or outside my door and I can hear every word.

What's happening in my neighbor's apartment is "outside the bubble" and therefore not my business.

If we didn't have "the bubble" we'd all go nuts, cause nobody would have any privacy.

So the real question, my dear friend idiolect, is - how can you live here WITHOUT "the bubble"?

Your way would have you constantly intruding on other New Yorkers, calling the cops so much the desk sergeant hangs up on you when you call (or puts you "on hold" for 49 minutes - and then, amazed that you didn't get the hint - hangs up on you) and will have you neighbors thinking of you as an asshole and a hick.

Be a New Yorker, embrace "the bubble" and remember the two rules of being a real New Yorker.

First rule MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS

Second rule MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS

And - on the real side - having a neighbor who deals means you can get some nice deals on some quality product!

Also, wait a minute -- my tiny 1,000 square foot apartment?! Since when was 1k square feet "tiny"? My place is pretty small but quite comfortable and it's about 1/3 that size.

Somehow I didn't see this until now, but yeah, I think you are pretty nuts. It must be really stressful for you to try so goddamn hard all the time to prove to everyone what a legit NYC-er you are.

Also, I find the difference in personality and attitude between your comments here and your comments over at Feministing somewhat befuddling.

@GREGORYABUTLER

congrats for having the two most idiotic comments in this chain. but points for really thinking this one out.

I would advise the person to do what a native New Yorker would do Mind Your Own Business

Don't worry about what they're doing - cause if you don't bother the dealers, they not only won't bother you, they'll also keep the burglars, robbers and rapists away from your building (the same way rats keep away mice).

But if you do choose to be a snitch - beware the old New York slang expression snitches get stitches

Cause they quite literally know where you live.....

In any case, be a good New York neighbor, and mind your own damned business about how your neighbors earn their living.

Welcome to Brooklyn.

@ the "you live in Crown Heights, that's the least of your worries" comments - she lives on Sterling and Classon. If it's Sterling Place (which I think it is, being next to a school) it's actually a pretty calm area. I'm sure it used to be worse, but I'm in that neighborhood almost every day/night and never feel unsafe. Plus, if she had other things to worry about, don't you think she'd be posting about those instead?

Just a helpful piece of information for those of you who never venture south of Atlantic or east of Prospect Park.

Smoking pot in the hallway is a small issue, IMO. The bigger issue is that someone is dealing in the hallway. It's not too hard to believe that you might come home or leave your apartment right in the middle of some kind of standoff or deal gone bad.

There's nothing wrong with limiting your chances of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If he wants to deal, fine, do it on a corner somewhere, or upstairs in his own apartment.

Trust your own instincts. Is there a crimal element to these folks, other than pot? You can hear them, so what are they talking about? Personally I would move and just call it a bad experience. You're on the first floor with them and do you need the hassle?

Jesus christ guy... sack up call your landlord tell him u need to leave, want ur sec deposit back because theres some 'sketchy business' in the building that ur not comfortable with it. say that u dont want to 'cause trouble' and 'its none of your business' and u just want to leave. u dont have to be specific cuz u dont have to... the landlord should know what goes on in the building if hes not Thor Equities. If not u may have to lose ur deposit... but ur life is worth it? play inspector gadget AFTER u move out, and OUT of the neighborhood.

is it be or does this guy sounds weak as hell? hell probably mess this up and get jumped.

New York is no longer New York. This is just another sign.

You can THANK all these trustfund hipster types who think they know what the city is all about. PUHHHHHHHHHLEAAAZE.

Oh yeah, and your art sucks. big time.

What are you even talking about?

Move

Yeah it's so cool for someone to be dealing...First off--how do you know it's just pot? Maybe it's harder drugs too. Do you want those people hanging out in your building all day long? People on drugs often do things to afford drugs, like breaking into other people's homes. Oh--I forgot that's cool too. I lived several years in a building where drugs were sold and it was hell going up in the elevator or taking the stairs. The creeps I ran into you wouldn't believe. Go back to a square state? I probably lived longer in NYC than you!

"those people"

Oh my God - do you mean...

NEGROES????

Look, nimrod - this is New York.

A city with more Black folks than any place in the Western Hemisphere.

If you are not comfortable around us -

Long Island is THAT WAY

>>>>>>>

And New Jersey is THAT WAY

If you hurry, you can beat the traffic!

" If you hurry, you can beat the traffic! "

OH, IT'S STILL FUNNY! Every time he says it! My sides! HAW HAW!

sounds like another Carnegie deli robbery about to go bad.

Drug dealers can be the nicest guys on Earth, but with product, untraceable cash and armed idiots nearby, this could always be a shootout slaughter waiting to happen.

If you can hear through the walls, then the bullets can go through the walls.

tell the landlord. you're probably not the only one annoyed by this neighbor.

This is in Crown Heights? As someone said above, you've got a lot more to worry about.

You people are idiots. You have a landlord? Let them know. Or a super if you want to begin there. If you don't think you can talk to the person, or if its not a good idea to approach them, fine. But they should be warned. This is not the '70s.

If they don't respond to the landlord or a note under the door, fuck them. They're idiots for smoking in the hallway. Call the cops for another reason and have them show up. They'll get the message. 311 is for pussies, but it works.

But if you can't smoke @ home, where can you smoke? Something needs to change.

Don't communicate with the dealer that would be retarded. Call the cops, tell them you believe that firearms are being sold out of this apartment, perhaps even to Muslims.

A few agencies will position themselves or fight over who gets there first to gain the collar.

Filing a false police report is not such a smart way to go.

I'd make an anonymous call from a payphone.

Take some of that liquid nail industrial glue to the door at around 5am. Seal him in so he has to call the cops to get out of the apartment.

Work the pity angle: ask your dealing neighbor if he has any medical marijuana and tell him you have cancer. If he has a conscience, he'll quit making rude around your door and you might even get a free bag.

Huh ... that too theLtrain. Crown Heights is what it is and anyone living there should know the deal.

Please take A,C,and E off of my list (above)

I would be so lucky.

Or you could mind your own business and go on living your life without causing unnecessary problems for yourself.

This uptight woman apparently lives in Crown Heights, so her neighbor selling a little weed should be the last of her worries.

I smoke probably way more than I should, but I still respect my neighbors.

Not only that they are making noise @ 2am during the week.

I don't think it's smart to assume that pot dealers are harmless. They can get just as violent as other dealers ...I'm sure they are not the hippy dippy types otherwise you'd be able to ask nicely.

Looks like you can:

A. Talk to them and ask them to chill out a little in the hallway...please ;)

B. Move

C. Call the cops or try to confront them (good luck)

D. Deal with it.

Lame choices, I know.

E. You could also try to contact every single TV news outlet and try to sell the story to them (Like an "Ask Asa" type thing) ...maybe an expose will drive them out if you can reach the right media people.

Good luck. Smoke pot ;)

I'd be psyched if my neighbors sold bud.

And anyone who cares about living next to drug dealers should move out of NYC

Tell the cops they're running heroin and guns

All the dealer's money to the first cop that takes care of this off-duty.

Yeesh. I'm all for legalizing the wacky tabacky but don't go smoking in the hallway of your building. That's not okay with anything that leaves a strong odor, whether it's ciggies or joints. I feel really bad for the neighbor because I doubt the cops will help him out. If I were him I'd move. You don't want to be there if the idiot dealer gets in to trouble with his colleagues, if you know what I mean.

Decriminalize, regulate, and tax marijuana.

i'm with you ! people make such a big deal about a plant.

I'm dealing with the same situation although it's drugs of the harder variety and it's a whole lot nastier than smoking blunts in teh hallway. the whole building wants them out but the laws are so in favor of the tenant its nearly impossible. I've already gone to the police who have done nothing.

You'd think all that second-hand pot smoke would make this person chill out, but considering pot-dealing is a gateway to murdering your neighbors on the first floor, we guess they have reason for concern.

if you're being facetious, Jen, you're wrong. it doesn't take a genius to know that any sort of drug dealing is potentially dangerous.

plus this dealer is obviously an idiot if he's dealing out of his own apartment, so I wouldn't put it past him to do something that provoked violence.

guy needs to knock on his neighbors door and see about getting a hook up...cause someones way too uptight.

Seek out your local crooked cop who will be happy to shake down and maybe beat down the dealer. There are at least a few in every precinct.

Smoke blunts all you want in your own (sealed) apartment. Once the stench permeates into common areas and into my place? You're getting narced on, yo, anonymous style.

If cigarettes were illegal I'd do the same. Some of us have sensitive noses and lungs.

Yeah, because everyone in NY has a (sealed) apartment. I myself live in a giant square of saran wrap.

Weatherstripping. It works WONDERS.

Address or it didn't happen.

perhaps this brooklyn resident needs to pack their bags and go back to their square state. way too many annoying hipsters living in nyc.

perhaps this brooklyn resident needs to go back to their square state. theres too many hipsters in this city as it is.

square state, lol!!! that's pretty funny, never heard this one...