The idiot that owns the building lives in a suburb of New York City about 5 hours away and probably hasn't been to this town in 15 years. I'm not really supposed to know that but some simple snooping has yeilds good results in this case. (There is stuff with dust and decay in the basement, including a calendar lying open to 1991, a promo for some store in White Plains NY which corresponds with some other artifacts.)
The roof leaks and there is serious water damage to the ceiling in the stairway. The corner of the kitchen ceiling, conveniently over the sink, drips if it rains hard. There are carpenter ants living in these locations. I see them rarely, but I know they're there. (Carpenter ants use wood instead of soil to build colonies in. As far as they're concerned the building is just another dead, rotting tree.)
The front door to the building can be locked, but when I got in the habit of locking it one of my neighbors told me they refused to allow her to lock the door when she tried last summer. Something about making it easier for the fire department to enter the building in case of a fire.
We're supposed to ask permission before installing air conditioners. If we get caught with them installed we have to pay $50 each month until they're uninstalled. But that bastard is going to have to drive from White Plains and catch us with them. So myself and half the people in the building just went ahead and installed them.
We deal with a management company, they're the ones that lease the apartment to us. Since they don't own the building they are unable to do anything to the building if it isn't considered an emergency. (and actually in emergencies they are very good) For all we know they hate the landlord even more than we do. So are they going to lift a finger to report us using air conditioners? No.
Likewise, I really wonder how much the landlord will have to fork out for the heating bill. The heat is too much for my apartment. I have to close one of the two vents, and circulate air in from outside to keep it reasonable. The thermostat on my window fan is really coming in handy. But I'll take this over having *just* enough heat, which is what many landlords do. The door to the fire escape is warped and lets in a lot of air from outside. There are open windows in the stairwell which look like they haven't been touched in, well probably 15 years. (broken screens and stuff)
So it's amusing, and hey somehow I got lucky and none of my 5 neighbors smoke. It's bearable but if they don't keep the price low I'll be out of here.
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Date: 2005-10-06 11:18 pm (UTC)The roof leaks and there is serious water damage to the ceiling in the stairway. The corner of the kitchen ceiling, conveniently over the sink, drips if it rains hard. There are carpenter ants living in these locations. I see them rarely, but I know they're there. (Carpenter ants use wood instead of soil to build colonies in. As far as they're concerned the building is just another dead, rotting tree.)
The front door to the building can be locked, but when I got in the habit of locking it one of my neighbors told me they refused to allow her to lock the door when she tried last summer. Something about making it easier for the fire department to enter the building in case of a fire.
We're supposed to ask permission before installing air conditioners. If we get caught with them installed we have to pay $50 each month until they're uninstalled. But that bastard is going to have to drive from White Plains and catch us with them. So myself and half the people in the building just went ahead and installed them.
We deal with a management company, they're the ones that lease the apartment to us. Since they don't own the building they are unable to do anything to the building if it isn't considered an emergency. (and actually in emergencies they are very good) For all we know they hate the landlord even more than we do. So are they going to lift a finger to report us using air conditioners? No.
Likewise, I really wonder how much the landlord will have to fork out for the heating bill. The heat is too much for my apartment. I have to close one of the two vents, and circulate air in from outside to keep it reasonable. The thermostat on my window fan is really coming in handy. But I'll take this over having *just* enough heat, which is what many landlords do. The door to the fire escape is warped and lets in a lot of air from outside. There are open windows in the stairwell which look like they haven't been touched in, well probably 15 years. (broken screens and stuff)
So it's amusing, and hey somehow I got lucky and none of my 5 neighbors smoke. It's bearable but if they don't keep the price low I'll be out of here.