The early word is that there was a loudish party on the ninth floor last night. Anybody hear it?
The usual, doors slamming, drunk people coming and going, loudness coming from the apartment.
What exactly was the problem you heard about? I'm definitely in favor of people being respectful of their neighbors, but I don't think it's reasonable to expect that people never have parties. And it's hard to have a party without drunk people coming and going. At least it's not if you want the party to be any fun.
Maybe we should try to establish some guidelines for resident parties. One of the guidelines might be that residents should introduce themselves to their neighbors before a party so that if the party becomes too loud, the neighbor can more comfortably and non-confrontationally knock on the party door and have a civil chat with the neighbor.
We can't complain every time someone has a damn party. Now if someone is constantly having loud parties on a consistent basis, and it's becoming a quality of life issue, then there is a case to complain. Parties are a fact of life, people are going to have them. While it's nice if your neighbor is curtious enough to give notice of a party, instantiating a rule about it isn't going to change it one bit.
As I mentioned in the post. Door slamming after midnight, loud drunk people in the hallway, music and loud voices coming from the apartment.
I just post what I hear HouseMother. I can't be all over the building, but I trust people are mostly being straight up. For every few posts on this site I get about one email from a person that doesn't want to post on the blog. That's their prerogative.
I agree with your suggestion though. I always think it's a good idea to be courteous to those you live around, but I think courtesy has been one of the big issue in the building. It just doesn't occur to some people. It would probably go a long way in helping the situation.
There is also the issue of a neighbor knocking on a door to "non-confrontationally" ask a room full of drunk people to please hold it down a bit. Who knows what could come of that. It might be just the thing, or it might be trouble. I'm not sure management would want that either. There are also the logistics of "we" "establishing guidelines for resident parties." How the heck are "we" gonna do that?
One bit of your logic that I'm not sure I'm in accord with though... Drunk=Fun. Then does Drunk+car=more fun? I hope no one was driving. Drunk parties are for kids, and they intrude on other peoples lives. Responsible drinking might make the whole issue moot.
I agree Snake. But I think it's the matter of what the party becomes. I don't think it's "a fact of life" that someone's party has to disrupt the neighbors. The bigger issue is that it has become a quality of life issue throughout the building.
Whether it's on your floor or not on any given weekend, it just kind of sucks that the building has become a frat house. It's the luck of the draw who you get for neighbors. Some people have no issues, while others have to put up with it regularly.
I live next door to where the party took place. Though it was loud and went late, I chose NOT to knock on my neighbors' door and instead gave them the benefit of the doubt that this was wasn't the start of a bad habit as they have been quiet and respectful since moving in.
I am so glad I didn't say something as I learned the next day that it was one of the neighbor's birthdays - a big birthday which should be celebrated with fun and cocktails.
Perhaps a lesson to be learned by many people who want to jump the gun and piss all over everyone's right to have a little fun once in a while.
Exactly. If it's a case of someone partying every weekend and being disruptive often enough to be a pain, or tearing up the hallways and attempting to intrude into other people's apartments, that's one thing. Having a party once in awhile is another story. It's an apartment building. You're going to hear people having fun once in awhile. I've lived in apartments for years and this is really just a fact of life. Most people don't realize that if you're respectful of your neighbors and give them a heads up that you're having a gathering, it goes a long ways towards tolerance of said gathering, but I'm not going to knock anyone for going ahead without notice.
I agree completely. I'm sure most of us will want to have a party of some sort at some point. It's sad that we even have to have this conversation about what is and is not okay for parties. But once again I think a very small minority of tenants have acted irresponsibly and made us all ultra-sensitive to something that should be a non-issue.
"But once again I think a very small minority of tenants have acted irresponsibly and made us all ultra-sensitive to something that should be a non-issue. "
I think you have hit the nail on the head HouseMother.
Hi all. I apologize that this comment is not timely (it's been nearly a month since the party), but I just now got the chance go to back and read older blog posts. I live in the apartment that hosted the party on the ninth floor that Friday and I hope we didn't disturb folks -- my sincere apologies if we did. We actually had the idea to go around to the immediate neighbors and tell them we were hosting a birthday party that evening, but we knocked on two doors Thursday and no one answered. Unfortunately, between working and planning the actual party, it slipped our minds to try again. Nonetheless, we have had pleasant interactions with our neighbors before and since we never had a party or caused a disturbance previously, we hoped it would be okay, just for the night.
Anonymous, thank you for sticking up for us! Parties and gatherings should be expected from time to time in a building the size of the Jefferson, and just to echo the comments above, as long as the reveling does not become a nuisance (e.g. too often, extremely loud, too late, property damage, etc.), I think I certain tolerance for such things is part of being a good neighbor.
Hopefully, those who host parties do so with common sense -- like having parties on weekend nights/holidays only, not leaving a mess in the halls or elevators, and taking control if the volume gets out of hand. Personally, I would not have been disturbed at all (let alone confrontational) if someone knocked to ask us to quiet down, especially if it was after midnight. However, regulations and rules simply cannot be made, or reasonably enforced, for having friends over to celebrate in the privacy of one's home. This is a community of adults and if tenants are having repeated, unreasonable parties, they can be approached and the situation can be addressed retroactively. Putting regulations in place about parties seems not only unnecessary, but way too oppressive -- people do not always live quietly -- they have friends, they entertain and socialize, they play instruments and music, and YES, they even imbibe from time to time. As long as residents can do so with courtesy and not disturb their neighbors more than slightly, every once in a blue moon, I think we can leave the party police behind.
Also, just a tip: we told management we were having a birthday party and gave the concierge a guest list that day (including first and last names). For anyone who does plan on having people over -- even for Thanksgiving or small gatherings -- I'd highly recommend doing this. It saves you from running downstairs constantly, makes signing in guests easier for the concierge and your guests, and keeps things moving quickly for all with the ID-check policy downstairs.
Oh, and for the concerned citizen commenter -- we would never, ever condone drunk driving and I am happy to report that everyone stumbled home from our festivities safely. Not one guest even drove a car here in the first place.
What exactly was the problem you heard about? I'm definitely in favor of people being respectful of their neighbors, but I don't think it's reasonable to expect that people never have parties. And it's hard to have a party without drunk people coming and going. At least it's not if you want the party to be any fun.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we should try to establish some guidelines for resident parties. One of the guidelines might be that residents should introduce themselves to their neighbors before a party so that if the party becomes too loud, the neighbor can more comfortably and non-confrontationally knock on the party door and have a civil chat with the neighbor.
We can't complain every time someone has a damn party. Now if someone is constantly having loud parties on a consistent basis, and it's becoming a quality of life issue, then there is a case to complain. Parties are a fact of life, people are going to have them. While it's nice if your neighbor is curtious enough to give notice of a party, instantiating a rule about it isn't going to change it one bit.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned in the post. Door slamming after midnight, loud drunk people in the hallway, music and loud voices coming from the apartment.
ReplyDeleteI just post what I hear HouseMother. I can't be all over the building, but I trust people are mostly being straight up. For every few posts on this site I get about one email from a person that doesn't want to post on the blog. That's their prerogative.
I agree with your suggestion though. I always think it's a good idea to be courteous to those you live around, but I think courtesy has been one of the big issue in the building. It just doesn't occur to some people. It would probably go a long way in helping the situation.
There is also the issue of a neighbor knocking on a door to "non-confrontationally" ask a room full of drunk people to please hold it down a bit. Who knows what could come of that. It might be just the thing, or it might be trouble. I'm not sure management would want that either. There are also the logistics of "we" "establishing guidelines for resident parties." How the heck are "we" gonna do that?
One bit of your logic that I'm not sure I'm in accord with though... Drunk=Fun. Then does Drunk+car=more fun? I hope no one was driving. Drunk parties are for kids, and they intrude on other peoples lives. Responsible drinking might make the whole issue moot.
I agree Snake. But I think it's the matter of what the party becomes. I don't think it's "a fact of life" that someone's party has to disrupt the neighbors. The bigger issue is that it has become a quality of life issue throughout the building.
ReplyDeleteWhether it's on your floor or not on any given weekend, it just kind of sucks that the building has become a frat house. It's the luck of the draw who you get for neighbors. Some people have no issues, while others have to put up with it regularly.
Whooaaa! Just wondering if you had any more specifics. No offense intended TJ.
ReplyDeleteNone taken HM.
ReplyDeleteI live next door to where the party took place. Though it was loud and went late, I chose NOT to knock on my neighbors' door and instead gave them the benefit of the doubt that this was wasn't the start of a bad habit as they have been quiet and respectful since moving in.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I didn't say something as I learned the next day that it was one of the neighbor's birthdays - a big birthday which should be celebrated with fun and cocktails.
Perhaps a lesson to be learned by many people who want to jump the gun and piss all over everyone's right to have a little fun once in a while.
Exactly. If it's a case of someone partying every weekend and being disruptive often enough to be a pain, or tearing up the hallways and attempting to intrude into other people's apartments, that's one thing. Having a party once in awhile is another story. It's an apartment building. You're going to hear people having fun once in awhile. I've lived in apartments for years and this is really just a fact of life. Most people don't realize that if you're respectful of your neighbors and give them a heads up that you're having a gathering, it goes a long ways towards tolerance of said gathering, but I'm not going to knock anyone for going ahead without notice.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely. I'm sure most of us will want to have a party of some sort at some point. It's sad that we even have to have this conversation about what is and is not okay for parties. But once again I think a very small minority of tenants have acted irresponsibly and made us all ultra-sensitive to something that should be a non-issue.
ReplyDelete"But once again I think a very small minority of tenants have acted irresponsibly and made us all ultra-sensitive to something that should be a non-issue. "
ReplyDeleteI think you have hit the nail on the head HouseMother.
So if we know who those repeat offenders are, we have 3 choices.
ReplyDelete1) Confront them directly
2) Call the police
3) Report them to managment
Hi all. I apologize that this comment is not timely (it's been nearly a month since the party), but I just now got the chance go to back and read older blog posts. I live in the apartment that hosted the party on the ninth floor that Friday and I hope we didn't disturb folks -- my sincere apologies if we did. We actually had the idea to go around to the immediate neighbors and tell them we were hosting a birthday party that evening, but we knocked on two doors Thursday and no one answered. Unfortunately, between working and planning the actual party, it slipped our minds to try again. Nonetheless, we have had pleasant interactions with our neighbors before and since we never had a party or caused a disturbance previously, we hoped it would be okay, just for the night.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, thank you for sticking up for us! Parties and gatherings should be expected from time to time in a building the size of the Jefferson, and just to echo the comments above, as long as the reveling does not become a nuisance (e.g. too often, extremely loud, too late, property damage, etc.), I think I certain tolerance for such things is part of being a good neighbor.
Hopefully, those who host parties do so with common sense -- like having parties on weekend nights/holidays only, not leaving a mess in the halls or elevators, and taking control if the volume gets out of hand. Personally, I would not have been disturbed at all (let alone confrontational) if someone knocked to ask us to quiet down, especially if it was after midnight. However, regulations and rules simply cannot be made, or reasonably enforced, for having friends over to celebrate in the privacy of one's home. This is a community of adults and if tenants are having repeated, unreasonable parties, they can be approached and the situation can be addressed retroactively. Putting regulations in place about parties seems not only unnecessary, but way too oppressive -- people do not always live quietly -- they have friends, they entertain and socialize, they play instruments and music, and YES, they even imbibe from time to time. As long as residents can do so with courtesy and not disturb their neighbors more than slightly, every once in a blue moon, I think we can leave the party police behind.
Also, just a tip: we told management we were having a birthday party and gave the concierge a guest list that day (including first and last names). For anyone who does plan on having people over -- even for Thanksgiving or small gatherings -- I'd highly recommend doing this. It saves you from running downstairs constantly, makes signing in guests easier for the concierge and your guests, and keeps things moving quickly for all with the ID-check policy downstairs.
Oh, and for the concerned citizen commenter -- we would never, ever condone drunk driving and I am happy to report that everyone stumbled home from our festivities safely. Not one guest even drove a car here in the first place.