'I don't know how to get this woman off my back': Co-op Karen files noise complaint against neighbor for her low-key housewarming, neighbor catches Karen loitering

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Oct 21, 2024 2:00 PM EDT

Living in a co-op certainly has its advantages, but it also means that you may or may not be at the mercy of a building Karen.

Here, we have a new tenant who just moved into her co-op in noisy midtown Manhattan two weeks prior. She threw a small housewarming get-together with ten people on a Friday night. These are all folks in their late twenties or early thirties who knew that this was a quiet, low-key event rather than some kind of rager. Unfortunately for the Redditor who hosted the event, she would have to deal with the building Karen who insisted that they were being too loud despite no complaints from other residents and repeated attempts to maintain a respectful level of noise. Plus, as we mentioned, they live in a noisy part of the city that is naturally way busier and louder, so you would think the Karen would be accustomed to a little activity.

Keep scrolling below for the full saga and to see what happened the following morning when the resident caught the building Karen loitering outside her apartment. For more stories like this, check out this list of embarrassing moments people had in public.  

Advertisement
  • 01
    44 "Karen was loitering outside [my [apartment]" P ON ED IGNAL
    via Clay LeConey
  • 02
    Coop Karen decides a Friday night dinner party in NYC is unacceptable
    via smugdolphin
  • 03
    Alright, long story, but lemme paint a picture for you guys: • I have lived in various apartments for the past decade,
    via smugdolphin
  • 04
    in a variety of major cities (both in the U.S. and outside of the U.S., and in New York before) and have never ONCE,
    via smugdolphin
  • 05
    received a complaint of any kind (formal or informal) from any neighbors, the building, whatever.
    via smugdolphin
  • 06
    I've always had good and pleasant relationships with my neighbors, making small talk in the common areas,
    via smugdolphin
  • 07
    asking about their lives, the whole shebang. I've also thrown numerous parties in the past (typically a couple times a year, maybe 3 times at most -
    via smugdolphin
  • 08
    hosting takes effort lol) and these things are NOT ragers. They're basically glorified dinner parties. My god, this
    via smugdolphin
  • 09
    latest one even had a full on charcuterie board that I curated smh
    via smugdolphin
  • 10
    I recently moved into a coop in midtown Manhattan (I'm renting), not even 2 WEEKS AGO, and the resident Karen
    via smugdolphin
  • 11
    has already complained. I would understand if there were some kind of repeated pattern of annoyance...but this woman (I'm also a woman just FYI)
    via smugdolphin
  • 12
    decided that the Friday house housewarming dinner party I threw was unacceptable
    via smugdolphin
  • 13
    • More context about this building - we are in a LOUD part of midtown Manhattan - near a major university hospital
    via smugdolphin
  • 14
    where you can hear sirens going off at all hours of the day and night, and right by a highway ramp where you can hear trucks
    via smugdolphin
  • 15
    bouncing over potholes every few minutes. Which is to say, that I don't think anywhere here has any expectation of pin drop quiet generally. But also,
    via smugdolphin
  • 16
    in the 2 weeks that I've lived here, I have not been able to hear a PEEP from anything going on in the other units - not
    via smugdolphin
  • 17
    from the ones next to me, not on my floor, not from above me, and not from below me. So unless everyone else in this building lives their lives like they're in a monastery (doubtful,
    via smugdolphin
  • 18
    considering that the age majority in the building seems to range from late 20s to mid 40s), the soundproofing (between units, not from the outside) seems fairly decent?
    via smugdolphin
  • 19
    All of that is to say, I really don't think that someone could legitimately file a noise complaint unless either (A) The unit was being really,
    via smugdolphin
  • 20
    REALLY loud, or (B) They're a building Karen, actively looking for others to harass
    via smugdolphin
  • 21
    • Which brings me to the eve of the party - again, it was a Friday night in New York. A total of about 10 people
    via smugdolphin
  • 22
    about 10 people came (all mostly in their late 20s or early 30s, like myself, and all young professionals). For
    via smugdolphin
  • 23
    good measure, I gave the doormen downstairs a heads up that I'd be hosting some people
    via smugdolphin
  • 24
    that evening, and told them to call me if there were any issues - they said no problem, and I assumed things would be good for the evening. The
    via smugdolphin
  • 25
    party involved some background music playing (out of a small Bluetooth speaker I have that's attached to my TV,
    via smugdolphin
  • 26
    and is maybe a grand total of about 5x3 inches, and at a volume no higher than what you'd put on if you were watching a movie alone in your home),
    via smugdolphin
  • 27
    and people either sitting on my couch or standing in my living room, chatting and mingling. There was no dancing of any kind, no drinking games (again, NOT a rager), no
    via smugdolphin
  • 28
    tomfoolery of any kind - basically just charcuterie and wine and chatting
    via smugdolphin
  • 29
    Party started at 9 PM (our profession often involves late hours, hence the start time). Coop Karen comes to my door, not even 2
    via smugdolphin
  • 30
    hours later (she came sometime around 10:30/10:45) to complain about the alleged noise
    via smugdolphin
  • 31
    Coop Karen looked a bit older than me (maybe late 30s, early 40s) and alleged that she could hear our party
    via smugdolphin
  • 32
    "all the way from the other end of the hall". I was kind of taken aback by this,
    via smugdolphin
  • 33
    because again, the party had not seemed that loud to me. Still, I apologized, told her I would turn the background music down even further,
    via smugdolphin
  • 34
    and offered her some pizza/characterize and/or drinks as a peace offering (and to be neighborly).
    via smugdolphin
  • 35
    She says no, but the exchange seemed to have gone fine enough, and I didn't think too much would come of it. She asked me to turn it down, I complied
    via smugdolphin
  • 36
    . But, before turning it down, I went out into the hallway myself to see if the noise was actually projecting that far. Spoiler alert:
    via smugdolphin
  • 37
    I could not hear any noise from the party in the hallway whatsoever, UNLESS I was maybe standing right outside of my door,
    via smugdolphin
  • 38
    within a 5 foot radius of it. Even so, I still then turned down the music even more as per her request,
    via smugdolphin
  • 39
    and asked guests to lower the chatting volume just a bit, just to try to be respectful of the neighbor's request.
    via smugdolphin
  • 40
    The party was over right around midnight, and everyone went home, except one friend of mine who was crashing for the night
    via smugdolphin
  • 41
    • Fast forward to the next morning - it's probably around 11 AM, maybe noon the next day - almost 12 HOURS after the party had already ended. My friend opens the front door
    via smugdolphin
  • 42
    to head out, and who do we spot? Coop Karen, loitering outside my door, with an expression that I can only describe as "looking like she got caught".
    via smugdolphin
  • 43
    From this, I assumed that maybe she was from one of the units directly adjacent to mine - I live at the dead end of the floor
    via smugdolphin
  • 44
    hallway, and the elevator bank and staircases are not at all near the end that I'm at. Which means that, unless you live in my unit, or one of my neighboring units
    via smugdolphin
  • 45
    - you would have literally no reason to be in this section of the hallway
    via smugdolphin
  • 46
    • Turns out my assumption was wrong! Friend says that coop Karen got into the elevator with her, and proceeded
    via smugdolphin
  • 47
    to get off the elevator one floor below mine (the floor one below mine is purely residential -
    via smugdolphin
  • 48
    no communal spaces, or anywhere you would be able to go to unless you actually lived in one of the units on that floor). Huh. Weird
    via smugdolphin
  • 49
    right? Considering that both (A) Karen was loitering outside of my door THE NEXT MORNING,
    via smugdolphin
  • 50
    and (B) That her initial complaint was that she could allegedly hear my party "all the way from the other end of the hall", you'd think she was one of my floor neighbors.
    via smugdolphin
  • 51
    But nope, looks like she came all the way up from another floor to both (A) Complain, and then to (B) Snoop by my doorway the next morning???
    via smugdolphin
  • 52
    • As a side note here - I am well aware that sometimes sound can carry upwards or downwards in apartment buildings,
    via smugdolphin
  • 53
    and that it's possible that she could somehow hear the party from below me more than my actual neighbors. Still, if that were the case,
    via smugdolphin
  • 54
    she should've said so instead of concocting this story about my party being "so loud" that she could hear it down the hall on the entire other side of
    via smugdolphin
  • 55
    the building. And on top of that, since I've moved in here - I have not been able to hear a PEEP from either the unit above me or below me. So I'm skeptical -
    via smugdolphin
  • 56
    especially given that the noise level did not seem unreasonable when I went to check at all, and O other complaints were received
    via smugdolphin
  • 57
    • Fast forward to yesterday - I get an email from the third party coop management company, informing me one of my neighbors (gee I wonder who???)
    via smugdolphin
  • 58
    submitted a noise complaint about me. I replied to the email trying to explain the full situation - the party was not very big, not very loud,
    via smugdolphin
  • 59
    and I had kept the doormen in the loop. - and that I had still turned things down even further when she complained, to be neighborly. The management
    via smugdolphin
  • 60
    company lady then responds with THE MOST aggressive/condesc ending email I've probably ever received from a so- called "professional"
    via smugdolphin
  • 61
    accusing me of "not taking responsibility" how she's "disappointed" in me, yadayadayada - anyway, that's almost a whole separate story now,
    via smugdolphin
  • 62
    but I stuck to my guns, reiterated my side of things and how I really did not think that things had gotten out of hand,
    via smugdolphin
  • 63
    and was able to at least get this lady to concede that if another noise complaint is called in, someone from building staff will
    via smugdolphin
  • 64
    come up to somewhat objectively determine whether the complaint has any merit. I was also told to get more rugs to cover "at least 80%" of my flooring.
    via smugdolphin
  • 65
    This requirement was news to me - while, in fairness, there is a line in the lease about this requirement, it was phrased as not being mandatory if the landlord doesn't
    via smugdolphin
  • 66
    require it - any when I toured the unit, the previous tenant had O rugs of any kind. So I'd assumed it didn't apply to me. But whatever, I can get some rugs
    via smugdolphin
  • 67
    All of this is to say, I now feel attacked in my own home, and afraid to have anyone over, lest coop Karen complain that it's too loud. I'm also creeped
    via smugdolphin
  • 68
    TF out that she was loitering by my door the next morning for no justifiable reason. Given how reasonable the noise level seemed to be at my party when I went to check the situation for myself in the hallway -
    via smugdolphin
  • 69
    and given, again, how it was relatively early on a Friday night in midtown Manhattan - I don't know how to get this woman off my back if I ever have people over again. To be fully transparent, building quiet hours are *technically* from 10 PM
    via smugdolphin
  • 70
    to 8 AM - but again, even with that requirement, I didn't think any of the sound coming out from my apartment was enough to constitute a violation. On top of that,
    via smugdolphin
  • 71
    my understanding (from having lived in many apartment buildings in the past) was that quiet hours on weekends have a bit more wiggle room.
    via smugdolphin
  • 72
    Look, I would get it if I was blasting music through amps into the wee hours of the morning, but (A) I was NOT blasting the music at all - again, think the volume you'd have on your TV watching a move
    via smugdolphin
  • 73
    alone, and (B) When coop Karen decided to complain, it was barely even half an hour after 10 PM.
    via smugdolphin
  • 74
    And at least for me...unless the noise were either (A) truly egregious, or (B) a repeat offense, I would NEVER submit a noise complaint with the building.
    via smugdolphin
  • 75
    Reiterating - I have been in this building for barely 2 weeks, and this woman decides to already complain
    via smugdolphin
  • 76
    But you guys tell me - is she actually a Karen? Or am I overreacting?
    via smugdolphin

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

karens entitled parents karen-customer karens in the wild entitled reddit thread Reddit karen entitled people neighbors neighborhood-drama apartment
Scroll Down For The Next Article