‘I am baffled by this behavior’: Neighbors park their stroller in front of woman's front door, breaking fire code laws, then threaten her when she complains to property management

When you're living in an apartment building, especially in New York City, you're living on top and under piles of people (literally and figuratively). That's the trade-off for living in the Big Apple! However, when living in close quarters with strangers, being on your best behavior is integral to ensuring the peace between and safety of the folks residing in the building. It's the least you can do while you're living in a shoe box apartment!

Unfortunately, entitled people exist everywhere—especially in one of the most populated cities in the United States. Most folks can't afford a three bedroom unit with extra closet space and a dishwasher, so they opt for a cozy one bedroom or studio to make things work within their means. However, their lack of space should not be anyone else's problem.

The user who posted this story is dealing with an upstairs neighbors who, without fail, park their child's stroller in front of her front door. Aside from this being completely illogical, it is also a fire code violation and can land the property manager in big trouble. If something were to go down in the building, that stroller is the difference between the user getting out or being stuck inside her apartment. Even after she asks them nicely to leave the stroller elsewhere, they refuse. So, she takes it up with the big guy—needless to say, the neighbors didn't take it well at all. Scroll to read the entire absurd story below.

Like what you see? Follow our WhatsApp channel for more.

Author image for Lana DeGaetano Lana DeGaetano
Advertisement
  • "I didn't know adults could act this way."
    Via Unsplash (Tommaso Pecchioli)
  • Advertisement

  • "AITA for trying to get my neighbors to not block my front door"

    (32F) live in NYC. I recently moved into a small building, three stories, 6 apartments in total. My apartment is a ground floor unit. From move in a neighbor (40F
    Via carplast
  • and 40M) has been storing their large stroller in front of my front door, which poses problems every time I have to come and go from my apartment. It is also
    Via carplast
  • against fire code and explicitly forbidden in the building's leases. The stroller is there every day, unless their kid (3M) decides he doesn't want to walk.
    Via carplast
  • Advertisement
  • One day when I heard them leaving it there, I introduced myself and politely said them leaving their stroller there was causing me issues and it is against the city's fire. code and asked them to
    Via carplast
  • no longer keep their stroller in front of my front door. The 40F neighbor gave me excuses that they live on the third floor, but the 40M neighbor straight up
    Via carplast
  • raised his voice at me, while I was holding my infant daughter. The woman said as a compromise she'd fold the stroller when leaving it front of my door.
    Via carplast
  • Advertisement
  • As time went on, the stroller was never folded up and continued to block my door. As it is against fire code, and explicitly forbidden in the lease, I decided to reach
    Via carplast
  • out to property management for help resolving this issue. I just want to be able to safely come and go from my apartment.
    Via carplast
  • The day the property management enforced this on these neighbors, the 40F neighbor rang my doorbell, and proceeded to refuse to speak to me and called her mother.
    Via carplast
  • Advertisement

  • These excuses just won't do. The user also has a child but uses a stroller she can keep inside of her unit. Even when reaching out to the neighbors politely and gently, they would rather make excuses than admit their faults. If the stroller is folded up, it would still be in front of the user's front door. She will still have to crawl over the stroller or move it herself every time she wants to leave the house, and people don't pay rent to participate in an obstacle course every day. 

    You know someone needs a reality check when they respond to warranted criticism like this. Just wait—instead of fighting their own battles, they decide to put their mother on the phone with the user. To say the least, the phone call was surreal.

  • Cheezburger Image 10453199104

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

    Via Unsplash+ (Blake Cheek)
  • Her mother then berated me on speaker phone and said I should have spoken to them first, ignoring me. when I said I did. She then kind of threatened me saying I "complained about the wrong people".
    Via carplast
  • Advertisement
  • I was stunned and couldn't believe this was happening. All I could muster was insisting it is against fire code and no one gets to break fire code.
    Via carplast
  • I am baffled by this behavior. I found it a bizarre confrontation and I didn't know adults could act this way. I've never had issues with neighbors before.
    Via carplast
  • I have a child younger than their's and empathize with their situation, but their kid is massive and able to walk. They could just have an umbrella stroller, like I do. I just wanted access to my front door. AITA?
    Via carplast
  • Advertisement
  • tl;dr neighbor in small apartment building breaks fire code and blocks my front door and ignores polite personal request to stop. I take it up with building
    Via carplast
  • management. The neighbor initiated bizarre confrontation with her mother on speaker phone, making vague threats. AITA?
    Via carplast
  • EDIT: I appreciate the outside perspective. I didn't think I was TA, but I do have people pleasing tendencies and it was very clear my actions hurt people's feelings, and it gave me self doubt.
    Via carplast
  • Advertisement
  • The reason I engaged with the mother on the phone at all is bizarre too, it's all just too weird and I'm reeling a little lol. The 40F neighbor has an unusual way of speaking, I haven't been able to work out if it is an accent or what. When she put
    Via carplast
  • the mother on speaker phone I had a sinking thought that maybe the 40F neighbor is deaf and needs someone to talk for her and I felt bad that maybe I'd made a deaf person feel victimized when they can't speak up
    Via carplast
  • for themselves???? But like she clearly wasn't deaf, her mother was just on speaker phone with no video and she had zero issues following the conversation. Apart from this is incident and the
    Via carplast
  • Advertisement
  • other neighbor stuff this woman and her man have pulled, they seem like normal functional adults. The man does not have an unusual way of speaking. I don't think her unusual way of speaking is really a factor in whether I'm
    Via carplast
  • TA, and I have been so eager to be polite and respectful. It became clear very quickly the phone call wasn't really about helping in
    Via carplast
  • communication, but just messy people expressing their anger as much as possible. But yeah, that's why I let the phone call happen. Messy.
    Via carplast
  • Advertisement
  • FauxeticVRC Nta. Your neighbors are really entitled... No normal person would want to leave their property outside a strangers door for days on end. Consider reporting them again to building management for the confrontation.. this kind of behavior was completely uncalled for.
    Via FauxeticVRC

Stay up to date by following us on Facebook!

Tags

ask reddit feud neighbors neighborhood neighborhood-drama bad neighbors neighborhood-stories reddit story terrible neighbors entitled reddit thread Bad Neighbor r-entitled Reddit entitled people neighbor conflict
Scroll down for the next article

Also From FAIL Blog

Trending Now

17-year old tells her new stepmother that she doesn't want to be her "daughter": 'she has a photo frame in her home office that says mommy's girl and there's a photo of me in it'

17-year old tells her new stepmother that she doesn't want to be her "daughter": 'she has a photo frame in her home office that says mommy's girl and there's a photo of me in it'

01
Employees fed up after company cuts 90% of their big annual bonus, despite promising it in exchange for unpaid overtime and extra shifts, boss insists: ‘You're lucky to work here’

Employees fed up after company cuts 90% of their big annual bonus, despite promising it in exchange for unpaid overtime and extra shifts, boss insists: ‘You're lucky to work here’

02
Brother and sister cut off contact with their dad after he demands they get adopted by his new wife, other siblings take father's side: 'You're being ungrateful’

Brother and sister cut off contact with their dad after he demands they get adopted by his new wife, other siblings take father's side: 'You're being ungrateful’

03
'Jokes on them': Trucker treats themselves to exorbitantly long breaks, waiting out the blinding sunrise after getting scolded for using a sun visor

'Jokes on them': Trucker treats themselves to exorbitantly long breaks, waiting out the blinding sunrise after getting scolded for using a sun visor

04
Cat Karen backpedals on a $500 finder's fee for the kind people who saved her lost cat, refusing to pay for necessary veterinary bills they covered in her absence: 'We spent $400'

Cat Karen backpedals on a $500 finder's fee for the kind people who saved her lost cat, refusing to pay for necessary veterinary bills they covered in her absence: 'We spent $400'

05
‘Dig your own grave I guess’: Boss forces specific employees to use PTO during a snowstorm instead of allowing them to work remotely

‘Dig your own grave I guess’: Boss forces specific employees to use PTO during a snowstorm instead of allowing them to work remotely

06
Advertisement