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Some people are just weird, and it is hard to get along with them because you never know how they will act.

That is what the woman in this story experiences. At first, he was extremely nice to her, to the point of being annoying, but everything changed when she asked him to use fewer mothballs because she could smell them from her apartment.

After that, he became aggressively annoying and even slammed doors in her face, making her feel unsafe. Now she isn’t sure what she should do.

Personally, I think she needs to document what is happening and notify the landlord right away.

Aggressive weird neighbor?

Full context:

I (F33) moved into my apartment in NYC 4 years ago. I’m a single woman who keeps to herself and works nights. I’m quiet, I don’t have many visitors or family stopping by.

Some people don’t understand social etiquette.

When I moved in, my neighbor (M~45) seemed overly friendly – almost in an aggressive way? He brought me wine, introduced himself to my mom in the hallway at one point, and would interrupt my phone calls if I was outside on the phone just to say hi.

There was even one point where I was walking with my headphones and he reached out to GRAB me on the sidewalk to say hi. I remember getting upset and asking him what on Earth possessed him to reach out and grab an unsuspecting woman on the sidewalk?!

Where did this smell come from?

He was honestly not phased. He continued being overly and obnoxiously friendly to me. I was always cordial, but displayed my boundaries appropriately and kindly.

Fast forward to a few months later, I come home to the most unsettling, unpleasant odor of mothballs in my apartment. The smell permeated my closet and the smell embedded into my clothes.

Of course. It had to be him.

As weeks progressed, I woke up with headaches. I couldn’t figure out where the smell was coming from, as I have neighbors above, below, and on either side of me. The hallways reeked. A friend came over one day, scrunched her nose and asked “why does your place smell like my grandma?”

Eventually, it got stronger. I was able to deduce that the scent was coming from my overly friendly neighbor.

Hopefully he reads the note soon.

After a few attempts to knock on his door, I managed to get 0 answer. Eventually, I wrote a note, stuck it to his door, and left it at that. I can’t remember the specifics of the note, but I remember writing something along the lines of:

Hello!
If you’re the one using mothballs, do you mind toning it down? The smell is coming into my apartment and I’m learning I’m quite sensitive to it. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you!

She tried to talk to him in person.

After about 20 minutes, there was a loud banging on my door. I opened, and my neighbor stood there with the note in his hands, FUMING.

He raised his voice at me (not quite yelling) and demanded to know why I thought writing a note was a good idea and why I refused to talk to him in person.

Weird, but at least the problem went away.

He told me he had wool sweaters he was trying to save from moths and I was going to cause him to lose all his clothes. I tried to explain that I’d knocked a few times and meant to catch him in the hallways, but I’d received no response and hadn’t seen him… but he turned back to his door and slammed it shut.

Weird, but okay. I’m not sure if I handled that correctly, but I was willing to apologize or own up to it. The mothball smell disappeared within days. Yay!

… or so I thought.

What a jerk.

Now, and for the last 3.5 YEARS, this man has made it his mission to make me uncomfortable. He will purposely wait for me in the common areas if he sees me around the complex, rush to the door before I can get to it and slam the door in my face.

He will wait for me at the elevator or run up (or slow down his pace) to the building to get to the door before me and make it obvious he is doing so.

He is really crossing the line.

He does it in front of his guests as well as other neighbors. He does it when I’m moving furniture or have large items/bags in my hands. This week, he opened a large fire door in the hallway (it’s heavy and swings back) directly in front of me.

He pushed the door back HARD (I saw his arm grip and push the door) and it nearly hit me square in the face when I was coming home with groceries.

She needs to file a complaint. Or get a restraining order.

Had I not put my hand out at the last second, I would have certainly received a black eye at best.

Listen, I don’t expect him to be a gentleman and open doors or hold them for me. I truly don’t care. What bothers me is that every time I see this man he makes an obvious point to be rude and aggressive.

Apparently he treats everyone poorly.

This last time with the fire door was absolutely crazy to me because everyone KNOWS you can really hurt someone with that door if it hits you.

Additionally, this man has a woman at his apartment quite often and I can hear him screaming at her at all times of the day/night. He’s not a nice man at all.

Why can’t she bring this to the landlord? At the very least, it will begin a paper trail of harassment.

What do I do here? I want this to stop. This isn’t nearly enough for me to contact my building, but this can’t continue? Or can it?

Do I just suck it up and accept that not every neighbor is going to be the friendliest? Should I get a ring camera in case something does happen?

Yes, a Ring camera is a great first step. But she should also report it to the landlord. And tell the guy to stop, or she will call the police. She can’t just let this continue.

Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say.

Telling the landlord is a good idea.

Recording the interactions is a good idea.

He really is completely out of line.

Here is someone who says she should carry pepper spray.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a renter who receives a text saying his landlord has passed and asking for checks to go to a different account, but he’s not sure it’s real.

This person thinks she is in danger.

She really needs to be careful and take care of herself. You never know how people like this are going to react to things.

Some guys really hate rejection, and they can become violent.