Description

Dear Mr. Trudeau,
This issue started roughly December 10th. We have just moved back to our grandmothers former homestead (Which has been owned, as well as 6 Jeanette st. for well over 50 years) after moving out of the city of Albany for roughly 4 years. My wife has lived in this house for 27 years before we moved and has always enjoyed the giant old trees, grass field and bushes lining the property. Our 2 children, ages 8 and 5 formerly played on the very grounds these 'neighbors' to our rear have destroyed in our absence, ripping out all grass bushes and trees and replacing with an eyesore of mud and a distracting too large metal fence. (A photo to show where the city property starts in conjunction with her garage has been attached) Although it is not on our property, and it is their prerogative as the new home owners to do it has created issues for our family directly. On or around December 10th, when parked in front of the city curb in question here, the neighbor came out of her home and requested we move "Or else she will hit the vehicle". we were stunned. My wife decided to pass on the grief and we moved the vehicle, but not forgetting the situation and how destroyed the property had become and just what harm may befall her mis-use of this city property. We have our answer today, after she backed into our vehicle which was not parked in this space, but across the street from her garage entirely! Only further proving her inability to maneuver with or without the use of the larger space. She owns two total driveways on her property, Why must she destroy the city property she doesn't own, and let the rest of us have to deal with the muck(disgusting mud) she creates every time she backs over the city grass and curb . I understand inclement weather issues, however, she hide it from us completely and when confronted denied wrecking our only vehicle until threatened with police which is when she "remembered hitting us at 4 in the morning " but then stated she didn't realize she hit anything ( which makes me worried as a resident that she won't "realize" she hit a child or another vehicle in the future). The evident damage to her vehicle was found to be completely conclusive. She never offered apology nor did she seem to care much that we are out our family vehicle, possibly for good as the insurance company is stating it was hit so hard it may be a total loss. I have attached further evidence of our issues with this gross mis-use of city property in the form of a police report and photographs. Our issue can simply be resolved here, at least from my vantage point, by placing a sign post stating "Driveway" with an arrow pointing to their driveway on the very spot they are destroying, All will know not to block their property as stated by the sign, and she will have a perfectly adequate driveway that she will just have to be more cautious of pulling out of, the city property will remains 'relatively' unspoiled and it will also force her to back out of the driveway properly, without harming other individuals or vehicles that may be present or driving through the area at any time. She has wreaked havoc as well on the street in early December, by employing someone to remove a tree at the end of the block. Seeing as though the tree fell into the street, blocking partially Second avenue and all of Jeanette street for upwards of 20 minutes in snowy weather, my guess is that you will have record of the botched job already somewhere in your files as two city trucks were alerted to the tree down and proceeded to argue with the "professional" taking it down as he had no help and did not know what he was doing as he was causing very large safety issues for all drivers or passers -by in the area at the time, Absolutely anytime we will make ourselves available to have this issue resolved. As of today, this small patch of grass and a neighbor who seems to be quite un-neighborly, has cost us a vehicle and a very substantial life change. How much more damage will need to be caused before a simple sign can be placed to prevent her future damages?
Sincerely, Erik & Maura Van Dyke (518)588-9005