South Williamsburg Loft Couple Says New Neighbor Turned Their Lives Upside Down

Harold and Elena Joyce allege a string of disturbing phone calls, repeated police visits, and escalating harassment after an unnamed man moved into apartment 2B of their South Williamsburg building.

Harold and Elena Joyce say the trouble began shortly after a new tenant took unit 2B in their South Williamsburg loft building.
The couple alleges the neighbor subjected them to disturbing phone calls and behavior that prompted multiple police visits to the property.
The Joyces have pursued legal action against both the neighbor and their landlord over the alleged conditions.
The building is located in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a neighborhood where loft conversions have drawn a mix of long-term residents and newer arrivals.
Court filings and reporting by Curbed detail a sustained period of disruption the Joyces describe as a nightmare following years of quiet tenancy.

Harold and Elena Joyce describe their South Williamsburg loft as the kind of place you hold onto. They had held onto it quietly, by most accounts, until the man in apartment 2B arrived.

According to a Curbed report published this month, the Joyces allege the new neighbor set off a prolonged period of harassment: disturbing phone calls, conduct alarming enough to bring police to the building on multiple occasions, and a general unraveling of the domestic calm they had previously taken for granted.

The couple has since filed suit, naming both the neighbor and their landlord as defendants. The landlord's alleged failure to intervene is central to the complaint — the Joyces contend that management was on notice and did not act.

South Williamsburg loft space of the type the Joyces occupy has traded at a premium for the better part of a decade, the kind of unit that draws competitive bids and lease-renewal anxieties under ordinary circumstances. The building address is listed in court filings.

The identity of the man in 2B is not named in the Curbed account. Police visit logs, however, are a matter of record.