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StrngBrew OP t1_jcktx6m wrote

Molly* loved her backyard at first. She and her husband had moved to the garden-level two-bedroom in Crown Heights in early 2021. It was pricier than their last place, but it seemed worth it: She had visions of a thriving garden and casual dinner parties impervious to new COVID variants or indoor-dining regulations. But things slowly soured. She began to resent the backyard — the constant maintenance, the rats and mosquitoes, a mulberry tree with fruit that stained everything it touched. The next two years would become something like a constant battle against Mother Nature. “I went from being this ambitious gardener to barely being able to keep my area of the yard clean,” Molly said. “I didn’t realize how much more work it was going to be, or how dirty the work was going to be.”

Between March and September 2020, searches for rentals with “outdoor space” on StreetEasy rose 249 percent. Luxury buildings touted private terraces — even those pathetic little ones — as the amenity of the pandemic; sales grew accordingly, increasing by 42 percent in the span of a year. “We’re going to look to incorporate outdoor space, if not in every unit, in almost every unit,” one developer told the New York Times of the balcony boom in new construction. Amber Freda, a gardener who runs a landscape-design business, told me that 2021 was her biggest year to date. “People still were not traveling that much and they weren’t going to restaurants,” Freda said of the time, “so they really needed their outdoor spaces.”

Backyards felt like freedom in the early months of social distancing. With movie theaters closed, you could host your own outdoor Fast & Furious screening. Shuttered bars didn’t matter so much if you could host friends for an alfresco drink. But backyards in the city aren’t always as relaxing as they seem, and some tenants found themselves in their own version of the upstate regret story, confounded by their new (modest) acreage and the local wildlife. One person I spoke to who paid extra for a Brooklyn two-bedroom with a backyard during COVID ended up unwittingly sharing it: “We would open the door and there would just be an army of rats staring at us,” she said. Their landlord tried poison and dry ice, but nothing worked. “We would have friends over for dinner outside, and a rat would just dart under the table.” Another backyard regretter told me that their former yard, which had been marketed as private, was actually accessible through a door that led to the basement of a restaurant in the building; once, the previous building owner suddenly appeared, saying he was there to dig up a “special onion.”

Another renter I spoke to said they paid an additional $600 a month for a Brooklyn brownstone with a concrete backyard, which was fine at first. Come fall, the leaves clogged a drainage pipe, and the yard became a “mosquito-filled swamp.” When their lease renewal came up, their landlord tried to take away their backyard access without reducing the rent. “Even though I hate going out in the yard, this made me mad,” the tenant said. They managed to negotiate a reduction, which they now felt was “more valuable” to them than outdoor space. (This kind of remorse is not exactly universal. When asked if she ever felt burdened by her pandemic backyard, one tenant simply replied, “No.”)

Outdoor spaces require a certain amount of time and toil, Freda said, which can catch some people by surprise. “A lot of spaces are really raw,” she said of the yards, terraces, and rooftops she sees among her clients, who are mostly homeowners. Without any kind of irrigation system in place, watering can become a Sisyphean chore. Freda recalled a client in Soho who had bought an apartment with a beautifully staged rooftop garden that lacked a water hookup. Soon enough, the plants began drying up and the artificial greenery left behind by the previous owner faded and fell over. “It’s a bigger project than he realized when he bought the place,” Freda said. Hot summer days, when people most want to get out of the city, are also when gardens require the most upkeep, which, Freda said, might mean “no more trips to Fire Island on the weekend.”

Molly in Crown Heights never ended up starting that garden — she had her hands full with a newborn — but her neighbors’ kids did end up planting tomatoes. (They were later eaten by rats.) Tiki torches have done little to deter the mosquitoes. She’s stayed put, but says she hardly uses the yard anymore outside of a few dinner parties during ideal season — the shoulder months of spring and fall when there are fewer bugs and berries aren’t falling on their heads. But the stress of having a backyard was too much for some. The tenant dealing with the squadron of rats eventually gave up: “We just completely ceded the backyard to them.” When they started coming into the house, she fled. Her new place has no backyard, and she’s happy to keep it that way. “Never again,” she said.

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stuartfromtheplains t1_jcl3v4v wrote

Always been one of my biggest fears about having a garden level or patio apartment, even having a big dog…I’m still scared of the critters lol

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clean-sheets- t1_jcl4ktb wrote

> once, the previous building owner suddenly appeared, saying he was there to dig up a “special onion.”

How can they just include this line without elaborating??

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thebruns t1_jcl5u5l wrote

What a stupid article. You can write this about anything.

THEY WANTED A BABY, NOW THEY HATE IT. “I didn’t realize how much more work it was going to be, or how dirty the work was going to be.”

THEY WANTED A CAR, NOW THEY HATE IT. “I didn’t realize how much more work it was going to be, or how dirty the work was going to be.”

THEY WANTED A RICE COOKER, NOW THEY HATE IT. “I didn’t realize how much more work it was going to be, or how dirty the work was going to be.”

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virtual_adam t1_jcl8eh7 wrote

It’s absurd this is being framed as an NYC thing. Literally hundreds of thousands of people in the vicinity of the city are dealing with the same issues in single family homes

She didn’t have time to garden because she just had a baby!! This surely doesn’t happen in Englewood

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Allands12 t1_jcld42v wrote

I used to think having a backyard was the ultimate luxury in the city, but now I'm not so sure. Rats seem to be taking over everything these days!

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Pinuzzo t1_jclk0hb wrote

Didnt realize that yardwork could be dirty? Especially when your threshold for dirtiness is.... a mulberry tree.

The rat issues could probably be mitigated with a cat or a dog.

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AlarmingDrawing t1_jcm4y7g wrote

Replying to SacredDuty (#2,255,993)

This! I have a 300 sf "cozy garden" that is a true utopia. I've never seen a rat and I enjoy cleaning and maintaining all aspects of the garden. The best part is being able to have a Big Green Egg out there.

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badwvlf t1_jcm6lr0 wrote

There’s a lot of sarcasm in here, but 2021 and 2022 summers were wildly different for rats. I had a crown heights yard (same one) both years. First year my dog caught about 25 rats but I was able to garden largely without disruption. Last summer they decimated my garden and my dogs could barely catch them. They outsmarted traps (the entire trap would literally go missing, lost about 8 traps this way). It was awful.

I moved to a place with a large terrace now.

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Silvery_Silence t1_jcmoj0u wrote

No srsly why are there so many rats on this city and why do I live here.

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robotrequiem t1_jcmsqkm wrote

Honestly these people sound a bit lazy and entitled, and like they were so focused on simply having an outdoor space they didn't even consider the issues and work that can come with it.

I rent a first floor apt with a small yard. Every year in the spring we spend a weekend cleaning the dead plants and leaves, add some new plants if others didn't take well or grow back. In the summer we make time to water plants daily and pull weeds weekly. We make sure drains aren't clogged to avoid water pooling for mosquitos to breed in, and clear plant debris so it doesn't build up to provide nesting for rats. Yes it's more work but it's really not that crazy, just requires a bit of manual labor.

In the mornings I drink my coffee and watch the various birds (that aren't pigeons!) show up. I've seen a mama raccoon with her babies run by. We have a fig tree and tomato plant that produce fruit every year. We plant herbs loved by caterpillars that turn into lovely butterflies. It can be so cool seeing some nature in the city and maintaining the space is worth it.

Sure there can be issues that are out of your control, like if the neighborhood has a rat or bug issue or the yard was not set up with proper drainage. But it sounds like these people thought their yards would somehow just take care of themselves and they could reap the benefits with no work.

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stewartm0205 t1_jcn0cer wrote

I live in an expensive suburb right next to a wood. Field rats dug a tunnel under my garbage shed. Had to demo the shed and get a fully contained shed from Costco. Now, I have field mice that winter in my attic. Didn’t know brick homes have weep holes. I put a few jars of pepper mint oil up there. And filled the weep hole with copper wool. Not to mention the other critters that stop by like: squirrels, raccoons, skunks, chipmunks, groundhog, deers, stray cats, lizards, newts, shrews, and coyotes.

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spicytoastaficionado t1_jcnf20h wrote

Almost all of the grievances listed in the article boil down to people not adequately researching the maintenance of having a backyard, no matter how small.

​

  • Complaining about mosquitos in an outdoor space.
  • Complaining about rats in NYC in an outdoor space where food is served.
  • Not realizing leaves falling clogs drainpipes
  • Buying an apartment with a rooftop garden without understanding the basic concept of plants needing to be watered.

​

These people wanted a place to host parties and brunches without doing any of the actual work to maintain that space.

LMAO

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mictlanian t1_jcnjihb wrote

Replying to badwvlf (#2,256,934)

This! I’ve lived in my apartment with a yard for 7 years. I never used to see rats in the yard during the daytime. But after 2020 they just run around it like nothing in broad daylight.

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Dont_mute_me_bro t1_jcoj1mu wrote

I get static here for preferring a more suburban type of neighborhood in Queens. I don't see rats.

My fig, apple and pear trees bear delicious fruit, and the low population density means less abundant food sources for vermin, and less vermin as a result. In addition, the owls from nearby parks scour the woods for critters. My cat helps to insure that mice don't come in.

My problem is birds eating my figs. I have it easy!

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badwvlf t1_jcoyv40 wrote

Replying to AutonomousPapaya (#2,261,191)

I doubt it. These aren’t mice. These are RATS. Like, need plastic take our size bags to bag them for the trash. Over half of the ones she caught were 12-18” nose to nail. She’s a pit bull so she has ratting instincts.

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ScaredLettuce t1_jcrps27 wrote

Wait, so I am doing well with my one GIANT rat that I had last year outside and the smaller one I have this year?? Good to know.

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