By Kelsey Durham
A family in Queens Village says they are being harassed by a neighbor who has been posting pornographic images in a window facing their home for more than two years.
Sanjeev Aggarwal, who lives on 233rd Street just south of Union Turnpike, moved into his home in 2012 and has been battling with his neighbor ever since. After getting into an argument with him the day he moved in, Aggarwal said his nasty neighbor has been committing annoyances every day for the past two years, including posting the X-rated images on a window inside his home that faces out toward the Aggarwals’ house.
“The first day, I was cleaning my sidewalk and his got a little dirty, so I told him I would clean it up for him,” Aggarwal said of his neighbor, whom he only refers to as Jimmy. “He started cursing me out and calling me names, so I said there’s no point in talking to him and I put up a fence.”
Aggarwal said Jimmy made derogatory comments to him that day about his Indian race, and he said he believes the efforts his neighbor has made in an attempt to disturb them ever since are related to his family’s Indian heritage. Jimmy could not be reached for comment about why he was posting the images.
Soon after the fence went up between the two houses, Aggarwal said his neighbor began putting the pornographic pictures in his window, holding them up to face the window the Aggarwals can see from their upstairs.
“He started putting nude pictures up and eventually I had enough,” Aggarwal said. “My son is only 4, and you can see these pictures from the street.”
Aggarwal said he called the police several times and officers from the 105th Precinct would instruct Jimmy to take the photos down, but Aggarwal said he would put them back up as soon as the police left. He said he then hung a sheet on a clothesline in between the two homes, causing his neighbor to escalate to other antics.
“When the sheet went up, his new thing was throwing garbage over the fence into my yard,” Aggarwal said. “The police told me to put up security cameras, so I spent my own money to do that and then he had to think of something else, so he started peeing under the fence so it came into my yard.”
Aggarwal said he has tried writing to community leaders and elected officials as well as continuing to complain to the Police Department, but he said most responses he gets say that because Jimmy is posting the photos in the privacy of his own home, the law limits what action can be taken to stop him. He said he has even tried to make amends with Jimmy, but his neighbor wanted no part of a truce.
“I tried to tell him, let’s just shake hands and start over on a better note, but he told me that’s not the way it works,” Aggarwal said. “I feel helpless in my own home. I can’t even enjoy my own property because of this guy.”
Aggarwal said he will continue to file complaints about Jimmy and hope that someone is able to put an end to the problem. He said he is ready to make peace with his neighbor and hopes he soon feels the same.
“Whatever the argument is, let’s work it out and move on,” he said. “Just let me live my life.”
