I'm a member of the Downtown Neighborhood Watch and say: definitely call it in.

At the very minimum it is a noise violation. At the most, you are preventing a violent situation.

If you don't think it's time-sensitive (no real hitting) and they are just yelling at each other, call the non-emergency Eastern Police District number: 201-547-5477. You will be connected with an operator. (S)he will give you her operator number. Remember this number, it's her ID, good to know if there are problems later.

Keep the report simple. "I'm at 123 Grove Street, Apt. 4 and the couple in Apt. 6 have been shouting at each other for 20 minutes. This is a habit with them and I'm afraid that they might hurt each other. Would you send someone over to check it out?" Don't give them a long story, don't get emotional, keep it short and sweet.

If the operator refuses to take the information, get her operator number, and ask to speak with her supervisor. If you don't want to bother, (I sometimes don't), just hang up and call back. You'll get a different operator. It isn't the operator's decision to send out officers - that's the sergeant's call - so the operator shouldn't be giving you attitude.

They may ask you for your name and a number they can call. You don't have to give this if you don't want to, but it is NOT reported to non-policemen, so your neighbors won't know it was you.

Police also respond to incidents based on the number of calls they receive, so if they do not respond in 10-15 minutes, call again. I have done this and two calls usually gets a cruiser at the address pretty fast.

Trust your gut. If it feels wrong to hear them yelling, your gut is telling you something. You have the right to live in a quiet apartment where you don't hear people shouting. You have the right to live in a place where there is no threat of violence.

But not getting involved in your neighborhood's problems is a terrible excuse. Look what happened to Nixmary Brown, Kitty Genovese, Elisa Izquierdio. People didn't want to get involved... and now all of them are dead.

Yum yum yum yum!

For the last three years, I have lived behind 95 Columbus Ave. Their loading dock and generator exhaust vent are across the street from my home. While I understand certain discomforts attach to city living, I have noticed the following exceed "normal" expectations. Has anyone else on the 3 - 29 block of Wayne Street observed the following?

1) Brinks shredding truck - arrives between 8:30 am-10 am. Industrial shredding at a level to make me wish I had a hearing aid I could turn off. Sometimes shredding lasts until 2-3 pm, a full 6 hours.

2) Building generators - on Saturday, 9/8/07, they were on for emergency PSE&G repair from 9 a.m. - 11:15 p.m. 14 hours of diesel exhaust and the sound of a freight train running down my block. The generators were also on all night, every night last week.

3) Noise and parking issues - vendors and contractors who jockey in line to get to the loading dock keep their engines running, filling my house with fumes. They throw their trash out their windows into my front yard. They've destroyed a sidewalk planter we built last spring. I work from home and cannot work in the front of my house between 7 a.m. - 1 p.m. because of the noise and pollution.

If you live on this block and want to talk, please contact me at kimilee935@hotmail.com. I've already opened a dialogue with the building manager at 95 Columbus. But let's be frank, they'll listen if 15 angry neighbors show up to complain. They don't care if only one person complains!

The building manager is Debbie Sparks of Wells Fargo Realty. (201-432-3244). She's made herself available 9-5 M-F if anyone has complaints.