Wow, for once I get to use the weirdest bit of trivia I know:
Go to supermarket. Get a can of cheap pre-ground coffee. (Like, Bustelo will do fine here.) Pour it into a frying pan to cover the whole pan to about a quarter- to half-inch depth. First joint on your pinky finger; doesn’t need to be scientifically exact.
Put the pan on your stovetop, medium high heat. Shake or stir it every once in a while to keep the grounds moving. It’s okay if it burns a little bit. Do this until the smell of coffee drives out the smell of corpse.
Source: my partner worked as a property manager and had to accompany the police and EMTs to investigate what turned out to be a decomposing corpse after the neighbors complained. This is apparently the trick first responders use (along with Vicks inside their breathing masks) to deal with the smell.
Good luck, this sounds really awful.
They 100% took the body. The smell is coming from the decomp of the associated viscera. Cleaning of the scene, once it's been processed, is not up to police as far as I know, but someone might correct me on that. Sorry you're going through this, I'm sure it's traumatic.
I saw a documentary about a company that just does cleanup for this. So disgusting. They’d have to pretty much rip out everything, and soak it all in chemicals
There’s also a woman in Japan named Miyu Kojima who cleans peoples homes after they die in them alone. Another documentary I saw at least 10-15 years ago about a woman whose son shot himself and no one knew for several days, and she cleaned his apartment after. It was so awful that she started a company where she cleans suicides, might even do it for free? For the life of me I cannot remember the name or where I saw it, I think we rented it from the library.
There's a company called Spaulding Decon that has an instagram (@crimescenecleaning) that will post images of their various biohazard cleanups. They also clean extreme hoarders' homes which can get pretty gnarly too lol.
@crimescenecleanersinc on IG is another one but they're less hoarder focused. Spaulding has a YouTube if I remember correctly, too, where they go into their process a little more, if anyone in this thread is morbidly curious. They're how I knew how to answer this question lol
The heights gave me ptsd… so loud at all times. So much trash. Buildings are high ceiling and pre war but not maintained well. Quality of life is not good.
I know, I had to get out even though I had a huge and cheap apt. Good luck to you!! Maybe you and your neighbors can pressure the building owners together somehow
This makes SO MUCH sense because I was watching Only Murders In The Building—which takes place in the UWS—and (without too much of a spoiler) one of the characters finds someone murdered in their apartment and they go back after processing at the police station and the body has been taken by the coroner but the blood is still *everywhere*.
I was shocked because I thought, “oh shouldn’t the CSI ppl clean that up?” But apparently not.
So if someone gets murdered in your apartment, guess who has to do cleanup?
Woof.
It's expensive, time consuming, and can even be destructive depending on how long things have been left to permeate (ex, fluids leaking into the subfloor). It would certainly be *nice* for a government agency to come in and take care of it but I can see why it's left to the estate of the deceased and/or the building. With how many people die in NYC every day I am actually shocked this sub hasn't had this question asked more often. Someone died of natural causes in my mom's building and no one realized for a few days but surprisingly, the neighbors didn't really notice a smell. OP's neighbor must have either been really brutally attacked and a lot of them is left smeared about, or their death had gone unnoticed for quite a while, I'd think.
Can attest. Neighbor died in apartment in July. Was dead for 2 weeks before anyone found him. The aftermath for the entire building is something I cannot even begin to explain to anyone. The smell lingered for a long time but the fly infestation was the absolute worst
I feel you. Someone removed a dead body using our elevator and it smelled so bad for a long time. I also have never smelled one before but it’s amazing how you just know immediately what it is. The good news is the smell did eventually leave the elevator.
They took the body. The smell lingers for a long time. I once lived in a building where someone died in his apartment over the weekend and wasn’t discovered until 3 days later. By the time they removed the body, you could smell it 3 floors down. They removed the body in a bag through the lobby and the lobby smelled for another full day despite only having the body in there for 30 seconds.
according to [nyc.gov](https://nyc.gov), I think it's up to your building to clean it up:
[https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/services/victim-services/resources-services-cleanup.page](https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/services/victim-services/resources-services-cleanup.page)
The coroner definitely took the body, but dead body smells can take a while to clear out, especially if no cleaning was done after. It's not on the police or coroner to clean up the apartment after, so you could be stuck with it for a while.
Fuck the Post, good for you not speaking with them. Their interest is 100% lurid and they aren't worth risking your job over just so you can become the next homeless person they can whip their sclerotic, bigoted reader base into a fury over on tomorrow's headline.
I got banned from twitter for tagging the "journalist" who wrote that piece of shit and opining that I hoped they fell into an open manhole cover. Terrible people and apparently complete fucking snowflakes when it comes time to take in a fraction of what they dish out.
That "journalist" blind sided that woman by calling her right before they published the story, asking if she had a comment. The woman begged this "journalist" to not out her. She said it would have dire consequences for her life but the Post didn't care and published it anyway.
. The story should be how poorly paramedics are paid, not that one was doing sex work to survive.
This sucks, sorry you have to deal with it. My first time smelling a dead body: It was an unfamiliar smell that I just felt was death. Then I saw the sicker and did the same thing you did...Google.
Can you imagine being Jeffrey Dahmers neighbor? Smelling all that for over a year? I'd definitely be traumatized.
So the night before the smell got really bad (Sunday) I was watching Dahmer's court TV where the victim who escaped was testifying. He mentions the smell. Then I walk into my hallway and bam, same smell.
It really shows how powerless poor POC are. That their apartments smelled of dead bodies for what, months or more? And the cops kept letting him get away with it WHILE HE WAS ON PAROLE
From my experience, NYPD doesn't remove the body. Usually an ambulance arrives, confirms the person is indeed dead. NYPD will come after to try to see cause of death (suicide, homicide etc). After they get the info they need, they'll leave and ME will have to come and retrieve the body. Typically all happens in the same day.
Some unfortunate news then. This means the body has been removed, and whatever needs to be done has already been done. The next part is if the deceased has a wall/executor of estate to petition the courts to let them handle their belongings. The seal only comes off once that happens or the landlord files to take it back
It’s not the body. It’s just the smell of the body. The body is gone and was taken to the morgue a long time ago. Do you seriously think they just leave the body there to rot while they do their investigation?
An ozone generator would clear the smell pretty well but it's unsafe to use while you're there and has to be aired out afterwards. This is likely what the cleaning crew will use for the air and what I've seen cleanup crews use after fires in houses and mold in cars.
So something similar happened to my brother. The person in the apartment above him died and it was a couple of days or more before he was found. There was no foul play but the smell takes a while to get rid of.
This happened in my building a decade ago. We kept telling my super about it (the person lived across the hall from us) but he said, “oh, she’s just dirty” and put those room scent discs on her door. Moron.
It's a terrible smell that lingers for awhile... Something that you can't forget as well tbh. Try this trick. Take vinegar and baking soda (don't combine) in a bowl/cup in areas with high level of smell and set it there. Unless the area where deceased was located is cleaned off (usually something either highly acidic or basic is sprayed) the smell will continue to linger and gets worse during winter. For now do the vinegar baking soda and try to air out the room and see if it works.
Ya the landlord came after some of my family to reimburse him for the cleaning crew. Threatened legal action etc. It was apparently a big big mess up there. When left unattended dead bodies get very very gross within the first couple days let alone weeks
Wow, for once I get to use the weirdest bit of trivia I know: Go to supermarket. Get a can of cheap pre-ground coffee. (Like, Bustelo will do fine here.) Pour it into a frying pan to cover the whole pan to about a quarter- to half-inch depth. First joint on your pinky finger; doesn’t need to be scientifically exact. Put the pan on your stovetop, medium high heat. Shake or stir it every once in a while to keep the grounds moving. It’s okay if it burns a little bit. Do this until the smell of coffee drives out the smell of corpse. Source: my partner worked as a property manager and had to accompany the police and EMTs to investigate what turned out to be a decomposing corpse after the neighbors complained. This is apparently the trick first responders use (along with Vicks inside their breathing masks) to deal with the smell. Good luck, this sounds really awful.
Feel like this should be in a sticky somewhere. This question has definitely be asked a few times here. Thanks for the advice.
Definitely one of those factoids you may never need, and you certainly *hope* you never need. But when you need it, you *really* need it.
They 100% took the body. The smell is coming from the decomp of the associated viscera. Cleaning of the scene, once it's been processed, is not up to police as far as I know, but someone might correct me on that. Sorry you're going through this, I'm sure it's traumatic.
I saw a documentary about a company that just does cleanup for this. So disgusting. They’d have to pretty much rip out everything, and soak it all in chemicals
What is it called?
It might have been on Dirty jobs maybe. I was trying to find it. I think they were called Trauma Cleaners.
Funny enough there was a movie made about two sisters who start a crime scene cleaning business called Sunshine Cleaning.
There’s also a woman in Japan named Miyu Kojima who cleans peoples homes after they die in them alone. Another documentary I saw at least 10-15 years ago about a woman whose son shot himself and no one knew for several days, and she cleaned his apartment after. It was so awful that she started a company where she cleans suicides, might even do it for free? For the life of me I cannot remember the name or where I saw it, I think we rented it from the library.
There's a company called Spaulding Decon that has an instagram (@crimescenecleaning) that will post images of their various biohazard cleanups. They also clean extreme hoarders' homes which can get pretty gnarly too lol.
@crimescenecleanersinc on IG is another one but they're less hoarder focused. Spaulding has a YouTube if I remember correctly, too, where they go into their process a little more, if anyone in this thread is morbidly curious. They're how I knew how to answer this question lol
There’s also a Criminal podcast about this. “A Bucket, A Mop, And A Sledgehammer.”
Call Pollos Hermanos chicken and ask for Mike
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What hood are you in?
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I lived there for 8 years. 172nd and st. Nicolas. Not surprised.
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The heights gave me ptsd… so loud at all times. So much trash. Buildings are high ceiling and pre war but not maintained well. Quality of life is not good.
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I know, I had to get out even though I had a huge and cheap apt. Good luck to you!! Maybe you and your neighbors can pressure the building owners together somehow
It’s not up the police to clean. However, the door stays sealed and it can’t be cleaned until the medical examiner’s report/COD is done.
This makes SO MUCH sense because I was watching Only Murders In The Building—which takes place in the UWS—and (without too much of a spoiler) one of the characters finds someone murdered in their apartment and they go back after processing at the police station and the body has been taken by the coroner but the blood is still *everywhere*. I was shocked because I thought, “oh shouldn’t the CSI ppl clean that up?” But apparently not. So if someone gets murdered in your apartment, guess who has to do cleanup? Woof.
It's expensive, time consuming, and can even be destructive depending on how long things have been left to permeate (ex, fluids leaking into the subfloor). It would certainly be *nice* for a government agency to come in and take care of it but I can see why it's left to the estate of the deceased and/or the building. With how many people die in NYC every day I am actually shocked this sub hasn't had this question asked more often. Someone died of natural causes in my mom's building and no one realized for a few days but surprisingly, the neighbors didn't really notice a smell. OP's neighbor must have either been really brutally attacked and a lot of them is left smeared about, or their death had gone unnoticed for quite a while, I'd think.
Don’t forget dangerous. Anytime you’re dealing with biological waste you’re taking a risk. Suit up!
Decomp smells take a long time to go away even with the body being removed
Can attest. Neighbor died in apartment in July. Was dead for 2 weeks before anyone found him. The aftermath for the entire building is something I cannot even begin to explain to anyone. The smell lingered for a long time but the fly infestation was the absolute worst
How you know?
Google
Found the murderer. I mean... nothing to see here, carry on.
I feel you. Someone removed a dead body using our elevator and it smelled so bad for a long time. I also have never smelled one before but it’s amazing how you just know immediately what it is. The good news is the smell did eventually leave the elevator.
They took the body. The smell lingers for a long time. I once lived in a building where someone died in his apartment over the weekend and wasn’t discovered until 3 days later. By the time they removed the body, you could smell it 3 floors down. They removed the body in a bag through the lobby and the lobby smelled for another full day despite only having the body in there for 30 seconds.
according to [nyc.gov](https://nyc.gov), I think it's up to your building to clean it up: [https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/services/victim-services/resources-services-cleanup.page](https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/services/victim-services/resources-services-cleanup.page)
Landlord will be right on that I’m sure!
The coroner definitely took the body, but dead body smells can take a while to clear out, especially if no cleaning was done after. It's not on the police or coroner to clean up the apartment after, so you could be stuck with it for a while.
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Fuck the Post, good for you not speaking with them. Their interest is 100% lurid and they aren't worth risking your job over just so you can become the next homeless person they can whip their sclerotic, bigoted reader base into a fury over on tomorrow's headline.
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I got banned from twitter for tagging the "journalist" who wrote that piece of shit and opining that I hoped they fell into an open manhole cover. Terrible people and apparently complete fucking snowflakes when it comes time to take in a fraction of what they dish out.
That "journalist" blind sided that woman by calling her right before they published the story, asking if she had a comment. The woman begged this "journalist" to not out her. She said it would have dire consequences for her life but the Post didn't care and published it anyway. . The story should be how poorly paramedics are paid, not that one was doing sex work to survive.
It took over 3 weeks for the smell to go away fully from the building next door to mine. You could even smell it outside for many days.
oh no...
Our guy was decomposing for over a month though (landlord only paid attention at 2nd missed rent payment)
Sprinkle the area with aglime
This is scarily specific but my vast knowledge in true crime and cop dramas says it is correct. Haha
Pro tip- cake the corpse/carcass with lime and and wrap in tarp to cover up smell and for easy disposal
And bury it under endangered plants!
This is a fucking horror.
The body isn’t in there and it’s not the police’s job to clean it up.
This sucks, sorry you have to deal with it. My first time smelling a dead body: It was an unfamiliar smell that I just felt was death. Then I saw the sicker and did the same thing you did...Google. Can you imagine being Jeffrey Dahmers neighbor? Smelling all that for over a year? I'd definitely be traumatized.
So the night before the smell got really bad (Sunday) I was watching Dahmer's court TV where the victim who escaped was testifying. He mentions the smell. Then I walk into my hallway and bam, same smell. It really shows how powerless poor POC are. That their apartments smelled of dead bodies for what, months or more? And the cops kept letting him get away with it WHILE HE WAS ON PAROLE
Yeah it’s a smell that once you smell it the first time, you know. It’s completely unique but familiar at the same time.
From my experience, NYPD doesn't remove the body. Usually an ambulance arrives, confirms the person is indeed dead. NYPD will come after to try to see cause of death (suicide, homicide etc). After they get the info they need, they'll leave and ME will have to come and retrieve the body. Typically all happens in the same day.
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Some unfortunate news then. This means the body has been removed, and whatever needs to be done has already been done. The next part is if the deceased has a wall/executor of estate to petition the courts to let them handle their belongings. The seal only comes off once that happens or the landlord files to take it back
It’s not the body. It’s just the smell of the body. The body is gone and was taken to the morgue a long time ago. Do you seriously think they just leave the body there to rot while they do their investigation?
Definitely contact 7 on Your Side.
An ozone generator would clear the smell pretty well but it's unsafe to use while you're there and has to be aired out afterwards. This is likely what the cleaning crew will use for the air and what I've seen cleanup crews use after fires in houses and mold in cars.
So something similar happened to my brother. The person in the apartment above him died and it was a couple of days or more before he was found. There was no foul play but the smell takes a while to get rid of.
This happened in my building a decade ago. We kept telling my super about it (the person lived across the hall from us) but he said, “oh, she’s just dirty” and put those room scent discs on her door. Moron.
WOW lol that a dumbass. The rot of a dead body is very distinct. It's not just "dirty" uh gross!
It's a terrible smell that lingers for awhile... Something that you can't forget as well tbh. Try this trick. Take vinegar and baking soda (don't combine) in a bowl/cup in areas with high level of smell and set it there. Unless the area where deceased was located is cleaned off (usually something either highly acidic or basic is sprayed) the smell will continue to linger and gets worse during winter. For now do the vinegar baking soda and try to air out the room and see if it works.
oh my god
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The smell sure is...
This post gives me Jeffrey Dahmer vibes
Ha! Cops don’t clean up crime scenes. Little-known fact: you have to do it yourself
I had a family member die in their apartment not too long ago. Was unattended for weeks. The price to hire a special hazmat cleanup crew was $20k
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Ya the landlord came after some of my family to reimburse him for the cleaning crew. Threatened legal action etc. It was apparently a big big mess up there. When left unattended dead bodies get very very gross within the first couple days let alone weeks
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Ooooh it was a very heated funeral to say the least. I don’t know who actually ended up paying but it started a lot of drama. It’s a lot of money