Disruptive neighbor (60?m) accused me (25f) of harassment. Aita?

First time poster, long time lurker. I (25f) moved into my first apartment without roommates a few months ago. After years of dealing with roommates, I was excited to be on my own and build community with my neighbors. Friendly hellos in passing, borrowing a cup of sugar, that kind of thing. My first week of living in this building, I ran into another resident. We’ll call him Larry (50s?m). After I said hello, he asked if I just moved into apartment [my unit]. I said yes. He said “Well I hope you like loud music. I live right above you and the last guy was always bitching about it.” I tried to be as friendly as possible, but told him that’s not my thing and I would appreciate if he could keep the volume reasonable, especially after 10 pm. He said NYC is “the rock and roll capital of the world.” Not sure that’s true but whatever.

A couple months in, I noticed a ton of noise coming from Larry’s apartment. The floorboards are comically creaky (he later told me he fixed them up himself—it shows). I can hear him screaming on the phone during the day, (yelling profanity, shouting he’s going to stab people to death, “see their blood splatter on the walls,” and “make sure they leave here in a gurney.” Needless to say…unpleasant.

Larry told me that he’s been living in his unit for over a decade and that while my unit is renovated, his is rent controlled and he had a lot of trouble getting the building owner to make repairs—hence, “fixing” them himself. I contacted our landlord (60m) and gave Larry a head’s up. I figured if he could check out the floors and take responsibility for any repairs, that would be a win-win for both of us. Larry ended up cursing out the landlord, refusing him entry, and slamming the door in his face.

I later learned that Larry has an old school radio and three four-foot speakers that, according to him, “shake the floor.” At one point I was home for four days straight recovering from surgery and he blasted his radio from 1 pm to 5 am. I could hear it word for word, over my tv and through my ear plugs. He later said he saw a package with my name on hit downstairs and assumed I was out of town so he cranked it all the way up.

I left Larry a note on his door, being as nice as possible but reminding him to please keep it down at night time. He later knocked on my door and said he was going to show the note to his friends, but didn’t want to make me a laughing stock. I told him I’d just appreciate him being mindful to keep it down. Larry said sometimes he smokes weed and falls asleep in his recliner with the radio on. He gave me his number and told me to call him when it was too loud and he’d turn it down. I don’t want to have to call someone else to go to sleep in my own apartment, so it’s not my ideal solution. At that point I’d just go back to having roommates. But fine. I contacted the landlord again, and he knocked $150 off my rent but pretty much refuses to do anything else, including talking to Larry. I looked into soundproofing, but apparently it’s useless if the sound is vibrating through the infrastructure of the building.

When I run into Larry in the hallway, he’ll antagonize me and say things like “I hope you like baseball because you’ll be hearing it tonight” and “I oughta be charging you for all of the free entertainment I’m providing you.” I’ve told him repeatedly that I don’t find that funny. He said he’s not joking.

As per his proposal, I’ve been calling Larry when it’s too loud. At first I was hesitant, but than I realized I deserve to be able to sleep in my own home. It’s been about once or twice a week he never picks up, so I leave a voicemail asking him to keep it down. Last week, I was leaving Larry a voicemail when he picked up and asked me why I kept calling him. I told him my calling him was his idea and reminded him that he gave me his number.

He said he’s not willing to turn it down. He said he wouldn’t put a noise-dampening pad between his speakers and the floor even if I paid for it. Apparently he’s “not going to change what he’s been doing for over a decade just because I’m bitching about it.” I told him I want him to be able to enjoy his home, but I also want to be able to enjoy mine too. He said he doesn’t give a fuck if I enjoy my home, if I kept calling him he’d file a harassment claim against me, and if I have further complaints I should call the police.

I don’t want to call the police or harass anyone, but I do think it’s unreasonable to expect to be able to sleep in my own home. I get that some level of noise comes with the territory, but this seems extreme. I don’t know what to do. So…aita?