By Adam Leitman Bailey

Q. My wife and I own an apartment in a Midtown co-op, and one of our living-room walls abuts the building next door. About nine months ago, we heard sounds of hammering and drilling through the wall. Later, we began hearing the sound of a television set, doors slamming and voices coming through the wall.

I called our managing agent but received little help. The noise is not my only concern. I am worried that the hammering and drilling we heard may have been to make structural changes that could negatively affect our building. What can we do?

A. Adam Leitman Bailey, a Manhattan real estate lawyer, said that the letter writer could get in touch with the New York City Buildings Department by calling 311, the city’s information line, to report that structural work may have been done on the building next door.

‘’The department will probably send out an inspector to determine whether work was done that could threaten the stability of the wall,’’ Mr. Bailey said. If work was done improperly or without a permit, the department can issue a summons and order the owner to correct any unsafe or illegal condition.

The noise problem may be more difficult to resolve. He said that while the letter writer could call 311 to report that problem as well, it was unlikely that the sounds from an adjoining building would constitute a violation of the law.

‘’The writer or the writer’s co-op board can bring a nuisance proceeding against the next-door neighbor in State Supreme Court,’’ Mr. Bailey said, ‘’but such cases are very difficult to win.’’

Mr. Bailey said that in a 1966 case involving a noise complaint, a Queens Civil Court judge wrote, ‘’In this day in our large cities, it is fruitless to expect the solitude of the sylvan glen.’’

Judges are still following that ruling, Mr. Bailey said, and as a result, routinely rule against plaintiffs in noise complaints unless the conditions are exceptionally severe.