NYC Apartment Pet Restrictions Prompt Mixed Feelings

Around 75% of apartments in NYC allow pets, but dogs are not always welcome everywhere within the buildings. Some luxury apartment dwellers must carry them or use service entrances and elevators, The New York Times reports. Jeno Steiner, a resident of Barclay Tower in TriBeCa, one building with these rules, doesn’t mind using the side door when taking his 10-year-old Shih-Poo, Baxter, outside: “I was just happy to be allowed to have a dog.” Not everyone feels positively about having their canine companions excluded from the main lobby and elevators. Bruce A. Cholst, a partner at Herrick, Feinstein LLP, has represented clients on both sides of the argument. “A lot of people are really offended…and a lot of people perceive it as an insult to their pet’s dignity,” Cholst asserts. With an estimated 425,000 to 600,000 dogs in NYC and costly buildings competing to attract tenants, the pet restriction trend may be coming to an end in favor of “rolling out the red carpet for Rover.”