First, there was the “poor door.” Now, at least one West Side building, there is a “dog door.”
Residents who own dogs at the Durst Organization’s Helena building at 601 West 57th Street have been told that they are not allowed to use the building’s main entrance. Instead, they are being made to use the service entrance where garbage is piled.
The doorman-staffed apartment building, where a studio apartment is currently listed for $3,190 per month, advertises itself as a “pet-friendly” online. But last month, the management team informed residents of a new pet policy, banning owners from using the main entrance with their pets, according to DNAinfo.
“At no time may pets be ushered through the main lobby entrance [on West 57th Street] or allowed to relieve themselves in front of the building,” an email sent by management to residents said.
The change took some residents by surprise. At least one resident said that she would not have renewed her lease had she known of the pet policy change.
“I just want to be able to walk through the lobby that I pay money for, in a safe environment where there are people around, and be in a pet-friendly building like the one that I signed the lease for four years ago,” Rose Powerse told DNAinfo. “Pushing us out back feels very unsafe and dirty.”
Another resident says that he is moving out as a result of the new policy.
“I pay too much for this,” a resident who declined to be named said. “[My wife and I] are breaking our lease and moving out.”
A spokesman for the Helena told DNAinfo that about half of the building’s residents already use the service entrance as a shortcut to 11th Avenue.
“We love dogs at the Helena and strive to strike a balance between the needs of our four-legged and two-legged residents,” the spokesman wrote in an email. [DNAinfo] –Christopher Cameron