Keeping the world safe from basset hounds, one luxury building at a time

It's easy to ridicule the basset-hound-hating 170 West End Ave. co-op board, but somebody's got to protect the world from these beasts ("renowned," according to the caption for a different Wikipedia photo, "for their gentle, docile demeanor"), don't they?


"The whole thing is just ridiculous because, at the end of the day, it's about dog owners being responsible."

-- a resident of 170 West End Ave. (many declined to
be identified, out of concern for the co-op board)

by Ken

170 West End Ave.

Shucks, here I was, all set to man the Trump presidential beat. ("We need a truly great leader," says The Donald -- as he offers up himself instead. Does this even need a punch line?) But before we can get to that, I think we have to deal with this bit of local breaking news.

Every time you think you've heard it all, another shard of reality pierces your skull. Just in from our You Can't Make This Stuff Up Bureau, it's a fancy-pants co-op on Manhattan's Upper West Side which thinks it knows so much about doggie genetics that it can justify not only banning certain breeds but requiring genetic proof that any would-be resident pooch doesn't have an unacceptable level of genetic material from a breed on the banned list.

This is a story so urgent and so complex that you'll note it took two DNAinfo reporters to get it written. In these circumstances it would seem presumptuous to attempt to edit Ms. Penhirin's and Mr. Fanelli's efforts. In fact, I should encourage you to check the story out onsite for the numerous links, which are more interesting than you might think, seeing links on "veterinarian," "mutt," and many others. The links are not, as you might fear, to Wikipedia or dictionary entries on the subjects, but to other DNAinfo articles on them.

Meanwhile, somebody's got to keep the world -- or at least their building -- safe from basset hounds.

'Dog Racism' Decried at Co-op That May Use DNA Tests to Ban Breeds


A shih tzu, a pomeranian and a basset hound are among the dogs banned from 170 West End Ave. The co-op board requires dog-owning residents to get a veterinarian to certify a pet's breed. If the breed is unknown, the board may required a DNA test, according to a copy of the policy.

By Sybile Penhirin and James Fanelli
June 16, 2015

UPPER WEST SIDE — The co-op board of a luxury Upper West Side tower has instituted a doggy-discrimination policy that requires pet-owning residents to prove the breeds of their pooches, ruffled residents say.

The policy is designed to purge the building of any pedigrees the board deems troublesome.

As of last month, dog owners at 170 West End Ave. must have their veterinarian sign off on the canine’s pedigree and, if the pet is a mix, detail the percentage of each breed, according to a copy of the policy the co-op board sent to residents last month.

If the breed is unknown, then the co-op board may ask that the mutt take a DNA test to determine it, the document states.

The board members want to know the pet’s genetic make-up because it has a long list of dogs that “are not permitted to reside in the building based upon documented information regarding their tendency towards aggressiveness,” the policy says.

The list of outlawed pooches includes such pint-sized breeds as a Maltese or a Pomeranian.

“It’s like dog racism essentially,” one barking-mad dog-owning resident said of the new policy. “It’s beyond offensive, it’s intrusive.”

The resident, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of angering the board, called the policy an abuse of power.

Many dog-owning residents have a bone to pick with the board about the policy but declined to comment out of fear that negative publicity might affect the value of their apartment.

However, one resident called the policy “outrageous” and said that a group of dog owners was considering a formal protest.

The board’s president, Robert Sadin, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. A representative for the property manager, FirstService Residential, also did not respond to a request for comment.

Residents first learned of the board’s policy a few months ago when they received a letter telling them dogs would be required to be DNA tested, sources said. Several follow-up letters softened the DNA requirement from mandatory to at the board’s discretion.

The latest version of the policy, issued on May 26, says that dog owners must get a letter from a veterinarian confirming the pet’s breed or detailing the percentage of each breed in a mix.

“If the information is unknown, or uncertain, the board at its sole discretion may require a resident to perform DNA testing,” the policy states.

If a dog is made up of 50 percent or more of the outlawed breeds, it will not be allowed to live in the building, the policy states.

The requirement of a veterinarian's certification and the DNA test are new to the co-op’s pet policy, but the board has banned 27 dog breeds from the building since at least 2011.

The outlawed animals range from large dogs like St. Bernards and German shepherds to medium-sized pooches like pit bulls and basset hounds to toy breeds like a shih tzu.

The board also requires that residents register their dog and provide a mugshot of the canine.

The 484-unit, 42-story cooperative is one of eight buildings that comprise Lincoln Towers, a leafy 20-acre property near Lincoln Center.

Each building has its own co-op board and makes its own policies.

The co-op board at 180 West End Ave., another Lincoln Towers building, also enacted an unpopular policy in 2002. It prohibited new buyers from smoking in their apartments, but the ban was later dropped after it received heavy blowback.

Sylvia Shapiro, a lawyer and the author of the book "The New York Co-op Bible," said it’s not uncommon for boards to place restrictions on dogs.

But Shapiro, who is the board president of her Greenwich Village cooperative, said she has never heard of a pet policy like the one at 170 West End Ave.

“Mark my words, there is going to be a lawsuit for dog discrimination,” she said.

Shapiro, whose book provides legal and practical advice on living in a co-op or condo, said she has heard of many absurd pet rules, including one board mulling the idea of having doormen inoculate all the building’s dogs.

Another board had to backtrack on a policy requiring pooches to use the freight elevator when an owner said the rule would traumatize his pet, she said.

“The problem with dogs is not the dogs, it’s the owners,” Shapiro said. “There seems to be a lot of irrational people around.”

A resident at 170 West End Ave. also said that pet policies should be more about the owners than their dogs.

“The whole thing is just ridiculous because, at the end of the day, it’s about dog owners being responsible,” the resident said.

I realize that I may be accused of having no interest, or no greater interest, than in holding these preposterous 170 West End Ave. co-op people up to ridicule. Come to think of it, this is probably the case. What's more, in the interest of full disclosure, I feel I should note that when I was a child we once had a basset hound. His name was Henry. He had way more than his share of health problems, poor thing, but he was the sweetest, lovingest dog. Thinking about him makes me miss him really badly.

This one's for you, Henry.

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Buffoon Watch: Steve King's Greatest Hits

He can't be for real, can he? Alas, all too real.

by Noah

There are two Steve Kings of at least some renown in our society. One is Stephen King, the world-famous writer of horror. The other is Rep. Steven King of Iowa. He is a monster for real.

Rep. Steven King has a special talent for articulating what the Republican Party stands for. That talent has led to his prominence in the party. Tim Moran, a former Iowa GOP State Central Committee member thinks King should run for senator, saying the Republican Party might find it ". . . refreshing to have Steve King at the top of a ticket to drive the message and definition of the party."


KING OF BUFFOON-O-RAMA

This past weekend Representative King was the cohost of the so-called Iowa Freedom Summit, aka Buffoon-o-Rama 2015, designed to kick off the 2016 Republican presidential primary season. Most of the usual suspects were there, including "The Donald" and his hair Sarah Palin with her special talent for speaking complete gibberish,  and neo-fascist Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Mittens Romney and John Ellis "Jeb" Bush chose not to attend, presumably to try to convince us that they are not as buffoonish as the other participants.

But King was in his self-proclaimed glory, acting as a combination ten-ring master of ceremonies and smarmy game show host. He even made sure to have his name emblazoned on the front of the podium as if it was the seal of the president of the United States. If you read the following selections from King's ever-expanding list of greatest hits, you will see that when it comes to heading up a confab of buffoons, Representative Steve is at the top of his class and a perfect choice. The following is just a small, but I think representative, sample of Steven King's Greatest Hits. There is so much more, and no doubt there will be so much more to come.


1. ON ANIMAL CRUELTY

Do you like dogfighting and cockfighting? If you are of the Michael Vick persuasion and enjoy throwing animals in a pit and watching the blood squirt, Representative King is your man! He has led the fights in Congress to block legislation that would crack down on such barbarism. During discussions of the 2012 farm bill, it was King who led the fight against an amendment that would make it a crime for an adult to attend or to bring a child to a dogfight or cockfight. In 2007 he had opposed House bill H.R.137, which made it a felony to transport animals or cockfighting implements across state lines for the purpose of fighting.

King is one of the few lawmakers of either party who opposed including pets in disaster planning. He also voted against the 111th Congress's H.R.80, a bill written to prohibit interstate and foreign commerce in primates for the pet trade.

There's a whole lot more where this type of thing came from, but you get the picture. Basically, if something protects an animal somewhere, Representative King is against it, even more so than some members of his own party.


2. ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

In 2003, Sioux City (Iowa) Judge Jeffrey Neary granted two lesbians a divorce. King's response was:

Unicorns, leprechauns, gay marriages in Iowa; these are all things you will never find because they just don't exist. But perhaps Judge Neary would grant divorces to unicorns and leprechauns too.

Same-sex marriage became legal in Iowa six years later, in 2009. Like his party, Representative King is a man of no vision.



3. ON IMMIGRATION

King is clearly his party's leader on anti-immigration matters. One of his most famous statements about immigration -- and there are many of them -- is what is known as "the cantaloupe comment." Referring to immigrant children coming across our borders, he said:

For every one who's a valedictorian, there's another 100 out there who weigh 130 pounds and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.

King has also compared Mexican immigrants, documented and undocumented alike, to dogs:

You want a good bird dog? You want one that's going to be aggressive? [P]ick the one that's the friskiest . . . not the one that's over there sleeping in the corner. . .&nbsp. You get the pick of the litter.

We already know about what Representative King thinks of dogs. I suspect such a man would like to set up "Mexican fighting pits" that would be just like cockfights and dogfights. Maybe they'll have that at the 2016 Republican Convention and Hatefest.


4. ON GLOBAL WARMING

King has called climate change " more of a religion than a science."  He has repeatedly demonstrated his contempt for science and his complete lack of understanding of the issue. He is not even smarter than a fifth grader. Perhaps his arrogance about the subject is best pointed out by this quote: "I spent a lot of my life cold. It felt pretty good to get warmed up."



5. ON CONTRACEPTION

King is a key player in the Republican anti-contraception movement. He has made a lot of noise objecting to the idea that Obamacare could cover birth control for women as a free preventive service without a copay. Says he:

Well, if you applied that preventative medicine universally, what you end up with is you've prevented a generation. Preventing babies from being born is not medicine. That's not constructive to our culture and our civilization. If we let our birth rate get down below replacement rate, we're a dying civilization.

This statement is a classic example of an extremist using extremist thinking. Dying civilization? Hardly. As it is now, the U.S. population is 312 million people, and it's on course to reach 439 million by 2050. To turn that pace into a dying civilization would require a staggering amount of contraception use, an amount way, way beyond what the Obamacare provision would realistically lead to.

As far as I'm concerned, the best solution to the population problem, at least in this country, would be for Republicans to immediately stop procreating. It would solve a lot of other problems too!


FOR FURTHER READING --

As I indicated, the above barely scratches the surface of Representative King and what a perfect one-person embodiment of the Republican Party philosophy he is. You can click on the DWT "Steve King" label below for some of our favorites. Then here are a couple of suggestions for further reading:

• "Steve King: Gays Wouldn't Face Discrimination If They Didn't 'Wear Their Sexuality On Their Sleeve'" (HuffPost Politics, December 2010)

and especially:

• "Right-Wing Demands Obama Fire Kevin Jennings for Helping Gay Teens Not Kill Themselves" (Julie Farby, HuffPost Politics, March 2010, updated May 2011)


SCHEDULE NOTE: Next post at 7pm PT/10pm ET

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Operation Pig

By Anonymous Operative

Yesterday, Chris Christie let all pigs know he is not on their side. And by Pigs, I don’t mean his Wall-Street campaign donors.

The New Jersey Governor vetoed a bill that would outlaw the transporting of pregnant pigs in small, debilitating crates. For good measure, he attacked the bill's supporters as "partisan politicians"... and they returned the compliment. This bill, created by veteran progressive state Senator Ray Lesniak, was created to protect these animals’ rights. Unfortunately, Pigs can’t vote in Republican primaries (or the Iowa caucus) thus it may have been in Chris Christie’s best interest to veto the bill.

While Christie vetoed this bill due to personal political needs, Ray Lesniak created this bill for political reasons too. He wants to be Governor when Christie either leaves office to gallivant around Des Moines and Sioux City or when his term expires in 2017. This bill is another bullet point on the aggressive, ongoing checklist Lesniak has created to make himself the progressive candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor. He is a working class progressive and understands the advantages for progressives in a closed Democratic primary.

While I’m sure the pig crates truly are cruel, like most Republicans I am no scientist and will leave that conversation to the animal rights community. I would rather discuss how the political desires of the two men involved in this legislative brawl need to be checked with reality.

Beltway pundits have soured on Christie’s ability to win early primary states due to his mainstreamish stances on social issues. (Unlike psychopaths like Rick Santorum and Ted Cruz, Christie has not gone so far as to call for overturning the results of the last century and a half of American history.) However, as usual, these Beltway stooges are incorrect in their analyses.

Christie cannot win the Iowa caucuses because he will have zero political clout in the state due to his crude style and bellicose manner. His biggest ally there is Governor Terry Branstad, but he alone cannot deliver the necessary endorsements. In order to win that state, a Republican candidate needs the endorsements of local (often rural) press and pastors. You can only imagine the individuals who work at these small town institutions. All they need is one repetition of Christie’s Jersey Shore "sit down and shut up" moment to write him off the endorsement list and ensure his demise in the state.



In the states of New Hampshire and South Carolina, the Governor’s Tony Soprano-esque style will not fly. The conversation will not even last long enough to begin the discussion of Christie’s policy stances before he curses out a Manchester, NH reporter with a libertarian streak or a Charleston, SC southern gentleman who would like to hear Christie’s opinions on whether or not Michael Brown was shot enough times.

At the end of the day, Christie will have the Rudy Giuliani issue from 2008. He will find himself in an unwinnable fight against the electoral calendar. Even Chris Christie can’t be mean enough to a calendar to make it change its ways.

But then, there is pig-loving, New Jersey state Senator Ray Lesniak. By all accounts, he is an outstanding legislator and prolific fundraiser. He often finds himself endorsing (and later winning) political fights against the corrupt NJ Democratic establishment. Recently, he has been hinting at a desire to run for Governor. He would probably be a good governor, but it will just never happen.

The current lineup for the Democratic nomination is full of establishment clout and cash. Former Goldman Sachs executive and Ambassador to Germany Phillip Murphy (Corzine 2.0) will have the personal wealth to go the distance (and buy endorsements from local, broke county parties). Jersey City Mayor Steve Fullop will have the out-of-state Wall Street contacts (from his days at Goldman Sachs) to fund his operation. And finally, corrupt South Jersey Senator (Senate President) Steve Sweeney will have the full backing of the corrupt/conservative money machine that is George Norcross III.

Most Democratic donors in New Jersey do not give to people they feel inspired by. They give funds on a transactional basis. There will be nothing for them to get from a Lesniak candidacy while there is a lot to lose by going against the party establishment. For Lesniak, in a state like New Jersey, there is just no path to victory.

What is feasible (and more practical) is for Lesniak to remain active in Senate politics so that he can have a good chance at becoming a progressive Senate President once Sweeney leaves office to do Norcross' bidding.

At least then, pigs would have a chance…

Write your own caption

Not All Savages Are Republicans

I spent New Year's Eve watching undisturbed wildlife on the Galapagos Islands. It was truly awe-inspiring. The animals are so unafraid of humans that they are almost oblivious to our presence. One newborn baby sea lion mistook one of our party for its mother and tried to get close. We were all briefed in advance, of course, not to touch any animals. In the case of a baby sea lion it could be life and death. If the mother were to get back and call her baby and the baby responded and then the mother smelled something different on the baby-- like eau-de-human-- she would reject and abandon the pup immediately and it would die. The Galapagos is just for communing with nature and marveling at the undisturbed beauty of the varied fauna in the wild.

Nashua, New Hampshire, isn't the Galapagos... nor even Memphis. And the Crowne Plaza there is hardly the stately Peabody, which is famous for its well-behaved ducks-- a drake and four hens-- who, since 1930, have come down from their penthouse to the strains of John Philip Sousa's King Cotton in the elevator and paraded through the lobby to the fountain for a swim. And, thankfully, the savage and primitive Duck Dynasty slobs haven't come by the Peabody.

Apparently, though, it isn't just GOP barbarians ducks need to worry about, at least not in New Hampshire. David Campbell is a 34-year-old state Rep from Nashua, a centrist Democrat. And he drives a BMW. Last Monday, he drove that Beemer into a flock of ducks and killed some. He then drove away before the police arrived.

“I hit some ducks,” Campbell said in an interview with The Telegraph. “Some people were feeding ducks on the driveway in front of the Crowne Plaza at 10 o’clock at night … and they didn’t move, and I hit some ducks.”

Campbell said he feels “terrible” about it, but declined to comment further about what took place until a police investigation into the matter concludes.

“I’d like to wait and see what they come out with,” Campbell said.

The incident was brought to light by retired U.S. Marine officer James Murphy, a Florida resident who was preparing to check into the hotel Monday evening when Campbell’s car collided with what he described as a pack of about 20 ducks in the road.

...“All of a sudden, this 5 Series BMW comes up, it’s going about 15 miles an hour, and then when he gets to the ducks, it’s not like it even slowed down,” Murphy said.

“It just crushed all of the ducks.”

Murphy said he believes as many as six ducks were killed and a handful of others returned to the pond at the Crowne Plaza with apparent injuries.

Appalled by the scene, Murphy said he followed the BMW a few dozen feet down the road and took a picture of the license plate when the driver stopped.

He said a man wearing a navy blue suit with a white shirt and red tie got out, leaned against the side of the car and said words to the effect of, “The ducks should have moved.”

After exchanging words with the driver, Murphy said the man got back into his BMW and parked in the hotel’s nearby parking garage. Murphy said the man walked back toward the hotel, then headed toward the main entrance and left before he was interviewed by police.

Murphy said he called police because he was struck by the driver’s indifference.

“That was just a blatant disregard for just everyone involved,” Murphy said.

“It was kind of a surreal situation here, like, ‘I can’t believe this just happened.’"

...Campbell, a Nashua attorney, is serving his seventh term in the House, where he chairs the Public Works and Highways Committee. He also chairs the Capital Budget Overview Committee and the Long Range Capital Planning and Utilization Committee.

Campbell graduated with honors from Harvard College and Suffolk University Law School, and is admitted to the bar in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, according to biographical information available on his legislative profile.

...New Hampshire law doesn’t require motorists to report hitting a wild animal, according to state Fish and Game Lt. Jim Juneau, a conservation officer supervising operations in five counties.

Juneau said Fish and Game officers were notified Monday night about the incident, but it doesn’t appear they tried to render medical help, given the severity of the ducks’ injuries.

“I don’t think there was anything that could be done at that point,” Juneau said.

Let's just hope Jimmy Kimmel doesn't wind up booking Campbell and Morrissey on his TV show the same night!

Cockfighting Romanian Royalty In Oregon

The Pretenders; the royal cockfighter is on the left

Today everyone in Europe is complaining about the influx of Romanians into their countries. Since Romania joined the EU, there are no borders to keep them out and because there are a lot of poor Romanians, they are drawn to the wealthier countries like Germany, Britain, Holland, Italy, France. Europeans talk about them the way they used to talk about Moroccans and Algerians and the way Republican xenophobes and racists like Steve King and Dana Rohrabacher talk about Mexicans. Everything from "they're primitive and carry diseases" to "they're stealing our jobs" and "committing all the crimes."

Here in the U.S., I don't see much of a Romanian problem, although the food was so rich at Sammy's on Chrystie Street in the Lower East Side that I was sick. Ever see a restaurant that serves a bowl of schmaltz on the table like ketchup or mustard? A few days ago, however, I read about King Michael I of Romania-- or, more precisely, about the third of his and Queen Anne's 6 daughters, Princess Irina.

Her parents had been forced to abdicate-- for the second time-- before she was born (in Switzerland) in 1953. Her father had a bright future when he was born in Foișor Castle, grandson of King Ferdinand of Romania and Princess Elena of Greece. When his father, Carol II, eloped with his mistress, Michael became heir apparent and when King Ferdinand died in 1927, he was crowned king at the age of 6. His father came back 3 years later and became king. 10 years later, in 1940, the Romanian fascist leader and notorious anti-semite, Prime Minister Ion Anontescu staged a coup, claiming Carol II was anti-German, and declared the 18 year old Michael king again. Michael was just a figurehead for the fascist regime but he did get chummy with Hitler and Mussolini. In the summer of 1944 King Michael, deftly reading the handwriting on the wall, staged his own coup, had Antonescu arrested on August 23, 1944 (happy 69th anniversary!) and turned over to the Russians who then gave the Romanian communists the honor of trying and executing him.

The following year King Michael, ever the puppet, was forced to appoint a pro-Soviet Communist government, with which he constantly quarreled. In 1947 he was forced at gunpoint to abdicate and the monarchy was abolished the same day and Mike was exiled (with lots of gold, rubies and valuable art). He moved to London and then Switzerland where he became a commercial pilot. In 1976 he sold two of the El Greco paintings he had stolen when he left.

He tried coming back to Romania at the end of 1990 but was deported immediately. After the Communists were overthrown he was allowed to visit and in 1997 he was given a couple of the old royal palaces and now lives part time in Romania and part time in Switzerland. He and Anne attended the baptism of Princess Irina's daughter in Portland, Oregon in 1987. At the time, she and her first husband, John Kreuger, a Swede, were raising horses near the southern Oregon coast. The Swede and Irina were divorced in 2003 and she married John Wesley Walker, a Coos County deputy sheriff, on November 10, 2007 at the Heart of Reno Chapel in Reno. She and the former deputy sheriff were arrested last Thursday as federal agents swept through eastern Oregon and southcentral Washington to upend a suspected cockfighting ring. They are accused of having staged at least 10 cockfighting derbies at their ranch near Irrigon between April 1, 2012, and last May 19.

Thee royal mug shot

The accused cockfight hosts, with a supporting cast of 16 other suspects in Oregon and at least 10 in Washington, were charged in a conspiracy to violate the federal Animal Welfare Act.

The indictment alleges that the derbies featured dozens of cockfights in a ring, much like a fight card in a night of boxing. But the combatants were roosters, each with knives, gaffs or other cutting instruments attached to their legs, fighting to their deaths in a blood sport now outlawed in all 50 states.

"Besides being a barbaric practice, cockfighting jeopardizes public health and safety and facilitates the commission of other criminal acts," said U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall, Oregon's top federal prosecutor. The "fairly large-scale cockfighting venture" also supported illegal gambling, she said.

A referee supervised the fights as concessionaires sold beer and food, and those managing the action took a 10 percent "house" cut, prosecutors allege.

John and Irina Walker-- along with Irrigon neighbors David Sanchez, 29, and Aurelia Garcia Mendoza, 33, and Hermiston friends Mario "El Cuba" Perez, 62, and Jose Luis Virgen Ramirez, 48-- were charged with operating an illegal gambling business and unlawful animal fighting ventures at the Walkers' Morrow County ranch.

Each of the charges carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

...Top purses in the earlier cockfighting case sometimes reached into the tens of thousands of dollars, authorities said.

The government alleges that the Walkers' horse ranch, on a flat patch of irrigation circles about two miles south of Irrigon, is subject to federal forfeiture because it was used in a criminal enterprise. The ranch's dwellings were valued at $170,360 in 2011, according to public records.

John Walker, 67, served as a sergeant in the Myrtle Point Police Department before going to work on Aug. 1, 1998, with the Coos County Sheriff's Office. He left that job in June 30, 2003, according to the county's Department of Human Resources. It's unclear what kind of work Walker might have performed in the last 10 years.

Walker in 2007 married the former Irina Kreuger, the middle of five daughters born to King Michael I and Queen Anne of Romania. A published account says the Walkers married in the Heart of Reno Chapel, in Reno, Nev.

Princess Irina, 60, is fifth in line to the throne, following her older sisters, Margareta and Elena, and Elena's two children, Nicholas and Elisabeta Karina. She was born and raised in Switzerland and moved to Oregon in 1983.

Irina Walker has never been a visible member of the royal family, which owns four castles in Romania. She has visited the European nation only a handful of times, said historian Filip-Lucian Iorga. Her biography is largely unknown to the Romanian public, he said. The royal family is popular, but largely uninvolved in local politics.

So, should all "royals" who refuse to wholeheartedly renounce their pretensions meet the same fate as Louis XVI? Yeah, of course. They never give up hope of taking over again and subjugating "their" people and stealing all the wealth for themselves. And cockfighting.