Queens, NY asked in Animal / Dog Law and Landlord - Tenant for New York

Q: I openly owned a dog for 13 years and he passed. I want a new dog but the landlord doesn't. Can he prevent a new dog?

I owned a 25-pound poodle so there was no shed, no damage to the building, only slight barking from people passing in the building. There was never a problem with the dog before but now that he's passed and I took the time to grieve about it for a few weeks. I'd like a new poodle no bigger than 25 pounds fully grown but the landlord is telling us that we can't because the supervisor (who lives in the building) would have to get a dog for their daughter and some other tenant that recently moved in within the past year would get one too. At this point, they aren't giving me reasons why I can't have, just that they don't want to allow it because others will start harassing them more. I'm assuming they changed their policy about the building being pet free from when I had my dog before to now. Does it now apply to me now that my dog passed or do I get waived because I've had a dog?

EDIT: Nothing about no pets is on the lease but they still say they'll take to court.

1 Lawyer Answer
Benjamin Z. Katz
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Answered

A: Does the building have a no pets policy? Is it in your lease agreement? If it is not contained in written form they can’t just say no.

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