Pet-owning tenants of eight buildings in the Bronx are distressed over letters recently sent out by the South Bronx Management Company, who took over the buildings that were once owned by the city. The letters point out that leases prevent the keeping of pets in the building and threaten that if tenants don't get rid of their animals, they will be evicted. This sounds like a case for the pet lawyers! Indeed, many tenants have......

One month's free rent! Pets allowed! These are some of the new strategies from Tishman Speyer for its market-rate rentals at Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village complex. Which is a far cry from its past as a complex where building workers would be rewarded with $150 gift certificates if they narced on pet-owning tenants. The Post reports Tishman Speyer, which bought the development for $5.4 billion in 2006, is facing 5-10% vacancy rates, while the average......

Some dogs traveling to the U.S. from Iraq weren't dogs of war or trained to sniff explosives. Instead, they provided a little comfort and unconditional love to soldiers stuck in a war zone. With the help of the International SPCA's Baghdad Pups program, two dogs named Liberty and K-Pot have been adopted by soldiers' families. Because the military doesn't allow units to take adopted dogs with them when they move, soldiers either had to turn......

New Yorkers can walk the streets--and their pets--with renewed confidence this winter. Con Ed is reporting that one's chance of electrocution via stray voltage is down more than 20%, based upon their most recent survey. Of course, being electrocuted while walking around is a very remote possibility, although it does happen, especially in winter, when salt water and slushy water become simultaneously a corrosive agent and an effective conductor of electricity. The utility recorded only......

Okay, maybe pets aren't so into the holidays, except when it comes to scraps that fall to the floor or the prospect of a new chew toy. But that doesn't mean that pet owners aren't enthusiastic about projecting the spirit of the season onto Fido and Fluffy. Clockwise, from the top left, we have: Delco the West Brighton wanna-be (and possibly reluctant) reindeer, photograph by walkwpack, a reader on SILive.com; a cute Christmas tree......

In addition to searching for the Ninja Burglar, Staten Island police can now look for the couple that stole a beloved Blue Sable Chihuahua. Rosie, a rare bread of chihuahua, was stolen from Deseree Fisher's home Tuesday night at around 8 p.m. by a pair of daring thieves. They didn't seem to be after electronics, jewelery, or cash when the broke down the door of the house while people were inside, just the dog. Fisher's......

The 9 year-old boy who perished in a house fire on Staten Island late Sunday apparently died while trying to save his pets. Tommy Monahan apparently had been with his mother as they tried to escape the fire, but he raced back to his room for his dog, lizard and fish. A 12-year-old neighbor told the Daily News, "Everybody thought he was outside but he wasn't. Monahan's father had tried to rescue him from outside......

Above are Oliver, Scout, and Simon Little, three Brooklyn siblings currently without a home. Fortunately, they have a kind neighbor who leaves them food and water and has some outdoor housing in her backyard. The other day she found Simon on her windowsill, caught out in the rain and looking forlorn. With the arrival of winter and snowstorms, these cats need a home. We spoke to their human friend (who would love to take......

An appellate court ruled this week that a 71-year-old woman could remain in the West Village apartment she shares with her two cats, despite a no-pets clause in her lease. Siiri Marvits has lived in the same apartment for 43 years and has had her two cats Athena and Apollo for more than ten years. The Daily News reports that according to the New York City Law Journal, a landlord must begin eviction proceedings within......

Forget terrorists or crippling airline delays: Cats are enemy number one at JFK Airport. After years of airport and airline employees taking care of the many feral cats who make Kennedy their home, the Port Authority is trapping the cats. Rescue groups are worried, because the cats are feral, they are very unlikely to be placed in homes - which means they will probably be killed. A large cat population has grown at the......

Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire investor who New York called an "International Moneyman of Mystery" back in 2002, may be set to plead guilty to having sex with underage girls in Florida, but now there are claims that he was preying on the young in the Big Apple. Maximilia Cordero is suing Epstein for "repeatedly" luring her to his East Side townhouse for sex back in 2000. At the time, Cordero was just 16 and hoping......

We visited the Cathedral of St. John the Divine yesterday to participate in the Feast of St. Francis service - and to see all the animals that flocked to Morningside Heights for the annual animal blessing. Many people brought their pets - mostly dogs, but there were quite a few cats, birds and bunny rabbits - and the cathedral was packed. One highlight of the service is the procession of animals. And everything from......

This Sunday, The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine will be holding the annual Blessing of the Animals, to mark the Feast of St. Francis. Many churches celebrate St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and birds, either on his feast day (which was yesterday) or the first weekend near it. The animal blessing at St. John's will have a parade of animals at 12:30PM, with animals including a white reindeer, a......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a child was found at 115th St. and Nicholas Ave. in Manhattan, an unusual incident at Columbus Circle in Manhattan with a man atop the globe in front of the Trump International, and a double shooting on Hegeman Ave. in Brooklyn. A worker fired from her job at the substance-abuse outreach organization Odyssey House said that her former supervisor would talk of his sexual exploits constantly. One of the......

Leona Helmsley sure loves Trouble. Trouble, her dog, that is. How much did Helmsley, the hotelier who was known by some as the "Queen of Mean" and passed away last week, love her pooch? Enough to leave the white Maltese $12 million in her will, more than she left four of her grandchildren. In addition to the $12 million trust, when Trouble dies, she'll be buried next to her former owner in the family......

What is wrong with people? The director of the Mount Vernon Animal Shelter found three boxes full of kittens (63 of them!!!) on her doorstep. Paula Young believes that the kittens were used as bait during dogfighting in Westchester and possibly the Bronx. She told the Journal News, "It is impossible for one person to have all these kittens, calicos, tabbies, males and females." A few days earlier, animal shelter workers found an older......

35-year-old Alison Pace has made a career out of thoughtful chick lit novels set in New York, where man's best friend (dogs), not girls' (diamonds), play the key role. From dogs getting fed at the dinner table and treated, literally, like family, to DB Sweeney, the dachsund (named after the actor) companion of her third and latest novel, Through Thick and Thin, who captivates lonely restaurant critic Meredith and changes her priorities, Pace makes pets......

If you see a cat or dog in a "wanted" poster on a bus stop, don't be too surprised. Animal Care & Control of New York City is launching a new advertising campaign featuring mug-shot style pictures of pets along with the reason they are up for adoption. The striking images will appear on phone kiosks, buses and bus shelters. The images are of real animals up for adoption from Animal Care & Control.......

The owner of a deceased pet is suing the dog boarding company she entrusted her dog Maximus to, only to hear that her dog ran off and was found later, dead. Constance Tyler gave Maximus, an English bulldog, to high-priced kennel Doggie Diva before taking a trip to California. Doggie Diva owner Alice Moss, took Maximus and a number of other dogs from the business' Bronx facility to a property in upstate New York. Tyler......

During the summers, city shelters see a spike in unwanted pets, and this year is no different. NYC's Animal Care & Control is "taking in 85 cats and kittens a day - up from about 50 a day just a few months ago," according to the Daily News. Animal Care & Control is worried they will have to start euthanizing adoptable cats and dogs, because they are, as director Richard Gentiles says, "being inundated." From......

It is hot. Although temperature is just over 90 degrees, it feels more like 100 with the humidity. And if you're on certain subway platforms, well, forget a mini-pack of tissues - you'll need a whole stack of paper towels or a big towel to wipe away the sweat while you wait for your train. But that's nothing compared to subway workers who don't get to board an air-conditioned train. One transit worker said,......

The ASPCA is investigating a strange case in Staten Island: Someone shot a Port Richmond Yorkshire Terrier, who was sitting on the front porch, with an air rifle on Tuesday. The dog died in surgery the next day. Owners Michael and Marie Buckley told WCBS 2 they moved to Staten Island from Manhattan with Eddie the terrier after Marie's mother died so they could take care of her pets. The Buckleys say that Eddie would......

Williamsburg's state park sort of opened back in May, with weekend-only entry times. The park will go full time starting July 3rd, just in time for the following days fireworks. There will be plenty of time to stake out some precious real estate for the extravaganza too, as the park will open at 10am on Wednesday. Come Wednesday evening, Northside Williamsburg will become the 50-yard-line luxury box for July 4th fireworks viewing in New York......

From shelter pets to sheep updates, there are many animals in the news: 1010 WINS listeners helped donate a year's worth of Viagra pills to help a dog. Ingrid, a mixed-breed who lives at Little Shelter Animal Adoption Center in Huntington, has a severe and advanced case of heartworm; the Viagra helps dilate her blood vessels so more blood can flow to her heart. And even though she has about a year's supply, she'll still......

The first release numbers for All-Star Game balloting was released yesterday for the National League and four Mets are leading in the yearly popularity contest. Jose Reyes, David Wright, Paul Lo Duca, and Carlos Beltran lead at their respective positions, with Beltran as the leading vote-getter in the National League across all positions. Reyes and Wright made their first appearances at the "Midsummer Classic" last season, while Lo Duca is a four-time All Star and......

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! Gothamist headed into the Memorial Day weekend with a number of tasks accomplished. They worried about Long Islanders giving New Yorkers a bad name. They tried......

An epilogue in the story of Fred, the kitten who was deputized by the Brooklyn District Attorney after helping sting a fake veterinarian last year: Steven Vassall was sentenced to psychiatric treatment and avoids prison. A bull terrier owner had contacted the authorities after he became suspicious of Vassall's lack of post-surgery treatment for the pet. Last month, NY Times had suggested that Vassall would get a plea deal, as he claimed "serious and persistent......

LAist is experimenting with blogging dates from J-Date, but finds the best men are found offline. Some date vicariously online and that is one reason why porn is big -- really freaking big -- so they ask if they should cover XXX since the heart of it lays in the city's San Fernando Valley. A writer grapples with her food porn photography obsession, another gets censored on Flickr, one gets scooped by the LA......

We doubt they'll be paying livery cab drivers to park over dangerous-looking grates until they can be checked, but Con Edison is promising to check all 18,000 of its sidewalk grates after a woman plunged through one Thursday morning, landing close to a potentially lethal source of electricity. She was eventually rescued by two firefighters. The regional electric utility is still in the process of identifying electrical "hot spots" that have killed at least one......

That alert about reptiles on the Gothamist Newsmap yesterday? It turns out that many reptiles and other kinds of animals - snakes, frogs, tarantulas, and even little alligators - were found by the FDNY at a basement apartment in Queens. While the fire was contained, firefighters were "startled" to realize that a python (one that was as wide as a human thigh) was on the loose. A firefighter told the Post, "It felt like something......