There are not many cities in the world that almost every person on the planet would dream of getting into, and New York is definitely one of those places. "Welcome to New York," Taylor Swift sings, and we happily sing along - until we run into real estate listings for rent.
This is not only one of the greatest cities in the modern world, but also one of the places where people literally line up to pay some insane money just for the very opportunity to live there. Well, New York is worth it. Which means that the real estate market there is definitely a landlord's market. Here's more proof of that.
The recent real estate listing from New York claims cooking meat and fish in the apartment for rent is prohibited
Image credits: samer daboul (not the actual photo)
There are two such apartments for $4.5K and $5.7K per month respectively
According to the New York Times, two beautiful townhouse apartments in Fort Greene were recently advertised for $4.5K and $5.7K per month. True, with one small nuance - the landlord lives in the same building and, since he is a vegan and is not enthusiastic about the smell of fried meat, then cooking meat or fish in these apartments is accordingly prohibited.
Image credits: Fernando Gonzalez (not the actual photo)
Image credits: RDNE Stock project (not the actual photo)
No, this does not mean that the landlord is ready to rent an apartment only to staunch vegans. If you, say, order sushi or a burger to take home, then no one will say a word to you. But to arrange a barbecue for the weekend or, say, just fry some meatballs in your kitchen will no longer work - because this is a violation of the terms of the lease. Like this.
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Image credits: Centosfotos (not the actual photo)
It seems there's no kind of discrimination happening here, according to New York state law
Judging by the description and photos, the apartments are really beautiful and cozy. But doesn't the landlord's demand for a ban on cooking meat seem like a form of discrimination? Most likely no. At least according to New York State law, there are fourteen categories in which any kind of discrimination against tenants is prohibited. And the division of people according to the category of food they eat is not included in the list of these fourteen points.
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)
Moreover, the landlord in this situation deliberately warns prospective tenants about possible restrictions - unlike many other property owners who regularly try to change the terms of the lease after the paper signing, or put forward additional requirements for tenants - even if this is contrary to permission from the city authorities.
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"Over the years of working as a real estate agent, to be honest, I have not come across such situations, although there have been a couple of cases exactly the opposite," says Yulia Shurinova, a real estate agent from Odesa, Ukraine, with whom Bored Panda got in touch for a comment on this story. "Yes, there were moments when landlords refused to rent apartments to vegans - simply because they considered their beliefs 'strange'. But here, it seems to me, it's not at all about someone's prejudices."
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"Probably, if the landlord himself lives in the same building, then he has a negative experience of facing smell, which is truly unpleasant for him. There are cases when there are problems with ventilation in the building, and strong smells from one apartment get into others. But this is nothing more than an assumption. In any case, if such a requirement does not violate the law, there is nothing more to talk about," Yulia believes.
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However, most people see the main 'red flag' here just in living next to the landlord himself
By the way, in the detailed description on the real estate agency website it is indicated that the houses here were built back in 1930 - respectively, without taking into account modern ventilation requirements. And if you are a vegan, and you have to deal with a smell that is really disgusting for you, then you can understand the landlord here as well. However, for some commenters, the very fact of living next to the landlord would be a "red flag" for the apartment...
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"I wouldn't rent a place where the owner lived upstairs, you would always be on your guard and never have a moment's peace," one commenter claims. As for the ban for meat-eating tenants, the opinions of people online are very divided, from the classic "his property, his rules" to "I don't need a landlord to monitor my lifestyle choices." Be that as it may, any person who wants to rent this apartment will have time to think about whether it is worth agreeing to the conditions set out...
On the other hand, before you write a comment about your attitude to this situation, you may be interested in reading this post of ours - here a celebrity chef from Australia simply banned all vegans from his restaurant, being strongly offended by a poor review. In any case, we're looking forward to your comments or even some similar stories from your own life experience.