you can't Evict Polly
THE FIRST TWO parrots merely annoyed the neighbors. But after the third arrived, the U.S. Department of Justice got involved on the side of the parrots.
In 2024, a New York woman teamed up with the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York to squeeze a six-figure settlement out of her former co-op building. The building's transgression? Violating her right to keep not one, not two, but three emotional support parrots in her home.
It's a colorful case, but it isn't atypical.
Astampede of emotional support dogs, cats, llamas, peacocks, ducks, miniature horses, and more are showing up in America's airports, businesses, and apartment complexes. This has produced no shortage of conflict, particularly in the housing context.
Across the nation, landlords have been feuding with tenants over whether a federal law designed to protect disabled people's access to housing also guarantees renters' right to keep fauna of nearly all shapes and sizes in their homes, "no pet" policies be damned. Small pigs, very large dogs, various lizards, and at least one emu have been caught up in these skirmishes.
The New York woman's name was Meril Lesser. For nearly two decades, she kept two parrots in her home at a ritzy co-op building in Manhattan's Gramercy Park neighborhood.
The birds' noise provoked occasional complaints from other residents of the building, named The Rutherford. When Lesser acquired a third bird in 2015, the conflict escalated.
Within months, her neighbors filed dozens of noise complaints with the city. The building's management company sent Lesser letters citing the bird's excessive squawking.
In response, Lesser took measures to soundproof her home, promised to add additional soundproofing, and noted that the city's inspectors had failed to formally cite her for noise violations. This did little to mollify the neighbors. In 2016, the co-op board moved to evict Lesser.
Bu hikaye Reason magazine dergisinin March 2025 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Reason magazine dergisinin March 2025 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Your Tribalism Is Dumb
NO, YOUR TRIBALISM IS DUMB!
Postnatal Drug Tests Turn Mothers Into Felons
FIVE YEARS AFTER giving birth to a baby girl in 2019, Mississippi mother Brandy Moore was arrested for \"aggravated domestic violence\" based on a postnatal drug test.
In Praise of Zeppo and Shemp
When you think of the Marx Brothers, you likely think of Groucho’s wisecracks, Harpo’s sight gags, and even Chico’s piano specialties. You don’t think about their brother Zeppo.
O&A Rand Paul
SEN. RAND PAUL (R–Ky.) has opposed the TikTok ban since it caught on in Congress.
The Trade War We're Losing to Ourselves
THE FIRST FEW weeks of the second Trump administration were a whirlwind of counter-productive, illogical trade policies.
Supreme Court Takes Up WrongHouse Raids
ON AN EARLY morning in 2017, Trina Martin was shocked by a pyrotechnic exhibit she compares to the Fourth of July. Except it was October, and it was inside her home in Georgia.
Lost Cities in the Jungle
In 2024, A Mayan megacity was discovered in Campeche, Mexico. Swallowed by the rainforest, this lost urban center contained pyramids, plazas, amphitheaters, and highways.
The Present and Future of the Gerontocracy
POLITICAL PROBLEMS OF THE LONGEVITY TRANSITION
The New Prohibitionists
ANTI-ALCOHOL ACTIVISTS ARE IGNORING EVIDENCE AND HIJACKING FEDERAL DIETARY GUIDELINES.
Virtual Fences on the Range
“OH, GIVE ME a home, where the buffalo roam, where the deer and the antelope play,” goes the venerable Western folk song “Home on the Range.”
