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July 7, 2014- BatteryPark.TV has received several letters regarding pitbulls and their owners who live in Gateway Plaza. They are unsolicited, not based on any recent story, which indicates something is going on.
Gateway Plaza made changes to lease to ban pitbulls. However, tenants with existing pitbulls are not being evicted.
Letter 1: By Karen-
I was getting into a Gateway elevator a week ago when I noticed a woman and man with 2 pit bulls were already in the elevator. I promptly stepped back without saying anything and the woman demanded to know why I was leaving the elevator…. “why?” in a demanding voice.
I said I would take the next elevator. At that point the woman held the door open and again screamed at me “why?”
Totally stunned and quite anxious to avoid any confrontation with 2 hungry looking pit bulls eying me…I mumbled something about being scared of dogs…she proceeded to scream and berate me…I could still hear her screaming about me as the elevator ascended. The problem with gateway dog owners is they think the world revolves around themselves..if they truly cared about their dogs they would not have cooped up in apartments all day.
They are much more guilty of animal cruelty than any person avoiding a dog. Gateway dog owners are mostly selfish people.
Letter 2: By EmKay-
I live in Gateway.
If most dog-owners were a third as considerate as the Galloway’s, there would be no problem. When Gateway was proposing a dog-fee and the tenant’s association opposing it, I addressed Gateway management and the tenant’s association president, Plaskin (under the mistaken impression that he was representing all Gateway residents, majority of whom are not dog-owners) about the impossibility of getting into my building without stepping on fresh/dried up dog poop or pee. With pictures of dog shit outside that someone had tracked into the lobby on their shoes that day – the disgusting last straw that drove me over the edge.
Plaskin’s response? That Gateway was a “diverse” community and he hoped I would stay but [paraphrased] fuck off, if not. A slumlord-owner could not have done better.
Unfortunately, a number of Gateway dog owners have the entitlement mentality that they don’t have to pay for the extra services required by dog-ownership, and everyone else should bear those costs, or suffer a reduction in cleanliness and hygiene (which is Gateway’s chosen route).
Worst I ever saw – a kid outside the nail salon who dropped an M&Ms candy, picked it up, and promptly put it in her mouth. The mother was chatting with a bunch of people; if she had an expectation of sidewalks free of feces and urine – I think that’s a fair expectation.
A couple of pitbulls in my building – if one is in the elevator, I wait for the next. A matter of time before someone gets mauled and the lawsuits start flying.
Gateway is on notice and should be a co defendant if someone is bitten. They probably get off but it is never the responsible party dog owner and management that suffers.
And yes, unfortunately Gateway dog owners are, for the most part, extraordinarily selfish.
The concept of another individual being afraid is so unthinkable that they have no respect for other tenants boundaries.
I live in Gateway and have met only very considerate dog owners – I would estimate an exception of 1%. I can’t putting punishing rules on everyone for the few who are probably boors under any circumstances. At the same time, lack of “respect for others’…boundaries” has become the norm in our culture, unfortunately, so why put that label only on dog owners?