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Pets

  1. photo op
    Hot Dog Sometimes, like when it’s 90-plus degrees at the Columbus Circle fountain, it’s good to be a pooch.
  2. in the magazine
    On Martina, Sheep, Ferrets, and Fruit FliesWe can’t claim to be one of those savants who has read every article published in every issue of New York since Clay Felker midwifed the thing into existence back in 1968. Even so, we have a hard time believing we could ever find a more favorite sentence in those back issues than this one, from this week’s “The Science of Gaydar”: Late last year, Martina Navratilova joined activists to speak out against an experiment that sought to intentionally turn sheep gay (it failed, but another experiment successfully turned ferrets into homosexuals, and the sexual orientations of fruit flies have been switched in laboratories). If you need us, we’ll be working on our gay-ferret jokes. The Science of Gaydar [NYM]
  3. party lines
    Prince Lorenzo Borghese Can Make Your Wet Dog Smell Like ChocolateThe “Paws for Style” pet fashion show last night was an Animal Fair–sponsored benefit for the Humane Society of New York. But it also, inadvertently, turned into a great showcase for Bachelor alum Prince Lorenzo Borghese’s line of bath and body products for pets, Royal Treatment. “I bathed him in white-chocolate puppy shampoo,” Borghese told us proudly of his mutt, James Bond, as the pair arrived to model together. The red carpet was outdoors, in the rain, without a tent, and celebs, their pets, and the party reporters who love them were getting thoroughly soaked. But James — sopping-wet James — smelled lovely. Cheyenne Jackson, before the rain forced him inside, confided that he and his pooch, Zora, are surprisingly close. “When I come home from the gym,” the actor said, “I always give her a little bit of my protein shake out of my mouth.” Richard Belzer loves his dog, too, but not quite that much. “I kiss his stomach every night before he goes to bed,” the sunglassed actor admitted. But he draws the line at sharing food. —Bennett Marcus
  4. party lines
    Tim Gunn Goes to the Dogs The fourth season of Project Runway starts taping next month, and Tim Gunn warmed up last night with Project Ruffway, a dog fashion show he hosted in a Chelsea gallery space. A benefit for Stray From the Heart, which rescues stray dogs around the globe, the show featured designer fashions for dogs and their walkers. A dog fashion show, it turns out, is a lot like a people fashion show. Looks were shown in the categories of eveningwear, weekend, resort, and “ruff and tumble” (“whatever that means,” Gunn unhelpfully explained), and many models, all adoptable or recently adopted, came from South America. Clothes were by top designers like Nicole Miller and Juicy Couture; Champagne was the drink of choice, though many well-heeled attendees sipped “Hair of the Dog” cocktails made with blood-orange juice, Champagne, and vodka; and the theme was taken seriously: hors d’oeuvre included little bone-shaped sandwiches of roast beef and grilled cheese and French fries in tiny bone-patterned paper cones.
  5. intel
    Report: Manhattanites Buy Expensive Apartments, Hate PetsCiti Habitats just released its latest Black & White Report (named so because, well, we don’t know) about Manhattan’s residential real-estate market, and — newsflash! — it seems apartments are expensive. That’s not news, of course, but there are some great nuggets in the report that get at The Way We Live Now. One revealing statistic: Only 7 percent of Manhattan renters have pets, compared to a national average of about 40 percent for dogs and 30 percent for cats. Another: The average renter is 30, which at first we found unsurprising until we thought of all those hanging on in sprawling rent-stabilized places uptown.
  6. the morning line
    Congestion Pricing, Coming Soon to a Midtown Near You! • The mayor will use Earth Day to unveil a barrage of housing, transit, and environmental proposals. In the spotlight today: a charge for drivers to enter midtown, a cabbies’ dream and car commuters’ nightmare. [NYT] • Governor Spitzer is requesting FEMA aid, including disaster unemployment relief, for twelve counties hit hard by the weekend’s nor’easter. New York City is in line for some federal funds as well. [WSTM] • Albany, meantime, is proposing the so-called Paw and Claw Tax (on pet food, natch), with the money going toward shelters. The tax would apply to “dogs, cats, gerbils, hamsters, rabbits and birds.” Your ferret is now a bargain. [NYS] • Tom Cruise, whom the Post now dubs “the diminutive Scientologist,” hit Chelsea (an easy joke there) to raise funds for his questionable sauna-and-vitamins program for 9/11 emergency workers. Reporters were banned. [NYP] • And it took two fumbling attempts for the NYPD scuba team to tow the departed Sludgie the Whale from Gowanus to his final resting place in Jersey City. Deadpanned one detective by way of equivocation, “This was my first whale.” [WNBC]
  7. in other news
    Going to the DogsDog people, rejoice: The city’s off-leash rules are finally being codified into ironclad law. Come May 1, most New York City parks will officially roll out the welcome mat for your unleashed beast from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m., the so-called “courtesy hours.” (“Get-mauled-in-the-dark hours” doesn’t have quite the same ring.) As tends to be the case with even the slightest adjustments to our city ordinances, this one is a result of a protracted and vicious court battle. Last year, a Queens civic group sued the city to stop the off-leash practice altogether; after the judge and the Board of Health came out on the dog-lover side, the city put the law on the books instead. With new liberties come new restrictions, though: Be ready to show the mutt’s proof of license and rabies-vaccination papers at any time. Or get a cat. Off-Leash Laws Get Final Bark of Approval [amNY]
  8. neighborhood watch
    Holy Kensington, Batman!Bedford-Stuyvesant: Who’d have thunk: Cute boîtes like Le Toukouleur are popping up in old do-or-die Bed-Stuy. [Bed-Stuy Blog] Corona: The Willets Point corridor, a.k.a. that patch of car-related shops called the Iron Triangle, won’t be redeveloped without a fight from area biz owners. [Queens Courier via Queens Crap] Greenwich Village: So just how much did NYU pay off the residents of 250 Mercer to rip up their street in order to expand a co-generation plant? [The Villager] Harlem: While area pet owners await Animal General’s arrival in the neighborhood, they can bring their furry friends to Petland Sunday for a quick and cheap vet check. [Harlem Fur] Kensington: The hood isn’t merely getting popular; it’s also really holy in a multisectarian way. [The Brooklyn Paper] Lower East Side: Yet another scrappy art gallery loses its home to make way for — surprise! — a condo conversion and is instead moving to — surprise — Bushwick. [Downtown Express] Williamsburg: Sure, the Karl Fischer condos are taking their own sweet time to rise. But look at all those balconies! [Curbed]
  9. in other news
    Tara Conner Can’t Catch a BreakCover girl for New York Fallen Beauty Queen, sure. But New York Dog? That’s just mean. New York Dog [Official site]
  10. the morning line
    Rudy! • The Post stokes Giuliani’s presidential fire by reporting that the ex-mayor leads Hillary 48 to 43 percent nationwide and ties her in “blue states” (including New York). Don’t ever stop printing those, lest he change his mind! [NYP] • Four gay couples have already not-quite-married in New Jersey, which on Monday became the third state in our fair country to offer civil unions. (Why just now and not Monday? There’s a 72-hour waiting period.) In Asbury Park, the mayor officiated. [WNBC] • Here’s a nice little companion item to yesterday’s report that Manhattan workers take home twice the national average in wages: They also, according to a strangely balanced-sounding statistic, pay 47 percent more in taxes. [MetroNY] • Having solved every problem that has ever plagued the State of New York, the Assembly turns its attention to the inadequate enforcement of the “pooper scooper” law within the city. Apparently, a $50 to $100 fine is not enough of a deterrent to the cash-rich Manhattanites (see previous item). Would a $250 one help? [amNY] • Dr. Denton Sayer Cox, a onetime prominent physician who treated Andy Warhol, is hospitalized himself after a stranger beat and burned him with an unknown chemical in his Upper East Side triplex. Police allege, and the News relishes, a gay pickup gone awry. [NYDN]
  11. intel
    Hamptons Jury Upholds Volunteer’s Right to Kvetch It’s official: You can kvetch all you want about any organization for which you’re a volunteer — your local hospital, Greenpeace, the Democrats — and it’s thanks to Pat Lynch. The former NBC reporter sued the Southampton Animal Shelter in 2005, saying it had violated her right to free speech when it fired her from her volunteer duties the year before. A jury sided with her this week, awarding her $251,000. Lynch had been walking the center’s dogs and, troubled by conditions there — including how the animals were euthanized — she wrote letters to The Southampton Press expressing her concern, and filed a lawsuit against the shelter. Administrators let her go soon after. “It’s a huge decision,” her lawyer, Steve Morelli, told New York. “Volunteers don’t have to be afraid to speak their mind as long as it’s a matter of public concern and they’re not disruptive.” Good. But if Lynch didn’t agree with the shelter’s policies, why didn’t she just walk away? “I love animals and I wanted to bring about positive change,” she says. “When you volunteer, you don’t leave your First Amendment rights at the front door.” —S. Jhoanna Robledo
  12. the morning line
    Not Leavin’ on a Jet Plane • Jet Blue, the generally beloved low-cost carrier, made a lot of people’s shit lists last night: It stranded hundreds of JFK passengers on the tarmac — on immobile planes — for up to ten hours. On Valentine’s Day. Let’s hope, at least, some romance bloomed in the forced close quarters. [amNY] • The Daily News is issuing a Cesar Borja mea culpa. The paper that had lionized the late cop the most says it had no factual basis for calling him a “volunteer” (he wasn’t) or implying he had rushed to the WTC site on 9/11 (he didn’t). [NYDN] • In a development the Post — and just about only the Post — finds “shocking,” it turns out Hillary Clinton had signed a $200K contract with a consulting firm headed by a prominent South Carolina politician days before said politician endorsed her. [NYP] • That classic New York boogeyman — stray sidewalk electricity — is back. This time, the victim is a pet. Not even twenty minutes of mouth-to-mouth CPR could save the terrier named Boston Bob, apparently electrocuted when he stepped on a manhole cover. [NYDN] • And speaking of classic boogeymen: Apparently, Son of Sam’s apartment in Yonkers is a bit of a tourist destination — with a Times profile that eerily smacks of a real-estate listing. (“Apartment 7E, a studio with sweeping views of the Hudson River …”) [NYT]
  13. neighborhood watch
    How Much Is That Cat in the Window?Brooklyn: Area man throws cat out window, gets arrested. Honestly, who throws a cat? [NYS] Chelsea: After renting an unheated, bathroom-less space in an attempt ride to Larry Gagosian’s coattails across the street, artist Hubert Waldroup closes up shop without selling a painting. [Chelsea Now] Greenpoint: Ladies and gentlemen, Greenpoint is gentrifying. (Is this news?) [amNY] Lower East Side: There’s no eruv — a boundary within which certain things usually forbidden to orthodox Jews on Shabbat are allowed — on the Lower East Side. Should there be one? Maybe. [Downtown Express] Midwood: One public high school produced three U.S. senators. Huh. [Brooklyn Record] Park Slope: New kiddie boutique makes it that much easier to scar kids for life dressing them in psychedelic, cuddly, fluffy getups. [Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn] Upper West Side: It’s not quite Stuy Town, but it’s still a big deal: The Apthorp has sold for $425 million. Strangely, the new owners plan to keep it rental. [NYT]
  14. in other news
    NYC Dog Lovers Hate Leashes, Love Acronyms Reading up on the city’s current leash-law scuffle, we were bemused to learn that NYC Dog, the group fighting to keep off-leash time for New York’s pooches, pronounces its name not, as you might expect, “N-Y-C Dog” but rather “Nice Dog!” Intrigued, we turned to our friend Google and soon had our answer: Yes, dog-loving New Yorkers are the corniest acronymists ever. The evidence: • BARC: Brooklyn Animal Rescue, a Williamsburg adoption agency • FIDO: Fellowship for the Interests of Dogs and their Owners, “serving Brooklyn’s off-leash community” • FLORAL: Friends & Lovers of Riverside Area Life, a group for dog owners who use the southern end of Riverside Park and the 72nd Street Dog Run • DOGSI: Dogs’ Owners Group of Staten Island, self-explanatory • And, finally, Stray From the Heart, a Manhattan adoption agency, which is not an acronym but is ridiculous nonetheless. — Hope Reeves The Leash of Their Worries at Hearing [NYDN] Free-Range Pups [NYM]
  15. in other news
    Papers Love Cats, Now and Forever There’s a rash of stories out there about animal shelters prohibiting or limiting the adoption of black cats until Halloween blows over. The idea is that daft revelers may pick up the cats as party props or novelty gifts only to toss them aside a few days later; there’s also the old Black Mass chestnut — what if someone uses the kitty as the fodder for a Satanic ritual? There’s even a controversy about whether halting adoption is a good idea: The AP quotes Gail Buchwald, vice-president of a New York shelter, to the effect that these particular felines have it hard enough. “Black cats already suffer a stigma because of their color,” she says.
  16. the know-it-all
    What’s Up With Pirro’s Pigs? The Jeanine Pirro–keeps–on–truckin’ piece on the front of today’s Times “Metro” section reports that the GOP candidate for attorney general “rides around in a silver Ford Explorer, teasing her staff, chatting about her pets.” What it doesn’t mention is what those pets are — two potbellied pigs, which the paper of record previously described as “pampered.” It reminded us of something that has long intrigued us: Why would you want pigs as pets? And how do you pamper them?
  17. intel
    Jersey Kitten Named Cat Champ, Doesn’t Care The smell at the fourth annual Iams Cat Championship hits you before the cuteness does. Held in the Expo room in the bowels of Madison Square Garden, the show — sponsored by the century-old Cat Fanciers Association — featured felines representing 41 certified breeds, booths advertising “world’s best kitty litter,” charcoal drawings of cats drinking out of toilets, and presentations like “The Secret Sex Lives of Dogs & Cats.” (Can’t some things stay secret?) Sunday was time for the Best of the Best awards, the kitty equivalent of Best in Show. (It came after the trained-cat show and the feline agility competition.) The judging took place in the front of the room, before dozens of people on folding chairs, on a stage with a small, pink-beribboned table. The judge, Walter Hutzler, brought out each cat and held it aloft, stretching it out vertically or horizontally into a sort of Superman pose, before setting it down briefly on the table. The crowd oohed and aahed constantly. Two gray-haired announcers — Kent Highhouse, in a tux, and Gail Frew, in a black pantsuit — sat to the left of the stage, keeping up a running commentary.