A landlord in New York is reportedly refusing to rent out their apartments to anyone who cooks meat.
Michal Arieh Lerer is the owner of two one-bedroom apartments currently up for rent in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood. The listings for each described them as spacious apartments with outdoor spaces and period details.
There is a catch, however. The “wonderful vegan landlord,” the New York Times quotes the broker as saying, wants “no meat/fish in the building”.
During an open house showing over the weekend, the broker reportedly told prospective tenants that “the owner lives in the building and doesn’t want the smell of cooking meat drifting upstairs”.
Lerer declined to speak to reporters. However, the NYT said Lerer’s ex-husband, who co-owns the building and is also vegan, claimed they had refused to rent to meat-eaters who cook since buying the property in 2007.
“It’s not about discrimination,” Motti Lerer said. “You have to fit into the building.”
According to the New York Post, the broker said that the tenants are welcome to order meat and fish-based takeaways, but the meals cannot be cooked on-site.
It’s not clear whether the two apartments have been rented out after the open house. The listing is still viewable on the real estate agent’s website.
Under New York City’s Human Rights laws, when landlords deny or approve a tenant’s application, they’re not allowed to consider 14 specific characteristics including age, race, or sexual orientation.
So far, dietary preference isn’t on the list. Therefore, Lerer’s move appears to be legal under human rights laws, as carnivores and omnivores are not covered under discrimination policies.
The listing has sparked a debate on social media, with some agreeing with the landlord’s decision and others recalling their own experiences with picky property owners.
“That might fly in California,” one person wrote on Twitter.
One person shared: “I had a landlord write this in the contract. That all meals must be vegan.”
Putting dietary restrictions in a rental contract is very common in India. In many states, landlords refuse to entertain tenants who consume non-vegetarian food.
In recent years, these rules have led to many prospective tenants being forced to undergo extensive and stressful hunts for places they are able to rent.
Last year, real estate brokers claimed to Outlook that they had received specific instructions from some landlords “to keep away... meat-eating people from renting or buying flats”.
“Since a majority of Maharashtrians are meat eaters, finding affordable housing in good complexes has become a stressful task for them,” the brokers said.
In 2012, Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan also revealed that he was turned away by many housing societies due to his food preferences, while looking for somewhere to rent after his marriage to his wife Kareena Kapoor,
