‘Just Paws Eviction’ Bill Seeks End to No-Pets Housing Policies

Christopher Marte may not have won the race for City Council speaker, but he’s not lifting a hind leg on his constituents, or the people and pets of greater Gotham. To the contrary, for along with his fellow footpad-loving Council member, Lynn Schulman of Queens, the problem-solving downtown solon—whose public-facing 26 for 26 speaker platform received little of the attention it deserved—has introduced the cheekily named “Just Paws Eviction” bill.

Why cheekily? Because unless your pet is a reptile, it likely has whiskers, and the name plays off the “Good Cause Eviction” law New York State enacted in 2024. While that legislation had both fierce—not to say feral—supporters (“nonprofit advocates” and progressive politicians) and foes (landlords both large and small), the “Just Paws Eviction” proposals are unlikely to be so controversial.

According to its co-sponsors, the two-bill effort intends to eliminate blanket no-pet clauses in both subsidized and unsubsidized rental housing across New York City.

This was done, they say, in response to a growing crisis faced in the city’s overcrowded and under-resourced animal shelters. One of the reasons pets are “surrendered”—meaning given up by their owners—is housing instability, with tenants being forced to abandon their beloved pets when moving. In other instances, tenants are prevented from adopting pets due to lease restrictions that ban animals outright.

At first and second fur-covered glances, this seems curious. While loud and sometimes ill-trained, snappy dogs can be an annoyance or an outright menace, good dogs are a delight to be around, even if they don’t do much for the ecosystem besides boosting the local pet-care economy—which is itself important.

Cats, on the other hand, beyond their often inscrutable and willful ways, can be vital companions not just in the interspecies quest for love but also as pest killers extraordinaire. No one who has ever shopped for glue traps to line the baseboards of their apartment after shrieking at the sight of this or that mouse or cockroach will tell you different, even if circumstances may presently keep them catless.

By removing blanket pet bans, the “Just Paws Eviction” bill backers believe the city can obviate the strain on its shelters and encourage responsible pet ownership, while also “maintaining existing legal remedies when pets cause real harm or disruption.”

If there is a fight over the “Just Paws Eviction” proposal, it will likely be over the definition and efficacy of these “existing legal remedies.”

The recent horrific news that a 1-year-old child had been attacked by a pit bull near Broadway and East 13th Street underscores the truth about some dogs. Do an internet search for “dog attack” or “dog attacks child” in nearly any city and state and even the most placid, tail-wagging, face-licking, ball-fetching snugglebunny companion starts to look a little like Cerberus.

And while this is an extreme, if not uncommon, example of the terror dogs can pose, any parent whose children—or any person, period, who has been snapped at, chased, frightened by a dog whose idiot owner doesn’t know how to use a leash, knows the truth: that, sadly, there are many valid reasons for staying away from dogs and dog owners. Texting while Fido takes up the entire sidewalk on a retractable (and not lawful in NYC) leash is classic oblivious dog owner behavior, likewise the clowns who think leash laws don’t apply to them, meanwhile Cujo just jumped onto your kid’s stroller.

The day the ASCPA or NYPD (not just the Parks Deparment) starts arresting people—and DAs start prosecuting—for dog and dog owner misdeeds is the day these people start worrying about dog lease restrictions.

Talk around the dogbowl of empathetic pooch-loving politics is a bit different, of course.

“At a time when apartment hunting is already one of the most stressful experiences New Yorkers face, tenants should not be forced to choose between stable housing and keeping a companion animal,” said Council Member Christopher Marte. “Blanket no-pet clauses make an already brutal housing market even more restrictive, while pushing more animals into overcrowded shelters. The Just Paws Eviction package is about basic fairness, housing stability, and recognizing that pets are part of our families.”

“For so many New Yorkers, pets aren’t just animals— they’re family,” said Council Member Lynn Schulman. “No one should be forced to give up a beloved companion just to keep a roof over their head.”

Said Michelle Villagomez, senior director of municipal affairs for the ASPCA, “Removing barriers to pets in housing will help keep pets in loving homes and out of shelters, and we urge the City Council to prioritize legislation to make pet-friendly housing more accessible for New Yorkers so families can stay together.”