Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Dog-Friendly Bar Battles City Over Definition of 'Food'

By Leslie Albrecht | October 31, 2014 4:51pm | Updated on November 3, 2014 8:41am
 The owner of The Gate is gathering signatures and letters of support in his fight to allow dogs.
Officials, Pet Owners Rally to Get Pup-Friendly Bar Out of the Dog House
View Full Caption

PARK SLOPE — Let them eat beer.

The city defended its recent crackdown on a dog-friendly Park Slope bar that has allowed pooches for nearly two decades — saying that while the bar doesn't have a kitchen, it's still technically a food establishment because ice and beer are considered food under New York City's health code.

The city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene last week ordered The Gate, a bar at Fifth Avenue and Third Street that's welcomed pups since it opened 17 years ago, to ban four-legged customers on the grounds that it's a "food service establishment."

The city's health code "defines a food as any raw, cooked or processed edible substance, including beverages, ingredients, chewing gum, ice, or water, that’s used for human consumption," a Health Department spokesman wrote in an email.

In addition, the spokesman said, dogs aren't allowed in bars for "multiple reasons."

"There is no easy way to determine if a dog is up to date on their vaccinations or if they have been dewormed," the spokesman wrote in an email. "Dogs can also carry dander and fleas and may shed, which could exacerbate allergies among a significant number of people.”

Owner Bobby Gagnon is fighting the ruling, arguing that his bar shouldn't be considered a food business because it doesn't have a kitchen and doesn't serve food. He is scheduled to have his case heard at a city hearing on Nov. 18, and vowed that he's not going down without a dog fight.

More than 175 pro-pooch supporters have signed a petition on Park Slope for Pets, and several have contacted City Councilman Brad Lander about the pooch prohibition. A spokesman for Lander said the councilman is talking to the Health Department about the issue.

Gagnon is also collecting letters of support to present to the Health Department, he said.

Among them is a passionate appeal penned by Community Board 6 district manager Craig Hammerman, who slammed the Health Department for issuing a violation to a "reputable establishment" with no history of complaints.

Hammerman argued that the DOH was wrong to crack down on The Gate, because it doesn't serve food and shouldn't be treated the same as a restaurant, where pets would be prohibited under city law.

"The Gate is truly a special neighborhood place," Hammerman wrote. "I have organized and attended numerous meetings at The Gate largely because it so expertly resonates with the culture of the neighborhood…Being dog-friendly is an important part of that culture."

Officials said a DOH inspector visited The Gate after getting a 311 call about dogs in the bar.

Records dating back to 2010 show just one such call, made in August 2014. Citywide, the Health Department has issued 172 violations for dogs in food service establishments in the past fiscal year, an agency spokesman said.

Dog owner Ben Maddocks called the policy "bulls--t" outside The Gate on Thursday. He and his 4.5-year-old Yorkie-Maltese mix Tallulah had stopped by the bar for an afternoon visit, but were turned away under bar's new "no dogs" policy.

"It doesn't make a whole lot of sense," a disappointed Maddocks said. "If they're not serving food, it doesn't pose any health risk."