A New York landlord has provoked fury after prohibiting tenants from cooking meat or fish in his two Brooklyn apartments, priced at $4,500 and $5,750 per month. The vegan property owner, Michal Arieh Lerer, lives in the building and reportedly objects to the smell of cooking animal products.
Broker Andrea Kelly of Douglas Elliman Real Estate stated: “It’s not vegetarian-only, but the owner lives in the building and doesn’t want the smell of cooking meat drifting upstairs.” Takeaway meat or fish dishes are permitted, but cooking them is banned.
Local residents expressed outrage. Corey, a building superintendent, told The Post: “You can’t tell people what to eat and what not to eat.” Scott Fu, 29, added: “That’s a new one! Can you legally do that, outlaw smells?”
Legal experts note that New York’s Human Rights Law prohibits discrimination based on 14 specific characteristics, but cooking preferences are not among them. Lucas Ferrara, an adjunct professor at New York Law School, said a tenant could challenge the ban if they had a medical condition requiring “reasonable accommodation,” but otherwise the restriction is permissible.
This is not the first such case. In 2019, a house in Australia was advertised on Gumtree seeking vegan tenants, with a rule that “no other food or beverages allowed in the house.” The debate continues over whether such clauses constitute discrimination.
