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
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]
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]
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]
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.
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?
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.