Real Estate

Hipsters vs. hounds: Brooklynites complain of constant barking, poop, pee smell

Brooklyn is going to the dogs.

Kings County’s human residents are being turfed out by large, luxurious boarding and exercise facilities for pampered pooches — and they’re barking mad about it.

“It’s ruining my life,” Rachel Morgan, a co-founder of Wyckoff Windows Studio event space, tearily told The Post. “My whole life has just crumbled now, because of it. It’s horrible.”

A “private canine centric community” called &Pup is set to open in the Bushwick building that has housed her business since May 2021.

Later this fall, &Pup, which is also opening in West Hollywood, will take over three stories at 49 Wyckoff Avenue for its pooch paradise.

It will feature an “enrichment-designed dog park” on the loft building’s “woof-top,” a cafe, retail store, grooming salon, boarding facility, training center, lounge and veterinary care.

They say the have already begun losing clients as a result of construction-related issues. 

The facade of 49 Wyckoff Avenue, where &Pup plans to open this winter.
Tamara Beckwith

The amenities will come at a cost. Access to the “dream membership-based destination in the dog lifestyle industry” will run $1,140 to $4,740 a year, according to &Pup’s online profile. 

But building tenants, whose rents range from $600 to $20,000 per month, claim &Pup has made daily existence a nightmare through “constant” construction.

Once the canine clients arrive, they fear the problem will only get worse.

“It’s just a s—show,” said Vilma Duplantier, an artist and writer who has been renting an office at 49 Wyckoff for a year. Recently, she’s has been unable to concentrate due to health and noise issues she blames on the the construction.

“I’m super allergic to the dust,” said Duplantier, who is in the process of moving out. “I’m not excited about all the barking.”

The business fears it won’t be able to continue operating once &Pup opens and dogs become a constant presence in the building.
Tamara Beckwith
Construction permits line the windows and walls within the building.
Tamara Beckwith

Morgan and her business partners fear they face certain bankruptcy after having put “hundreds of thousands of dollars and four years of continuous work” into customizing their studio, which hosts a variety of photoshoots and live music events.

But, &Pup says it is taking numerous steps to address tenant concerns, including “investing in soundproofing and insulation” and enforcing “strict regulations” on its future pup patrons. 

“Our goal is to create a space that not only caters to dogs and their owners but also enhances the overall experience for everyone in the building,” an &Pup spokesperson told The Post over email.

Over in DUMBO, the dogs have already been unleashed in one pre-war loft building.

Ever since a branch of the Hounds Town doggie day care and boarding franchise moved into 57 Jay Street’s basement a year ago, the stench and howls have been nonstop, residents claim

An advertisement for Hounds Town Dumbo’s daycare, boarding and “pet spa” services.
Courtesy a building tenant

“We hear barking 24/7,” said Ulalume Zavala, a 22-year photographer who lives in the building. “A lot of us can’t sleep.”

In addition to the ceaseless yapping, there are “kennel odors coming through the floor,” and “the front doors are all peed and pooped [on],” said Zavala.

Her neighbors feel similarly, she said, but due to pending legal action they were unable to comment at this time. 

The owner of Hounds Town, Justine Wilson, said the complaints are baseless.

“It’s upsetting to hear that such a story is being written about my small business that I pour my heart and soul into each day,” Wilson told The Post, adding that “Barking sounds coming from a doggy daycare business during certain periods of the day should not be a surprise.”

Dumbo’s 57 Jay Street, a residential building save for the basement commercial unit currently occupied by Hounds Town.
Courtesy a building tenant

While the facility does offer overnight boarding, he said “Any suggestion that the barking sounds are heard 24/7 is utterly false.”

Wilson also noted that she has received no violations — despite being subject to “approximately 10 inspections by various city agencies” in response to building tenants’ smell complaints — and has all the required Department of Health permits for the business.

She also said she hired a professional noise expert to assess the space and make sound mitigation recommendations during construction, all of which were implemented. 

An entrance to Hounds Town Dumbo.
Courtesy a building tenant

Neither building’s landlord returned The Post’s request for comment.

Zavala believes the issue is not specific to these two properties.

Covid led to a pet boom — 23 million US households adopted an animal during the pandemic — and she believes more regulation is needed for facilities that cater to creatures and their owners.

“DUMBO used to be a very sparse and clean neighborhood,” she said. “And now we definitely have a dog pee smell in the streets.”