Times real estate reporter Christine Haughney has been working the Dakota beat ever since building resident Alphonse Fletcher Jr. rocked the co-op world with his discrimination lawsuit against the iconic building's board. Which means she's combed through endless court documents describing every detail about the building and its rules, many of them fascinating, though not necessarily relevant to the case. But that doesn't mean the world should be denied an inside look at this landmark, so Haughney uses her Appraisal column today as a Dakota: The Deleted Scenes exposé. Among the tidbits: A $10,000 ramp was installed to aid Lauren Bacall, people leave behind creepy dolls for Yoko Ono, and a building worker was fired "for inappropriate behavior with a resident's housekeeper." And then there are the House Rules, which sound every bit as old as the building itself.
For a building that's been home to several legendary musicians, including John Lennon, Leonard Bernstein and, to this day, Roberta Flack, one would think that the Dakota would have a pretty lenient music policy. Not so! Here's a clip:
No Tenant shall play upon or suffer to be played upon any musical instrument or permitted be operated a phonograph or radio or television loud speaker in such Tenant’s apartment between the hours of eleven o’clock p.m. and the following nine o’clock a.m. if the same shall disturb or annoy other occupants of the Building, and in no event shall any Tenant practice or suffer to be practiced either vocal or instrumental music for more than two hours in any day between the hours of six o’clock p.m. and the following nine o’clock a.m.Wait, so all that psychedlic Yoko Ono caterwauling gets written primarily during Early Bird hours? Surely this is the most shocking Dakota revelation yet!
· Behind the Scenes at the Dakota [NYT]
· The Dakota coverage [Curbed]
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