Pet friendly Avalon White Plains sued for $1.5M over dogfight

A couple who live at the Avalon White Plains apartments is standing by Jackson, their two-year-old Australian Labradoodle, who stands accused of biting an Avalon employee.

Caner Demirayak and Elizabeth K. Friedrich-Demirayak are demanding $1.5 million from the Avalon, in an Oct. 2 complaint filed in Westchester Supreme Court, and asking a judge to stop the apartment complex from evicting them.

They claim that the canine kerfuffle is really at attempt to fraudulently destroy their tenancy so that the Avalon can lease their apartment for higher rent to someone without pets.

Avalon manager Sandra Arias and attorney Stephen J. Lehrman did not respond to emails asking for their side of the story. But according to a Sept. 27 letter to the couple, Arias said Jackson had to be “removed from the community” because the dog’s behavior had violated the lease.

The Demirayaks moved into the Avalon on Barker Avenue in downtown White Plains in 2021. This past February they renewed their lease at $3,852 a month, including parking and storage and a fee for two dogs.

The Jackson incident happened around 8 p.m. on Sept. 24 as a staff member was delivering mail to another apartment. She told a White Plains police officer that Demirayak was leaving his apartment and Jackson, who was not on a leash, also left and jumped on her.

The employee claimed she had been bitten, according to the police report. Demirayak said she was scratched.

In their lawsuit the Demirayaks claim that the employee “provoked Jackson, screamed and yelled in fear and swung her hands and arms at Jackson” as Jackson jumped on her “playfully for three seconds.”

They also claim that emergency medical technicians confirmed that there was no bite or injury.

Previous conflicts, the Demirayaks claim, support their position that the Avalon is trying to force them out.

When they first moved in they were initially denied a handicap parking space for Demirayak, who uses a wheelchair, advising that the spaces are available on a first come, first serve basis.

When they asked for modifications to the bathroom, the complaint states, the Avalon installed grab bars but would not modify the vanity to accommodate a wheelchair and asked the couple to spend up to $6,000 for the modifications.

When Friedrich-Demirayak was involved in a car accident in the garage, the Avalon allegedly refused to provide evidence for their insurer that she was not at fault.

And this past June, they claim they were falsely accused of allowing their dogs to pee in a hallway.

On Sept. 27, three days after the Jackson incident, Arias sent them a letter to remove the dog by Oct. 27 or face eviction. Alternatively, they could vacate the apartment by Oct. 27.

On the following day a notice of termination was issued, ordering them out by Oct. 3.

Leaving within five days would create an extreme hardship, the complaint states, on Demirayak who has a disability, on Friedrich-Demirayak who is pregnant, and on their dogs who would be left homeless.

Demirayak — who has a Brooklyn law practice that handles personal injury cases, criminal cases and civil rights matters including clients with disabilities — is representing himself, his wife and his dogs.