By Nora Wesson
One of this year’s mayoral candidates is a “vanilla guy” at the Upper West Side’s Salt & Straw ice cream shop, while his opponent prefers to wait patiently for a cup of whipped cream at a local coffee shop. They both know their way around the neighborhood, make friends with everyone, and chase small mammals more than most politicians should.
Meet Enzo, a 9-year-old beagle-terrier mix and Violet, a 5-year-old golden retriever: two Upper West Side pups who kicked off their bids for Honorary Dog Mayor of New York in the “paw-maries” this month, assisted by their dedicated human campaign managers. The adorable candidates will support community service, pet adoption and universal treats in a contest that aims to put a smile on the faces of New Yorkers looking to escape today’s troubling news cycle.
They are among 14 contenders citywide, hoping to succeed current Dog Mayor Simon the basset-cattle dog in representing the city’s 800,000-strong pup population; Simon is retiring from “paw-litical office” at the end of his term, according to his official social media.
“He’s seen things. He knows things. He can get things done,” Harry Leff, Enzo’s owner, said, pointing to his mature experience. Violet, for her part, doesn’t hesitate on the campaign trail, sniffing out friends and voters everywhere.
“[Violet] has experienced so much love and has received such a community here, and she wants to help continue to cultivate and and build that for everyone else,” her dog mom, Olivia Bannerman, told West Side Rag recently in Riverside Park. “We pick up after our pups, and we’re friends with everyone, creating a kinder neighborhood for every animal and human living in it. She’s just a ray of sunshine walking around.”
Bannerman, 28, and Violet, 5, went viral this winter for picking up after irresponsible dog owners who used the snow as an excuse not to. The New York Post covered their efforts, noting that some neighbors had conferred on Bannerman the mantle of “Poop Fairy, a riff on then-City Council Member Erik Bottcher’s awareness campaign urging pup parents to clean up after their animals.
When Violet isn’t supporting her owner’s advocacy for the City Council’s recent Safe and Clean Outdoor Ownership Practices (SCOOP) Act, a package of bills that would boost infrastructure, education and enforcement for street cleanliness, Violet is frolicking in the neighborhood’s parks, stopping in on every doorman near her Upper West Side apartment and waiting patiently for a pup cup at a local coffee shop. She mourned the closure of the dog-friendly café Black Lab last year.
“She geographically seems to know where she’s going, and she’ll pull me places,” Bannerman said, adding that some neighbors meet Violet when she’s with a dog walker, so she “has a whole social life that I’m not part of.”
Enzo also serves his community as an ambassador for Camp Canine, a dog grooming and daycare business with an outpost on West 73rd Street and Columbus Avenue.
“He’s a personable guy, he’s a good-looking dog; I think people just respond to it,” owner Harry Leff, 57, said during an interview in Central Park, as Enzo greeted his dog friends on Cherry Hill, following a brief escape to chase a squirrel. “He’s confident, he’s strong, he’s focused, as you can see. He knows what he wants and he knows how to help people.”
The pair hope to advocate for adoption, as well as extended off-leash hours in parks and more affordable pet care.
“He’s very happy to be engaged with the Upper West Side community,” the owner beamed. “So it’s a good win-win for everybody.”
Enzo regularly visits neighborhood businesses like Salt & Straw on the corner of West 77th Street and Amsterdam — “he’s a vanilla guy,” Leff quipped. He also enjoys Kobrick Coffee on Columbus between West 72nd and 73rd streets, and Paper Source a couple of blocks north between West 74th and 75th streets, where employees give him treats.
“Enzo has a certain panache that’s undeniable,” friend Hadley Haut said during a walk near the Bethesda Fountain.
Howard Yourow, who sees Violet every morning in Riverside Park, told West Side Rag, “I think she has the kind of temper that is good for a mayor to have, to be able to balance interests and get along with everybody.”
Both Bannerman and Leff look forward to the lighthearted contest, a marked diversion from recent human politics.
“It turns out, when people can’t decide who to vote for, they prefer [that] it be because they actually like both candidates,” Dog Mayor founder Stephen Calabria told West Side Rag. He began the dog elections in 2022, with NYC since choosing two four-legged mayors to take the “oaf of office”: first Sally Long Dog, a Bassethound, then Simon, who each served two-year terms, appearing alongside the human mayor and other elected officials to support animal-related policies.
The 16 candidates face off in a bracket, with weekly voting during the first round on the election’s website or in its Facebook group. On July 29, Enzo will battle Mango the golden retriever from NoMad, while Violet goes head-to-head and tail-to-tail with Daphne the Brooklyn Bedlington terrier on September 2. The final round is on November 2, a day before the far-less-consequential midterm elections.
Cast your vote for dog mayor — HERE.
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The lady who has her dogs named after days of the week on West 80th should have her dogs nominated! They’re so cute!
I am going to vote for one of them for president in 2028.
Violet is adorable and Ms Bannerman is the epitome of a good neighbor.
But I am still grumpy about seeing dogs in food shops and restaurants.
Ms Bannerman here! I agree dogs should be kept out of dining establishments, but the cafe that the photo is from was a dog friendly, dog forward spot called Black Lab Cafe. I was so bummed when it closed because it was so fun to bring Violet there 🙁
I’d like to see them in more places- like in Europe.I love their company. They add joy and they create more warm and friendly environments. People actually talk to each other.
Why do you need a dog for an introduction?
Why?
For starters, it’s illegal. The Health Department bans dogs from indoor restaurants and food shops for sanitary reasons. They’re okay at outdoor tables and markets. For aesthetics, I don’t want a dog whose tongue has just been chomping street gunk lapping at my cappuccino, or putting its soiled feet on the fruit display at Fairway. Dogs can be great companions for lots of people, some of whom treat them as children, but there are places at which they are not appropriate.
Bodega cats are also illegal. Yet you seem ok with those.
I’m waiting to wake up one day and see that people are looking to people for unconditional love again.
That would be nice, wouldn’t it?
Any one of these dogs would be more qualified to run this city than our current mayor.
Mamdani has endorsed a German Shepherd named Blondi.
That’s from a movie!
Whichever dog wins should replace Mam-lunatic-dami
I’d like to announce my endorsement of Enzo, one of the coolest dogs you’ll ever meet. As his human sits on the stoop near the corner of West 75th street and Columbus, Enzo plops down in the middle of the sidewalk and watches, like a sentinel, my block. You’ll have to walk around him. As you approach, Enzo doesn’t leap up and performatively greet you. No, he is too cool for that, plus he has a job to do. I feel better about my neighborhood when I see him. He is also, I am told, a friend of Luigi, the tuxedo cat who works at the Little Creatures pet store around the corner. Enzo and Luigi, two Italian-named ambassadors of interspecies fellowship.
Must be nice living in a bubble so insulated that the highest-stakes issue in your life is a fake election for pets.
Bah humbug…..
It must be sad living in an angry and bitter bubble to spend time commenting like this to such fun and easy stories.
I think a bodega cat would make a better mayor than most dogs. Beholden to no special interests, including their owners’.
I wonder why cats are considered sanitary enough to have in food stores. Do you really want a cat that has chewed on a mouse licking your produce or climbing about on food items?
IM: Ariel Wight, beloved bichon of the late Rowenna Wight White.