Photo: Allan Tannenbaum

Every time I walk by New York City’s famous Dakota building, I cannot help but think about Lennon, Ono, Bacall and Bernstein. But for some reason not many Hispanics come to mind…

And now I finally know why:

In a recent New York Times article about Dakota tenant Alphonse Fletcher and his ongoing fight with the building’s management, one member of the co-op board is said to have made a point about why they turned down an apartment to one famous Hispanic:

“[…] after a well-known couple, believed to be Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas, was rejected for a ground-floor apartment in 2005, a board member joked that Mr. Banderas, who is Hispanic, wanted to be at street level so he could buy drugs easily.”

So there you have it. Not only the “system” has trashed my dream of becoming a beauty queen; now I’m going to have to look for an apartment elsewhere… the projects, tal vez.

Oh well…