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Feb. 7, 2014 By Christian Murray
State officials presented the design plans for a proposed dog run that would be located next to Center Boulevard, sandwiched between the new P.S./I.S. 78Q building and the Queens West Sports Field.
The design, if approved, would result in a 3,000 sqf. dog run, with a Center Blvd entrance. There would be a landscaped buffer between the sports field and the school. Furthermore, there would be separate green space at the 5th Street end.
Karen Phillips, the director of the New York City region of New York State Parks, presented the plan at a meeting held at PS/IS78Q by Friends of Gantry Neighborhood Parks, a non-profit group dedicated to maintaining the local parks.
Phillips said the design was created after feedback from the local parents, elected officials and members of Community Board 2.
The original design was for a larger dog run, with an entrance closer to the school. Parents pushed back against that plan arguing that it put children at risk.
The creation of the dog run—as well as the adjacent garden at the 5th Street end—would cost the state about $750,000, Phillips said.
A final decision as to whether the state will go ahead with the plans has not been made. Phillips said she is still seeking additional feedback.
Joe Conley, chairman of Community Board 2, said that the public will have a chance to voice its opinion at a public hearing that will most likely be in March. Once that is complete, Phillips is expected to render a decision.
Conley said the “The need for more dog space is very clear,” although he added, “it will not be at the sacrifice of children.”
There has been a major influx of dogs into the area in recent years, as most of the buildings are very animal-friendly. Furthermore, there are several dog runs.
There is a dog run on Vernon Boulevard and 48th Avenue, another at Hunters Point South , one at Murray Park and a small run by Anabel Basin that was constructed by TF Cornerstone.
Joe Conley, Paula Roy, Karen Phillips, Bill Bylewski and Mark Christie
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14 Comments
cities are for dogs
what about the children????
lol
some people should stay in suburbia
what about the kids who run around my lobby unattended
and scream amd yell
put them on a leash
breeders lol
The amount of ranting by the miserable anti-dog populace is laughable. If you don’t want to live in a diverse family community, don’t move to one. 37% of households own a dog in this country. It’s better to create space for them than to force residents to exercise them on public parks, i.e. gantry state plaza.
I live in 4615, which is next to the dog run, and the entire grassy area is ALREADY used by dogs for their bathroom needs. Now it will at least be maintained.
If you are worried about dog do-do, hire more cleanup crews. Then we both win. The dog do-do gets cleaned, but the vast majority of other dangers do as well. That includes things out on the streets that my dog has either ingested, attempted to eat, and stepped on: broken glass, chicken wings, needles, a diaper (yes, literally), shoe laces, oil from parked cars, and the list goes on.
Dear Queens Native:
The lawless urination and defecation is tied to the number of dogs in the area. *Without* many dog amenities, there were a certain number of dogs introduced into the area. Now with added amenities for dogs, it means it will INCREASE the motivation to raise dogs in the area, increase the density of dogs and thus increase the amount of doggy doo-doo on your sidewalks, grassy areas and shoes.
Hunters Point probably has the highest density of dog parks and dog friendly areas than any part of NYC.
Hunters Point really has gone to the dogs. Good luck with the thousands of new people moving in who will now find it even more appealing to raise a dog here.
– In terms of money for a dog park, are you saying that there wouldn’t be any of $750,000 that could be used to instead build an area near the school for any other purpose, or used to pay for a security guard to prevent dog doo doo for maybe like 10 years?
I’d rather have more dogs in the neighborhood that the stroller mafia trying to squeeze their double wide brat mobile into a bar to complain about loud music and drinking patrons. The neighborhood is largely a rental neighborhood for couples between getting married and having kids to old enough for daycare. Dogs figure prominently in that demographic. Considering the density of dogs, I would consider it a miracle that we don’t have vastly more crap on the sidewalks, although I would like to see real fines levied against poop and run misdemeanors.
For those of you that have concerns about the proximity of the dog park to the school, please think of the second order implications of what not having a dog park that close to the school are, and would continue to be:
1) Dogs that are already in the neighborhood currently are walking around the school, urinating and defecating. In short, the voiced concerns here about biohazard materials being close to children are already present.
2) Without an state-funded dog run, the patch of grass running alongside the school still essentially functions as just that, except with none of the environmental regulations present at official dog-runs in effect. That means that without a dog run being officially put in by the state, a non-official one will continue to exist with zero regulation (cleaning, posted rules, and regular maintenance).
3) People not picking up after their dogs is not in any way related to a dog park. It’s about the people, not the animals, and all of your complaints on that front are 100% valid, and I share them. That said, a dog run would at least serve as an area where the laziness of dog owners who abandon their responsibility to pick-up after their dogs could at least be contained, and the biological hazard to humans minimized, in that the waste would be in an area regularly cleaned and sanitized. We can all agree that sidewalks are rarely, if ever, washed.
The reality is that dogs exist, they live in the neighborhood, and they are going to urinate and defecate. Rather than try to change a fact, it should be accepted and effort should be put into determining how best to minimize the negative impact of these actions, instead of complaining about a problem (dogs, lazy owners) that will not be fixed by said complaints.
Sweetleaf just became my new favorite place to grab coffee and drinks at night once this gets built. Watching dogs play is a great way to relax, IMO.
Exactly what this neighborhood needs another dog park, so more people can have dogs off the leash to and from the park. JVB doesn’t seem to care when people walk dogs off the leash, this is illegal and a violation of the NYC Health Law also people don’t even pick up after the dogs especially on Center Blvd.
They also mentioned that there is a dog friendly zone at Anabel Basin, so the school will be surrounded by dog friendly areas all around it!
Maybe we should just move the school?
Why? Let the dogs weed out the least fit kids.
Are parents really going to take this? Incredible.
If you went to the meeting on wednesday, it’s already a done deal. It seems like the dog lobby is stronger than the parent lobby. Karen Philips wasn’t really responding to comments…it was more like, “well, this is happening”.
Lic Michael — that plot of land already smells terribly in warm weather since people already let their dogs run wild there. It won’t be any different, except maybe a bit more self-contained with less dead grass (maybe).
So we really get to smell dog urine on those
Hit days – right next to a residential building ?
Who does that ?