May 1, 2017 By Jason Cohen
Residents will get to weigh in on issues pertaining to Long Island City’s waterfront parks Tuesday, with a focus on trash and the failure of park goers to put their dogs on leashes.
With the increase in Long Island City’s population, park usage has grown, bringing with it several problems.
Rob Basch, president of the Hunters Point Parks Conservancy, said residents are starting raise concerns about trash overflowing in the park, dogs not on leashes, noise, drug use and people in the park after closing.
In response to numerous complaints, the Hunters Point Parks Conservancy with the Hunters Point Civic Association will be holding a public meeting with the Parks Department tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at the New York Irish Center, at 1040 Jackson Ave, to discuss these issues.
“We thought it would be a good time to bring all the parties together,” Basch said.
Basch explained that garbage cans are overflowing and that the park is often littered with trash. Ultimately, a place that allows people to relax and have fun is becoming an “eyesore,” he said. He suggested additional garbage cans, more trash pick-ups and people putting trash in cans instead of throwing it on the ground.
Security and other quality-of-life issues also must be addressed, he noted. Too many people allow their dogs to roam the park without leashes or let them go in places not designated for dogs. Also, people smoking marijuana or drinking alcohol in the park is not what the park was designed for, he stressed.
“It’s important to get everyone to work together to make it clean and safe,” he said.
The public is invited to the meeting and among the speakers will be: Norman Chan, park manager for Hunters Point South Park, Andrew Williams, park manager Gantry Plaza State Park, Frank Raffaele, CEO LIC Landing/Coffeed and Captain Forgoine, captain 108th Police Precinct.
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52 Comments
dogs in the city are a health menace ..Ive never seen so many dogs before
and it is a growing problem to the health of all our trees,shrubs,flowers,,,please more park rangers to oversee our parks..people ..whats missing in your life that makes you need a pet so badly??
So much for the discussion a week ago… And we still, as always, have people with dogs in this supposedly dog free Gantry Plaza State park. And there are no rangers in sight, no one polices the area and no one enforces the rule. Most owners have their dogs on leash but there still people who let their dogs run free, big and small, around little children. Some of those people are roudy and curse you out if we point that this is a dog free area and more so theor dog is not even on the leash. But it’s hard to enforce the rule when this people don’t have officials enforcing it. We spent 3 hours at the park and not a single park employee went by during the whole time. And it was during the day hours – from 12 to 3pm. We counted 11 dogs, and one family refused to put their big dog on the leash and cursed us out in front of our and their kids. This is happenning all the time and it is ridiculous.
I hope you inderstand the matter of safety and we as parents want to have at least some areas dog free for our kids to run around, without of fear of being attacked or roll knto the dog feces. And hope you take appropriate measures, especially as the warm weather sets in and more people are coming to the park.
Thank you!
I’m sorry, but I’m not understanding something. I consider myself a responsible dog owner. My dog is NEVER off her leash, and I pick up after her mess, but are you saying that the grass (not the oval athletic field) is off limits? I find that mind boggling
Other events in the park which Coffeed makes more bucks $$$. They score big! I would like to see how much they donate and where that money goes? PS do they need a permit for their cafe space? Because they do not have one; no permit for the cafe area is listed on the NYC website. I am not sure if they need one or have a special deal with the Parks Dept.? All I am saying is that they make a ton of money and should give back some cans so their garbage, from their consumers, can be discarded; and stop winding up in the East River.
The park is over flowing with people on the weekends and nice days. Coffeed should stop selling alcoholic beverages and blasting music and use some of their profits to provide new cans for their trash. They have a booming business and should give back and not just take. The city should provide cans for pizza boxes. Dogs out of the oval and on leashes. Police need to help with the weekend traffic due to people not stopping at traffic signs; they could make a ton of money due to that and illegal parking. Night time is another issue: sex in the oval or on benches; partying to dawn; portable grills; drag racing; not sure how to curb that? Maybe police patrol? So many issues for a small park. Will cheaper ferry rides bring more people? I see most people are their enjoying themselves. The park just gets too packed and with that come issues that need to be worked on.
Coffeed does give back. They donate a percentage of their profit( don’t remember the %) to the Hunters Point Conservancy, which in return uses the money for events and other things in the park.
They should being that they commandeered a decently large swath of park space for their own use/profit.
Right, which in return creates more events at which Coffeed makes money. A VERY symbiotic relationship – a little too symbiotic IMHO, especially given the lack of competition available, and the fact that the food at Coffeed is awful.
The music is pretty loud at Coffeed, I can hear it in my apt a few blocks away on the weekends.
well complaining about space is nothing new. People never learned how to share? There just seems to be a need for more space and if they can finish up the rest of hunters point park whatever phase it’s in then it would help. They really need to build a much bigger dog park than the one already there maybe by the creek area when they build that phase of the buildings over there. Too many dogs for such little space. As for the moms, not sure how you going to teach your kids to share if you don’t set a good example with the neighborhood. Kids make a mess and leave the place dirty just as bad or even worse than the dogs. More human waste at the park than dog. My dog almost died because someone left a wet wipe and dog ate it in 2 secs before i could pick it up and throw away. More trash cans, more cleanups by the city parks workers and patrolling by the police at night. Cause the weed smokers and drinkers at the corner by the ferry is there every night. Not sure why the cops lie and say they make patrols as I walk my dog there every night and there are at least 20-40 people on a nice night blasting music too. learn to share people.
Fence in a portion of the grass area and problem solved: Grass section for dogs and dog lovers, and then the rest of the artificial grass and real grass for families. Put more trash cans. Boom. Done.
The problem is some still won’t follow the rules and there still won’t be any enforcement so the issues persists. Look at the Gantry park side, they have a dog free section yet you’ll always see people walking their dogs there or someone letting their dog run all over the ‘dog free’ grass.
Very True. Like that time I saw a mother with her 7or 8 kids frolicking in the small dog park on Center. She was actually shooing away the dog owners who had the right to be in there. What do you do about people like that?
People who doesnt leave here should not be allowed. They are ruining the area
What about people that can’t spell properly?
if we’re not going to keep the park clear of dogs, can we do something about the children? a park is no place for a child. when i moved here 10 years ago, i specifically moved to LIC b/c i was promised there would be no children mucking up my day. Dogs I can deal with, but children off their leashes are the final straw.
Dog owners in Lic are all pretty much mentally ill, self centered people.
Lol; mentally ill? Any person can be mentally ill, with or with out a pooch.
Oh wow, sorry to hear about this. I haven’t been to the parks there in over a year& things sound different from the beauty/ tidiness I remember there.Hunter’s Point& Gantry State Park are (were?) gems for all ,esp children. The area’s been “discovered” so these issues are inevitable& will surely be addressed. We all love that place too much to mess it up longterm.
People can hold as many meetings as they like but until offenders start getting fined nothing is going to change. Hit people in the pocket and their behavior and attitude will change.
Don’t worry — the 108th is on it!
HAahahahahahahaha, just like they are on the rampant parking in the No Standing, No Parking or other areas where no vehicles are supposed to be parked yet line the streets all weekend when people are in the park? Sure they are.
Yes, we need Gestapo tactics! Let’s crack down on these peasants until they learn how to behave the way we want.
So you’d rather we just let people flout all the laws we find too petty to enforce? Perhaps you’ve heard of this concept called the slippery slope…
Yes, I agree, we should start enforcing the laws rigidly. Let’s start with jaywalking. It’s on the books and most of the neighborhood ignores it. Jaywalkers can cause car accidents or be hit. It’s a moral imperative that we enforce jaywalking laws.
Totally agree. The State Parks Department needs to enforce the dog ban by writing tickets. If they don’t want to do that, then the ban should be eliminated. I have a dog, choose to follow the rules on not walking him in the park, and am incredibly irritated by all the people who flout the law without consequences. And I feel sorry for the employees (non-law enforcement) who have to chase people down one by one. Very unfair to them.
State Parks only controls Gantry, no Hunters Point South Park. So NYPD needs to pull their annoyingly parked cars on 50th Ave. off the sidewalks and take a mosey on down to the park and enforce some laws there once in a while to keep people paying attention.
These dog owners are mind boggling. They appear to be well paid and have decent jobs. Mostly highly educated. Many would probably consider themselves classy. Yet they let their dogs pee in the middle of the sidewalk. Right up against a sign that says, “Good neighbors curb their dogs” or “Dog waste kills plants”. Then there is the oval dog club. So pretentious that it is OK for their dogs. Their dogs would never poop or pee there. They are the special people. Like the ones who think it is OK to take the leash off because their dog would never hurt anyone. Their dog is well behaved. Anyone els find some nice diarrhea puddles in the middle of the sidewalk? I know, it is hard to clean up right? Then why do you let your little lovie dovie pookie wookie poop on the sidewalk in the 1st place?! No pooping on the sidewalks. Ever.
I don’t like your off the wall insinuation that you’d expect that someone who isn’t well paid would allow their dogs to shit on the sidewalk but not the rich. You often post really off-target ideas of the neighborhood, but this one is so wrong. I’ve lived in this area my whole life, and I can assure you that my neighbors, who didn’t earn much money, had pride in the area and didn’t let their pooches crap on their neighbors’ property. No, it’s been my experience in this city that when people are an anonymous blur or don’t know or care about their neighbors well, their selfish instincts take over and crap’s a-flying. Because of the demographics of this area today, most or many of the offenders are likely well to do.
Just a slight stretch and overreaction to a very clear post. My post did not insinuate that at all. I am actually having trouble even trying to understand your ridiculousness.
Ha, you don’t want dogs to be allowed to pee on the sidewalks? Wow. Maybe city life just isn’t for you, ya know? Or maybe your obsession with the sidewalks is just a bit too much, no?
This is actually pretty reasonable. One more step off the CURB, where they can pee or poop in the street, is really not much of an inconvenience to you or your dog, but keeps everyone else from having to navigate the minefield of poop smears and piss puddles littered all over the sidewalks.
Sorry, can’t concentrate. I am just staring out the window at the sidewalks because obviously, I am obsessed with them.
Wake up and smell the poop. A dog is allowed to poop and peep on the sidewalk. The owner needs to pick up the poop or get fined.
The trash issue is ridiculous. I went down to the playground area the other week at around 930am on a weekday and it was covered in trash. The garbage cans are constantly overflowing each morning. It’s common sense to schedule staff to have the garbage picked up more often, and at the start and end if their shifts; or to add a few more garbage cans. Why does this require a public meeting? Just friggin do it.
Why can’t people just hang onto their trash if they see an overflowing trash can and take it home or discard it in a can that is less full? No, they just dump their shit on the ground where it’s convenient and let someone else deal with it. I’ve seen adults who look otherwise mormal do this all the time. New Yorkers are lazy, selfish pigs, and until you can change that fact, the park will be filled with their garbage and dog shit
U wot m8? “New Yorkers are lazy, selfish pigs”? Do tell. What superior upbringing do you have?
Eh, this is actually fairly true. By and large, a big percentage are ruthless animals who will throw their trash on the subway floor, next to a full trash can or just wherever, spit on the floor indoors, clip their nails in public, stick gum to anything and generally just not give a sh!t about anyone else. I’ve seen it. Many times. People suck.
There are too many people in the park and not enough cans; or workers. You live in the area; right? You can see this effect.
Apart from the increase in trash, there’s been vandalism/graffiti around Coffeed. Thankfully, they’ve been addressed. My wife and I try to take evening walks and there’s often a bunch of kids just loitering around 8 and 9 pm on weeknights. We would probably feel safer with cameras.
On a sticky minor note, there’s also folks leaving their gum on seating and the walkways. Not sure what can be done about that. The black little gum dots seem to be increasing as more visitors keep trafficking the area.
Dogs are always in that oval which I think from the start dogs were not allowed. I dogs but I would love to find a patch of grass that isn’t soaked with urine are feces too sometimes.
Thank you for the heads up about this. I am glad they are going to address the trash issue and as a dog owner, I appreciate that there are concerns about dog’s being off leash.
However, something that is incredibly frustrating about living in this area for almost 6 years now is the lack of “green” space for dogs, literally a patch of grass to walk on. Right now we have the lawn by Coffeed and even that the status of “allowed” or “not allowed” has changed several times. I agree there needs to be more responsibility on some dog owners to pick up after their pooches but if they add more restrictions of where dogs can or cannot be, I will throw a fit.
Wait, you moved to LIC and are complaining about there not being enough “green” space??? That’s akin to moving to NYC and complaining that there are too many people!
Everyone including dog owners should follow the rules. And prioritize children’s health and safety over everything else.
If we choose to only follow rules we agree with, kiss the park goodbye.
Safety Mom?
Ha, children’s health and safety over everything else? Do you even know where you live? This isn’t disney land. NY has never been a “kids first” city, and never should be.
Prioritize children’s health? You realize that most of this land is contaminated with petroleum, chemicals, etc. and that whenever new buildings are erected the environmental cleanup that proceeded the work is major. They actually tented off entire blocks and would remove truckloads of soil to be cleaned (burnt) and dumped elsewhere prior to anything else. You also live next to a superfund site.
There is not a lot of green space because you live in NYC. We are on a brink of a public health issue with all of the mindless dog owners allowing their pets to crap anywhere. Sections of the park should have admission fees. Can be free for locals to enjoy, since we pay the taxes. Weekends are getting increasingly unbearable and the lack of restrooms mean local businesses along the waterfront have to spend their time trying to keep non-patrons from using their facilities.
Sailor45, what is a “local” exactly?
Well, we certainly wouldn’t want you to throw a fit, would we?
Look for a Parks Department employee…just try. I’ve found one (1) professionally minded individual pulling trash bags, readying sidewalks. He appeared a bit tired and wary.
Wary of complaints about dog waste, smells ofpee and errant trampling of once carefully planted ares. Without fencing, as in Cenral park, the City portion of our park has been and will be attacked. Without staff within earshot or patrolling in sight, juvenile-minds willl overwhelm quiet enjoyment.
The State portion of our waterfront has rangers and maintenance, at least. On weekends one can confront dog walkers with the truth that “State parks do not allow dogs.” Gently but firmly.
Dogs are not allowed on the grass. It’s not ambiguous. Just like leash laws. And picking up their poop. Convince the dog run on Vernon or next to Sweetleaf to plant grass (which will promptly be killed by hundreds of dogs’ piss and poop). You chose to have a dog in a city. The city does not need to accommodate your choice. You are the one that brought a dog, which needs more space than available in the city, into this environment. Go find a house with a yard where the dog can have the freedom it deserves.