Oct 2009 update

[SB11205]

This is where we have landed:

Park location options are-
1) underneath the bqe (somewhere in the middle)
2) Steuben Park (http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/B221/)
3) Cuyler Gore Park (http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/B026/)

This is the status of each
1) BQE: Tish walked it with DOT and they are fine with a dog run being
there. Parks Dept is fine with a dog run being there. We are
awaiting the budget meeting for 2010 funds where Tish will get the
project the funds it needs. Then Parks Dept will make the dog run.
Estimated finished date by me personally? 2011 best case scenario.

2) Steuben Park: Funds available, Parks Dept can proceed to
construction immediately within their own calendar. This location
lacks enthusiastic support from the community since it is not central
to our neighborhood. Also a dog owner and member of this google group
(who I will not name) has protested directly to Tish & PUPS & other
blog websites (but not this website) in order to prevent using part of
this park as a dog run. This site is still an option if the community
is enthusiastic about it.

3) Cuyler Gore Park: Tish is convinced the direct neighbors of this
park are very against the idea of a dog run there. Obstacle here is
proving somehow that there are actual dog owners in the immediate area
who want it and that everyone else in the immediate area is not
vehemently against it. I think this would involve polling people in
the park and 2 block radius ad asking for their name & email & street
address to prove they live super microscopically close by the park
(unlike myself who lives pretty far from that park even though its the
same neighborhood). Arguments against dog run at this site = smell,
sound, dogs are unsafe/dangerous. Arguments for dog run at this site
= Park "grassy" areas are already segmented by sidewalks and fenced
off from people using. People only use the paved areas of this park &
the playground & the garden. They do not sit on the dirt and picnic
here. Grassy areas are not grassy because the trees are too thick/
shady IE dog run will not detract from the beauty of park by killing
the grass because there is no grass. I am almost positive there is a
hose spicket in one of the grass areas, add a bowl and you have a dog
fountain! It would be easy to fence off and create a "small dog's"
run and a "big dog's" run.

What do you think about our options for a community dog run?

[Mak Keltner]

I vote for option #2 (Steuben), followed by option #1 (BQE).

The only reason I am not excited about #3 is if too many neighbors
protest, then it wouldn't make sense. However, I do like the idea of
a small dog run. (I see serious fights some mornings at Fort Greene
Park that scare me a little!)

As long as the fence is high enough that my dog can't jump it, I am
excited about these locations. Steuben seems a bit prettier I
suppose. I'm curious about the individual who opposes this location.
What are the arguments against? (My apologies if we've been over that
already.) Also, how can one person's objections have such a strong
influence here--Steuben appears to be a very viable option especially
if construction can begin relatively soon. Again, I am open to
hearing the reasons against (other than geographic).

Thanks to those who have been working on this.

[stephanie bergsma]

The reason against using Steuben, as per the individual who complained, is that the People community uses the park and it is precious to them because they have no other alternative locations to use if they are displaced.  That's obviously untrue.  There are loads and loads of other parks and playgrounds to go to within just 1/2 a mile, but it is an "opinion" so you can't really argue.

This one opinion does not make this location not an option.  Steuben is still an option.  But there has not been a lot of enthusiasm for it from this google group, probably because its not central.  If everyone is excited and think Steuben is the best option, please chime in.

There has  been a lot of excitement about a run under the BQE.

[Mayumi Shimose Poe]

I am excited for and will support anything that moves forward quickly.
If we could get a dog park with some source of water, in any of those
locations, it'd still be more than we have now--and still closer than
Hillside or Herbert von King Park--the two closest offleash parks in,
respectively, Brooklyn Heights and Bed-Stuy.

Mayumi

--
May in the Bay is now Live from Brooklyn. Check me out at
http://www.mayumishimosepoe.com.

To keep myself humble, I remember that the great William Faulkner once
remarked to an editor: "I know you mean well, but so do I."

“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to
live.” –David Henry Thoreau

“You are lucky to be one of those people who wishes to build sand
castles with words . . . This is what separates artists from ordinary
people: the belief, deep in our hearts, that if we build our castles
well enough, somehow the ocean won’t wash them away. I think this is a
wonderful kind of person to be.” –Anne Lamott (Bird by Bird, p. 231).