By Ashley Winchester
Volume 73, Number 24 | October 15 – 21, 2003
New Hudson Park dog run gets some ruff reviews
A dog run that opened last May in the Hudson River Park has met with mixed reviews among its many users. The new run includes a rectangular running area, a large circular bench on the narrow end of the run and a washable paved surface.
One of the run’s chief critics ironically is one of the dog owners who advocated for it most strongly, Lynn Pacifico, who believes the run’s layout is unsafe and should be redesigned. Prior to the construction of the Hudson River Park run, Pacifico used the Christopher St. piers or J. J. Walker field to exercise her three rescued dogs off-leash, but she won’t take her dogs to the new run.
“There are three very dangerous things about the new run,” Pacifico said. “First, they put in a surface for tennis courts, and the ground is not level. When it rains it’s very slippery… Second, a run is only as secure as its lowest fence, and the fence on the north side is too low. Even a small, clever dog can get out. Third, there’s a huge circular bench in the narrow end of the run that takes up half the length of the run. It’s the most antisocial bench I’ve ever seen in my life, and it gets in the way of the purpose of the dog run. Ultimately, the surface needs to be a surface made for kennels; the fence needs to come up and that stupid bench needs to come out.”
Another Village dog owner, Kathy Yates, attended community board meetings and negotiated with the Hudson River Park Trust to make sure the dog run would be appropriate for the community. Although Yates brings her dog to the run on a daily basis, she said dog owners’ needs were not adequately addressed in the park’s planning.
“When we consider we have over 5,000 dogs in the Village and probably more than that now, how do you fit all those dogs in the two little dog runs we have in all of Downtown?” Yates said. “Of course, my dog loves it, but it’s too small…. It could have been twice the size when you consider all the land they have along the river. Dog owners are always the last to be considered. The bottom line is H.R.P.T. didn’t really listen to us.”
However, most dog run visitors polled recently said they were happy to have a new place for their pets to play, but agree there are a few things that could be changed.
“It has a different surface which is really good because you can hose it off, although when the ground gets wet the dogs slip,” run regular April Hallenbeck said. “It’s nice to have a piece of grass [outside the run] to sit on, too.”
Beagle owner Michael Stephens brings his dog, Harry, to the park every evening and is happy to have an alternative to the Tompkins Sq. Park run.
“It’s great, it’s wonderful and clean,” Stephens said. “I think if people paid more for dog licenses, for example, even more facilities like this could be built.”
“The community wins with a good dog run,” Pacifico said. “Dogs that are socialized bark less and are quieter and friendlier. I’m thrilled that we have the run, don’t get me wrong, but they are all new dogs that are going there, not the ones that used to go to the J.J. Walker field before it was closed. It’s all new faces and new dogs.”
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