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Dog Park for Prospect Heights? — Brooklynian

Dog Park for Prospect Heights?

rimley
rimley
edited November -1 in Prospect Heights
Is anyone else tired of driving to the dog park in Brooklyn Heights or walking to the always crowded dog parks in Prospect Park? I wrote an email to Assemblymember Jeffries (who is the state assembly member for district 57 which covers prospect heights) over two weeks ago about opening a dialog which would grant us some space for a dog park here in Prospect Heights, and I haven't heard a word from his office.

If anyone else would like to contribute to this cause, you can reach him via email at: [email protected]

If he doesn't reply to my request to start a communication about this by the middle of July, I will make an appointment to see him in person.

Show your support! Keep our dogs healthy!

Comments

  • sje
    sje
    Prospect Park is crowded? The dogs have the run of the entire long meadow for a few hours every morning! There's Dog Beach at the other end of it! Our dogs already have it incredibly good as far as park access...
  • poot
    poot
    Are there "dog parks" in Prospect Park? We usually just take our dogs there during off-leash hours (granted, the hours are severly diminished during warmer weather) when we have free-run of the park.
  • caseopele
    caseopele
    Yeah, but that's in Prospect Park. I'm on Bergen and no way could I walk my 12 year old arthritic dog all the way to the long meadow and back. He sure would enjoy the grass but he'd collapse by the time we got there. Plus, that meadow has gotten out of control. At least it was a few years ago when I still took Cheech there. He ended up getting kind of freaked out by the sheer number of dogs there so we stopped going.

    Not everyone can get to the designated dog runs, I'm in a kind of dead zone where they are all too far away. Even though I'm more CH than PH I think a dog run in PH is a great idea. And before we get someone complaining about dog parks being dangerous and wanting to do away with them all. Think about this. A dog is much happier and calmer when it has regular exercise and playtime. Dogs that are never allowed that freedom (but need it) tend to be more agitated and high strung. Some dogs don't need it as much as other dogs. I know every dog I've had was much better behaved when they were able to run around somewhere and get the "crazies" out.
  • rimley
    rimley
    Regardless of the crowd level in Prospect Park (yes, I was talking about the off leash hours at the long meadow), that area of the park is still too far from Prospect Heights for most Prospect Heights residents to take their dogs to on a regular basis (which is the point of this petition for a dog park, more regular access to exercise facilities to prolong the health of our dogs).

    I would wager to guess that there are more dogs living in Prospect Heights than children under the age of 10. With that said, if it's reasonable to build a place for our children to exercise (like the park on Prospect Place and Underhill), isn't it reasonable for us to create a place for our dogs to exercise?

    I live in a building where there are only five or six children under the age of 10, but there are more than 25 dogs. The changing face of Prospect Heights (with the luxury condos going up on Dean Street and Washington Avenue as well as on Flatbush) suggests that we are NOT moving toward a more family friendly neighborhood, but one that is getting ready for an influx of professionals relocating from Manhattan or wherever else. I wonder what the state of the park on Underhill will be once it opens. Will it be utilized regularly? A dog park makes sense in this neighborhood. It will provide recreational facilities for the dogs already here and those soon to come. It will definitely not go unappreciated. In the two years I have lived in Prospect Heights, I have not seen much change as far as the beautification of the neighborhood. New businesses have opened implying that a new economy is emerging, but other than that, the people of Prospect Heights continue to be under-served. Don't let this continue.

    :D/
  • sje
    sje
    After I moved from PH to CH, I also had to figure out how to get my little dogs to the park, it's now a long hike. Have you looked into one of the little covered wheelie carts that attach to the back of your bicycle? During the week, the park is not crowded at all, especially if you go early, around 6-7am. I feel for you and your 12yr old, but the way things are going here in PH, I feel like the PEOPLE are being run out and dogs matter even less than that. Sorry. Good luck with your quest. Sometimes squeeky wheel gets the grease.
  • caseopele
    caseopele
    I would love to have a bicycle but I hate riding in Brooklyn, too many crazy drivers. Also, Cheech (the 12 year old) is about 65 lbs and so is my younger dog Ripley. I don't think there is a cart big enough for the 2 of them! I'm not expecting a huge open area for a dog run, maybe just a little fenced in one like the one on 5th Ave. Really, anyplace I could let them run free for a few minutes a day. Since Cheech is older he doesn't have as much energy as he used to and Ripley is just lazy. I have to chase her to make her run for more than 5 minutes.

    So, I'm not looking for a crazy big dog park, even something the size of a small lot would be great. Like you I don't have much faith that we would get something like that though. There's too much money to be made right now by building condos. It pretty much sucks for everyone.
  • sje
    sje
    We're compensating with long walks on Eastern Parkway, which is actually pretty nice.
  • sweet tea
    sweet tea
    it might be easier to get a dog park in CH, where the real estate market isn't quite as booming, and which is farther from PP. just a thought.

    describing the need for dog runs in opposition to the need for playgrounds seems like a good way to lose the argument, though.
  • easternpkwy
    easternpkwy
    Go to Mount Prospect Park - it is doggie friendly 24/7, unofficially of course. But especially in the mornings....
  • rockhound
    rockhound
    Go to Mount Prospect Park - it is doggie friendly 24/7, unofficially of course. But especially in the mornings....
    First there were the unofficial morning and evening off leash hours. The off leash contingent won their case in court for the 9am 9pm hours.

    Now it's unofficially 24/7 "doggie friendly" off leash hours? Now we are looking at off leash ALL THE TIME? Whatever happened to people-friendly parks?

    It may be hard for some to believe, but there are people who are afraid of dogs or just don't want to deal with other people's dogs, and they would like to be able to use the parks too. Why on earth can't dog owners respect that?
  • easternpkwy
    easternpkwy
    It's not off-leash all the time. That particular park is often empty during the day, so a dog owner (of a benign and obedient pooch) could in theory feel quite comfortable letting Fido run.

    I am a dog person, and therefore biased. And I have no issue with off-leash rules as written. But I fail to understand why dog owners must defer to the neuroses of a small minority of uninformed and unexposed people on this topic...

    It's akin to passing a law keeping children out of parks because some people don't like them - kids as a whole are far more unpredictable than your average pet dog...
  • poot
    poot
    Not to worry, rockhound, I personally have seen people getting tickets for not obeying the leash laws in Prospect Park. There are very clear guidelines for when and where you can and cannot have your dog off leash. Sure, people bend the rules, but I don't think you're in danger of seeing the park overrun with off-leash dogs on a Saturday afternoon anytime soon.

    I am both a dog and a kid person, which is why we ended up moving to PH. I don't have an issue with the walk to the park (we're all up for it), but I have to agree with Sweet Tea. It's probably a stretch to push for a run in a neighborhood so close to the notoriously dog-friendly Prospect Park.
  • sweet tea
    sweet tea
    EasternPkwy wrote:
    I am a dog person, and therefore biased. And I have no issue with off-leash rules as written. But I fail to understand why dog owners must defer to the neuroses of a small minority of uninformed and unexposed people on this topic...
    i am also a dog person. if you live near me and have a dog, chances are good that we've met, because if you have passed me with your dog, i have acted the fool in an attempt to get your dog to fill my apparently bottomless need for canine affection. (sorry if i failed to talk to YOU because your dog was so damn cute.)

    that said, i know some very rational, grown-up, informed people who are frightened of dogs for good reason, which is to say that they have been "exposed" to dogs who were, for reasons of training or temperament, violent. it is very sad. they don't deserve scorn for wanting to go to a park without being frightened. i'm all for off-leash hours, which are predictable and therefore avoidable, but on-leash hours should be equally predictable. (even if that means i have to get closer to you in order to talk to your dog.)
    EasternPkwy wrote: It's akin to passing a law keeping children out of parks because some people don't like them - kids as a whole are far more unpredictable than your average pet dog...
    no, it's not. fear and dislike are not the same thing -- ask someone who likes dogs and is also afraid of them, a really sucky combination. kids are unpredictable, sure, but that's where your analogy falls apart. small children are easy to outrun and have comparatively dull teeth.
  • rimley
    rimley
    I don't know where Mount Prospect Park is, but I'd be willing to try that out. Park Slope just got a new dog park on (I think) 4th street and 3rd avenue. It's small, maybe 20 x 20 or something like that, but sometimes that's enough. There are so many small 20 x 20 lots located in prospect park and in crown heights for that matter that could easily be turned into gated dog runs.

    Is this a bad thing? To transform something that is used for nothing (collecting tires and beer cans like the one on grand and prospect place) into something that could beautify the neighborhood and improve the health of our pets? I don't hink it's a bad thing at all.

    I am sure there are other lots around PH and CH that could use a similar conversion. If you know of a lot like the one I described, please let me know where it is so that I can take pictures and try to find out who owns those places.

    Thank you.
  • easternpkwy
    easternpkwy
    Its on Eastern Parkway between the Museum/Botanic Gardens and the Library.
  • rimley
    rimley
    oh yes, I know where that is. I didn't know it was called Mt Prospect Park.

    Great, thanks!
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