Brower Park Field

You have made an assumption, and most folk know where assuming gets you.
I am a dog loving person, and have had two pets in my lifetime; a Lab mix and a collie.
I don't have a dog now, because I have made a choice to prefer my wife's company over a conflict about having a dog.


Basically, all mammals have to excrete. The care taken by dog owners in the community
is something that I am sensitive to. There has been an uptick in the amount of fecal
material found in community, on sidewalks,in treepits and the park.

I personally thank dogwalkers when they pick up behind their pet.

By your comment, it seems as if you equate having a child in your charge to haaving a dog.
The joy you get from your pet's companionship should not be equated with the care demanded for a child, toddler, adolescent, or teen.

The care given to a small park, such as Brower, is a concern to myself and others. That is why I took the time to become involved working with the Community Board. The Department of Parks, in the pecking order of NYC departments, is the last funded, and the first department to have its funds reduced. It is typically underfunded. That is probably why re-seeding funds are coming from the Central Park Conservancy, and is a pleasant change in the allocation of funding for park spaces.

Within our community (CB8), the Department of Parks is responsible for Brower Park, Dean St., Stroud Park, Lincoln Terrace Park, Underhill Playground, the playground in the St. Marks Avenue "super block", the entire promenade of Eastern Parkway within CB8, and the playgrounds of at least three public schools.

Prospect Park, like Central Park, has the benefit of many wealthy benefactors.

I am not a millionaire/billionaire. If you become a hedge fund broker, I look forward to you extending your largess to Brower.

In the meantime, you could come out to the community board, or the precinct council, or any other community group that exists. Or you could start one of your own liking.

But seeing as you are a human, I hope your focus would be humans first.

Thank you Capt. Planet.  There is just something so offensive to me about that "Humans first" mentality. We are all god's creatures living on this planet.  The most dangerous animal on this planet is man.  And another phrase that gives me pause is "well, some people just dont like dogs!"  As if their prejudice and intolerance is something to be proud of. The more I know about people, the more I love animals.

Dear Bklyn50, and I love you too!  I understand your perspective, and I believe that we should try to be inclusive of all of gods creatures.  I get alot of blowback from people who can't seem to tolerate anyone but humans.  Nature seems something alien to them.  Man's best friend also deserves a place to frolic in this resource deprived community.  Some people and children get great joy connecting with animals.  I had an autistic boy and his sisters all over my Khandi Girl. The father said that the boy really loves animals and has a special bond.  Research has proven the lowering of blood pressure when petting an animal.  If you exclude dogs from the park, it will be one less opportunity for children to expand their horizons and connect with animals.  

I have a friend who lives in that building (One Brooklyn Bridge Park).

According to him, the building is hugely popular with dog owners as a result of its proximity to the new park. However, some dog owners just let their dogs freely roam the hallways, sans owners. Predictably, the dogs then poop and pee while not under their owners supervision.

Other dogs appear to poop and pee while on leash inside the building and their owners simply keep walking.

It is a problem he did not anticipate when he paid over $2M for an apartment.

...however, it seems some dog owners believe that if THEY pay over $2M for an apartment, they have the "right" to make staff clean up their dogs' mess and have their neighbors endure it until then.

Given the number of people (ie rule enforcers) around, I doubt that this subset of dog owners is able to extend this behavior to Brooklyn Bridge Park.

I know that dog owners who don't pick after their pets on the Eastern Parkway paths, Mount Prospect Park and Prospect Park are shamed, and credit such confrontations for those places being relatively clean.

@WRL, Brower had a farmer's market last year on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The year before we had one on Fridays. They weren't successful enough to return this year. http://www.brooklynian.com/discussion/comment/475100#Comment_475100

@nothinlikeabklyngirl I think the new residents that have come to the area in the pat 2 years would support a green market - but let it be 1 day only - Sat or Sunday, and maybe not so long....I would never make it back from work in time for the market on a Wed by 7pm....Wed am and afternoon works for only those who work from home, study etc....

So I suggest 1 day a week and let that day be on the w/e. I will come and so will my neighbors

I agree. A Saturday or Sunday morning green market would be supported. 

@WRL, @clayfilms, and @crownheightster I agree. I thought the Saturday market was a big improvement over the Friday market, in terms of me being able to go. But even the Saturday one wasn't well supported last year. Don't know if it was the specific location in the park (right behind the museum near the entrance on Brooklyn and Prospect), the marketing, or what. Maybe someone should reach out to Friends of Brower park to let them know there's renewed interest. 

While people are talking about Brower Park, I would encourage anyone who shares my annoyance with the state of the play equipment there (on both the upper and lower playgrounds) to either make a 311 complaint or to email the Parks Commissioner (http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maildpr.html). 

For those that don't frequent the playground parts of the park, the play structures there are really in terrible shape.  On the upper playground (near the basketball courts), the rubber protective coating has completely peeled off most of the steps on the structures, leaving exposed and sometimes rusty metal on the step edges, which is obviously dangerous for the little kids who play there.  The lower playground, with the equipment for older kids, is even worse - some of the equipment there was broken and never replaced, and the remaining equipment has not been maintained at all since it was installed. 

The funny thing is that these play structures in obvious disrepair get rated as "acceptable" in park inspection reports - wonder if they would be "acceptable" if they were located in Madison Square Park or someplace similarly affluent?

I bet that if we had participatory budgeting, that upgrading the Brower Park play equipment would be a big thing we would want to do. 

far as I have seen, there is a greenmarket at brower on wednesdays and saturdays. been seeing them.  check out friends of brower park. I think there are new playgrounds in the works. . Talk to Phil Hawkings.

There is going to be another meeting about the grass reseeding on Wednesday, October 14, 2015.

At the Children's Museum.
AT 6 PM

Offering people lots of meetings is a tried and true strategy of government agencies.

No one has time to attend all of the meetings, which allows the agencies to say they are enacting ideas that they heard at one of the meetings without ever specifying which meeting.

Alternative strategy: The gov employees can have their friends [often from grad school who now work for other agencies (DHS, HPD, HRA, DOH, etc)] attend the meetings under the guise of being locals.

Good times.