Ruff times at Rufus King Park

Queens Chronicle 

Last Thursday, Tunisia Morrison shared to Twitter a post displaying individuals passed out on benches in Rufus King Park, one with a needle stuck in his arm, and an image of human defecation in a fountain she says is frequented by children. The images were part of a presentation she and other members of the Friends of Dogs at Rufus King Park organization, a coalition of approximately 70 dog owners in the area, have been showing to elected officials in an effort to secure a dog run for the park.

The movement has gained more than 300 signatures on a petition posted to Change.org.

They say the dog run is necessary as a result of two issues. One, park enforcement officers in the area are strict in their enforcement of leashing rules, leaving the dogs with nowhere to roam. Even when dog owners circumvent the rules and let the dogs loose, they often encounter garbage and hazardous materials posing a risk to the animals’ safety, as well as the general state of the park as a community gathering space.

“I have a photo of a dog’s face that is three times the size it should be from rat poisoning and no signs across Downtown Jamaica that says that they dropped any,” Morrison said. “There’s a dog with a needle in its face. There’s a dog whose paw is literally ripped off from a bottle cap.”

“I didn’t know if I should post them because I live here and want to be proud of where I’m at, but if I’m sending this to elected officials already and trying to gain support around this dog run, then I’m 100 percent going to post these on Twitter and say, how is this OK for us or animals?” she added.

Parks Department rules stipulate dogs must be leashed at all times while on park grounds, unless in a designated unleashing zone or in a dog run. Still, Morrison says park enforcement officials frequently ignore more egregious violations, such as fighting and drug use, to chide community members over leashing violations.

A spokesperson for Councilman James Gennaro (D-Hillcrest), within whose district Rufus King Park falls, says it is the role of park enforcement officers to act as a liaison for the NYPD and the city Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, as park enforcement officers lack the training required to handle potentially dangerous situations stemming from a mentally ill or drug-influenced person.

“If you actually can’t help this community in mitigating what’s happening in it, why the investment?” Morrison said. “Because that investment could have went into the dog run.”

“I don’t know why the New York City Parks Department does not want to invest as they should in building up quality of life, but this is the [story] of living in the 114- ZIP code, going back way before I was born,” she added.

Woodside to get $250K dog run

From Sunnyside Post:

Work is scheduled to begin this month on the long-awaited revamp to the dog run in Doughboy Park, according to the Parks Department.

Construction on the dog run in Doughboy Plaza, located on Woodside Avenue between 54th and 56th streets, is expected to be completed sometime this spring.

It will include improving access to the site and installing new steps, drainage, fencing and plantings, according to Meghan Lalor, a spokeswoman for the Parks Department.

Though Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer allocated $250,000 in funding to fix up the dilapidated dog run in 2013, the project was delayed for several years while the park was used as a staging area for construction on the neighboring school, P.S. 11.

$250,000 for a dog run? Really?

East Elmhurst asked for infrastructure upgrade, got dog run instead

Bill Parry/Times Ledger

From the Times Ledger:

Rev. Lisa D. Jenkins, and several of her East Elmhurst neighbors, were in shock when they learned the city plans to invest $3.2 million to upgrade Overlook Park and build the neighborhood’s first dog run. When the project was announced in October, the city Parks Department said it would improve green space and the quality of life for area residents.

The minister said $3.2 million to renovate a park was not what the residents and homeowners had asked the city for.

“For decades we have asked for the sewer system and piping in our streets to be replaced,”Jenkins said. “For decades we have had sewer backups and water damage. Our homes have consistent water damage and permanent mold because the problem will not go away.”

Every time it rains, the system that was built in the 1930s and 1950s is overwhelmed with raw sewage and stormwater run-off, she said, bubbles up through toilet and floor drains into her basement. Black mold is a fixture on the floor and walls and the door to the basement is covered with plastic sheeting.

Jenkins has suffered respiratory problems from the mold and mildew left behind by frequent flooding.

“It’s bananas, it’s really hard to wrap your head around,” she said. “My parents made that basement my own when I was growing up and now I can’t even go down there without a breathing apparatus. I’ve got no more money to make repairs. As a single mother with a kid in college, I can’t even get insurance anymore. What happens if there’s a fire? I’ll be homeless. We’re told they don’t have the money to replace the pipes in our streets, but they have $3.2 million for a dog run? Our houses are deteriorating and nobody is concerned. Who will hear us?”

A matter of priorities

From George the Atheist:

$1 Million for a Dog Run in Astoria. $1.5 Million for a Dog Run in East Elmhurst.

In Your Dreams: that $2.5 Million Fantasy Funding Moving Along Nicely Provided by the On-The-Ball Queens Political Establishment for the Construction of the Dog Run at the Steinway Mansion. A State-of-the-Art Facility with Spacious Room for Queens Dogs to Enjoy.

What that $ 2.5 million could have bought: a dog run, a public park, and preservation of historical legacy. Now this:

Message to those of us here to actually remember the first round of Dinkins from deBlasio: Let go of the past! Notice how Aubry mentions that the park space upgrade is meant for the homeless moving into the area's new shelters.

Dog run in Astoria to cost $1M

From the NY Times:

Dog owners in Astoria, Queens, have for years suffered dog-run envy. As fancy new runs have popped up around New York, Astoria residents have wondered when they might get their own.

Now, through the participatory budgeting process and public largess, their moment appears to have arrived. Local officials recently announced that they had pooled enough money to convert a basketball court under the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge into a dog run.

But many residents, including some in the vanguard of the yearslong lobby for the run, were stunned by the estimated price tag: $1 million.

“I didn’t trust my ears initially,” Erin Kirby, media and marketing secretary for the Astoria Dog Owners Association, said. “We were shocked by that.”

City officials said the projected cost was in line with the budgets of other recently built dog runs. Still, for many Astorians the estimate has been a bittersweet introduction to the high costs of capital projects in the city.

Trash can overflow at Little Bay Dog Run

"This is the garbage pail next to the Little Bay Dog Run – it’s looked like this for several days now! And the hose DISAPPEARED the very day the DPR put down some new, terribly sharp, gravelly sand - really nice move considering that there’s NO SHADE in the entire run.

It’s a pity that so much thought and consideration (not to mention money!) goes into the design and maintenance of the bocce courts and so little into the extremely few, shitty, under-sized and overcrowded dog runs in Queens!

Dogs may not vote but their owners do!" - Flooshing Rezident

Push for Astoria dog run repairs

From the Daily News:

Local dog owners are pressuring elected leaders and city officials to fix up a beloved but rundown dog park in Astoria.

But they’ve run into resistance from fellow dog owners and the run’s unofficial caretaker. It is also unclear which city agency is responsible for the waterfront property that Bugsy’s Dog Run sits on.

“My goal would be to establish a community-sponsored dog run,” said Dan Cain, 33, of Astoria, who is leading the latest charge to renovate the run.

“The dog park itself is falling into the river,” said Cain, who added he and other dog owners would be willing to chip in for the repairs. “It’s dirty, it’s filthy and it’s unsafe for dogs.”

Cain, who has an eight-pound toy fox terrier, said he’s afraid his dog could get injured in the rocky run, which is not partitioned into small and large dog sections like most city runs.

But he said some dog owners don’t want to make improvements to the run because they fear the city will stop allowing dogs off-leash in the early mornings and late evenings at nearby Astoria Park.

The run’s condition wouldn’t effect off-leash hours since it isn’t on city Parks Department property, an agency official said.

Other dog owners said they worried if enough attention was brought to the poor condition of the run, with its rocky terrain and sloping fences that have gaps in some spots, it would be closed.

Long time readers may recall that QC visited this spot in 2008.

Housing slump hits Queens hard

From the Daily News:

Queens homeowners are feeling the pain of the housing slump.

The volume of home sales in the borough fell by 9% in the third quarter, compared with the same period last year, according to a report from NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy.

The decline exceeded the drop in home sales citywide, which measured 4%.

Queens also stood out when it came to declining property values. Prices in the borough have depreciated 30% from their peak levels, which were reached in the fourth quarter of 2006.