More Discussion of Dogs in Riverfront Park
Last night, at the informal meeting of the Common Council, the aldermen once again took up the discussion of repealing the prohibition on dogs in Henry Hudson Riverfront Park.
As he has before, Alderman Bart Delaney (Fifth Ward) shared the fear, which apparently is held by many of his constituents, that, if it is made legal for dogs to enter, "riverfront park will be a dog park." He was supported in this by Abdus Miah (Second Ward) and Henry Haddad (Third Ward), who expressed the opinion that "more people would abuse the privilege" and that it would be better to pursue a dog park. Ohrine Stewart (Fourth Ward), also envisioning a park overrun with dogs, spoke of the danger dogs presented to children.
Alderman Nick Haddad (First Ward) dismissed the fears of canine tyranny and chaos and predicted that, if the prohibition were lifted, "the same people are going to be walking their dogs [in riverfront park] as are walking them there today." Mary Udell, speaking from the audience, told the Council that she and her husband traveled a lot with their dog and shared the observation that "most of the nice cities and towns welcome dogs to their parks," making clear with signage the expectation that dogs in the park will be leashed and owners will pick up after their dogs and facilitating the latter by providing poop bags.
Council president Don Moore, who confessed to walking his dog in riverfront park and sees the park as a destination for his morning dog walk, suggested that the repeal be adopted with a sunset provision. If things didn't work out, the prohibition would be back in force after a designated period of time--one or two years.
It seems possible that the aldermen opposing the repeal are hearing only from the people who fear the worst. If you're not among those who think repealing the prohibition on dogs in riverfront park is an act of rash abandon that would unleash the hounds of hell to destroy the beauty and tranquility of the park, there is now an easy way to make your opinion known. An online petition has been created, entitled "Repeal the Prohibition." That petition can be accessed here. The signatures will be presented to the Common Council before they vote on the repeal on Tuesday, March 18.
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The only way to sign the petition is to make a donation. That is unfortunate!
ReplyDeleteThat's not true. What do you think you would to donating to?
DeleteThe way it's set up makes it seem as though you have to make a donation, but your signature is recorded whether you complete that donation page or not.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa. You're right. I'd forgotten that. (Sorry, John.) ipetitions.com tries to get you to donate to them at the end, but ignore that. Just sign the petition to let the Common Council know that you would like your dog to be able to enter riverfront park legally.
DeleteIt's time for the Health Dept. to be contacted to answer a few questions about the use of public parks for dog walking.
ReplyDeleteI would like to know how a dog owner "picks up" dog urine & 100% of dog feces?
Presumably the health department would agree with the department in NYC. Almost all of the public parks there permit dog walking. It's reasonable to be concerned about an influx of lazy owners not doing anything about it, but I'm not sure the health department has any concerns.
DeleteFollowing one of two federal options, Hudson seeks to attain a "presumptive" standard to feces released into the environment, which requires an 85% capture rate or better.
ReplyDeleteOf course I'm talking about untreated human feces, while there's nothing like the same principle applied to animal feces, at least not in Hudson. And that's thanks to our DPW ignoring federal guidelines with the invaluable assistance of the state DEC's dysfunctional Water Division (and yet our very own guardian angel at the DEC, named Dzierwa, makes six figures!).
The Water Division will approve of just about anything this city wants to do as long as it doesn't interrupt their coffee breaks.
If the City's waterfront planners had any idea how long it takes for a Labrador to train a human to throw a stick into the river, they would remove all the fences and free up the shoreline .
ReplyDeleteNice one!
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