Amy Haimerl, the co-director of the Red Hook Dog Association, gave up the good news that a petition many residents, dog lovers and supporters have signed succeeded at swaying Community Board 6 to extend the hours of Coffey Park from 10-11pm (for all park goers), and designate Coffey Park as the 89th off-leash park in New York City. Off-leash hours are 6-9am and 9-11pm. Dogs are certainly welcome in the park all hours, just on the leash between 9am-9pm.
1. All dogs must be vaccinated and registered with the city
2. All dogs must be under voice command, meaning they will come when the owner calls
3. No aggression toward humans or other dogs will be tolerated
4. If a police officer or parks representative requests that the dogs be put on leash, owners must comply
5. Dogs are *not* allowed to harass other park users
6. Dogs are *not* allowed in the basketball courts or the playground areas. They are only to be in the grassy area of the park
7. Generally, the dogs are to be off-leash only in the quadrant located at Richards and Verona Streets. This is not an official rule, as we want flexibility to move during barbecuing season or for other events. But dog owners have agreed to keep their group activities generally within this location so that other users can plan their activities
8. From 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., there are to be no dogs off the leash. Police officers will be ticketing heavily if they see dogs off leash during the day
9. Dogs are not to dig in the flower beds or otherwise disturb the flora of the park
10. Owners *must* clean up after their dogs. We will all be keeping a watchful eye in order to keep our park clean for everyone
Apparently, however, some NYPD officers didn’t get the memo, and have given some citations out, despite the new rules. But, it can certainly be dismissed. Happy frolicking.
—Vaduzuvunt
4 responses so far ↓
1 Mare // Dec 29, 2008 at 11:29 am
Yeah!! The dog owners in Coffey Park so considerate and respectful – it’s a lovely scene.
Unlike Valentino Pier where the dog owners are totally self-involved jerks that don’t even pick up after their dogs.
2 Kevin Walsh // Dec 29, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Terrific, until Bowser runs up and jumps on you or worse. Off leash in public parks is a mistake.
3 Orrin // Jan 1, 2009 at 7:30 pm
The dog owners who utilize the Off-leash Hours in Coffey Park are a great group of people who have proven themselves respectful and responsible park stewards. They are a diverse group of people from all parts of the Red Hook community who are united in their love for their community and their canine charges and wish to improve their parks through ongoing volunteerism, and building community bonds that are so typical of the 20+ years of successful Off-leash Hours policy in NYC
They gathered hundreds of signatures and made public presentations in front of the broad community and the CB, who overwhelmingly voted in favor of it. My hat’s off to them.
One should note that the Red Hook community where many hundreds of residents (including hundreds of people in public housing projects) signed petitions in favor of Off-leash Hours, attended community meetings to discuss the policy, and finally the multi-racial composition of the CB unanimously approved the policy in Coffey Park should once and for all put to rest the desparate and cynical assertion that somehow the NYC Off-leash Hours policy is “racist”.
The cynics are a micro-movement of the failed Off-leash rejectionists who brought and supported the NYS Supreme Court case back in 2006 and who, their chagrin, then saw their strategy backfire as the city amended the Leash Law to explicitly permit the Parks Commissioner to promulgate the policy, which finally resulted in 2007 that the Parks Department codified it after over 20+ years of being a successful “unofficial” policy.
Though their arguments have been discredited, time and time again, both legally, by public health professionals (the unimous NYC Health Board), and by tens of thousands of their fellow neighbors of all classes, ages, races, and ethnic backgrounds, they will never cease. All part of our Goregeous Mosiac.
Literally a handful of the failed off-leash rejectionist critics of the Off-leash Hours policy continue vainly to try to kill the policy by saying that Off-leash Hours policy is somehow “racist.”
The broad support that the multi-class, multi-ethnic, and multi-racial Red Hook community has given to the Off-leash Hours policy is just another example of the fallacy of these assertions of racism. Just desperation.
Happy New Year! See you in the park!
4 In the spirit of positive thinking… « To Be Determined // Oct 25, 2009 at 8:50 pm
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