What are your goals?

Our immediate goal is to allow dogs back into Transmitter Park.

Our short-term goal is to have a section of Transmitter Park converted into a dedicated "dog run". This is long overdue for the neighborhood's current population, which is now increasing at a rapid pace. There are suitable areas for conversion on the Northern, Southern and Eastern edges of the park. Installing a dedicated dog area will effectively remove most dogs from the rest of the park, aside from those who are sitting on a picnic blanket with their owners.

We are 100% opposed to installing a dog-run in another area of the community or future park for several reasons:

  1. A solution is needed today, not (years) in the future.
  2. This idea has been floating around for several years by local politicians, nothing has ever materialized.
  3. This would still block waterfront access for dog owners. Everyone deserves to enjoy a sunset in the park or on a pier.
  4. This approach would not alleviate wear and tear of dogs in Transmitter Park, whether they are permitted or not.
  5. Multiple dog runs will be necessary in the future, especially on the northernmost section of the waterfront. Bad city and parks planning created this mess, it should not be exacerbated. This is not an "Either or" situation.

From an urban planning and public policy perspective, the only correct approach is to immediately build a dog run in Transmitter Park, and plan for additional ones in the Box Street (to the North) and Kent Ave (to the South) areas.

Transmitter Park is small, but there is plenty of unused or underutilized space to share. Our problem has been that certain community groups and activists are morally opposed to the notion of sharing the park with their dog-owning neighbors. It's not right, it's not American, and it sure as heck isn't New York City.

Is park access really an issue?

There is very little park space in North Brooklyn. It is well over 1 mile of walking distance for most of North Greenpoint to access a nearby park that allows dogs (East River Park and McCarren Park in Williamsburg, McGolrick Park in Eastern Greenpoint).

While this distance is extremely inconvenient to the able-bodied younger generations, it effectively prohibits elderly, disabled and injured people from taking their dogs to the park.

I heard that dogs destroyed the lawn. Is that true?

That is False. Normal wear & tear, bad construction and a complete lack of maintenance by NYC Parks all contributed to the decline of the main lawn's health.

The main lawn of Transmitter Park is not on level ground; the center routinely pools up with water, ice and slush in the winter months. Much of the lawn drains into the center area on every rain as well. Other sections of the park are not level or properly drained and become "swampy" or ice-rinks, such as the entrance on Greenpoint Ave.

Did dogs contribute to lawn damage? Yes - but so did groups of humans playing football or soccer in the rain, and children digging with beach toys. The NYPD and NYC Parks regularly drive their cars on the grass when wet, which tears it up; NYC Parks even drove heavy machinery on the wet lawn when planting trees, which left large holes.

I heard that dogs weren't supposed to be on the lawn at all.

There were two sections of Transmitter Park that did not previously allow pets via: A fenced-in garden and a small area of the main lawn by the transmitter building. Multiple communications with 311 and NYC Parks reiterated that dogs were welcome in other areas and on the concrete by the building, and that the signage on the building was not intended to be, nor legally sufficient, to ban dogs from the entire lawn as the signs are not readable from the majority of the lawn. In 2017, a NYC Parks Employee incorrectly installed signs that read "No Pets" instead of "no pets on lawn", which were removed.

I heard that unleashed dogs are a problem.

NYC Law allows unleashed dogs in parks from 9pm to 9am. Some owners disobey that, not all. Most parks rectify this by banning off-leash dogs in all areas.

Is there really an anti-dog group?

Yes. Several people who live around Transmitter Park and are involved with it's management dislike dogs. They constantly call 311 complaining about dogs and harass dog owners in the park and on the street. Several of these people are actively affiliated with the local "Friends of Transmitter Park" group, which NYC Parks has deferred many park planning and policy decisions to.

Multiple members of the "Friends of Transmitter Park" have publicly stated that allowing dogs in the park is against the founding mission and purpose of their park, and it is important to remove dogs because it was supposed to be exclusively for people and children.

One member of our group attended a meeting of the "Friends of Transmitter Park" in late 2017 where this founding vision was explained (and appeared to be generally accepted by their membership as whole); several "progressive" members of that group brought up revisiting the policy and adapting to new populations.

Another member of our group observed a group of NYC Parks Management meeting with several "Friends of Transmitter Park" on May 2nd. Members of the "Friends" constantly asked NYC Parks Management how they could ban dogs and create new rules to ban dogs.

Are there many dogs in Greenpoint?

Date from the NYC Department of Health shows that Greenpoint has one of the highest numbers of registered dogs in all of NYC. The amount of dogs and general dog-friendliness of this area has been covered in many media articles and heavily promoted by real-estate services.

What are your plans for organizing?

We will be protesting local politicians an real-estate offices/developers. Why would someone rent or buy in a new luxury development if they are miles from the nearest park?

Can I help?

Yes! There are a lot of ways you can help.