South Slope Dog Run Passes Critical Hurdle

The group South Slope Dog — started by Pamela Brown “after being inspired to do something to improve our community at the inauguration of President Obama” — scored a major victory last week when Community Board 7 approved its petition to turn a portion of the “pocket park” abutting Prospect Expressway into a dog run. As long as they get the okay from the Parks Department, as early as this week, the roughly 3,000-square-foot path of fenced-in grass bounded by the Prospect Expressway, 18th Street and Sixth Avenue will be officially set aside for unleashed canines.

You may recall that one of our regulars, Denton, started petitioning for the dog run last summer. How’d it all happen so fast? “Many times dog runs are shot down because local residents do not want the noise and/or other issues, some of which are real and some imagined. In this case, there is only one four story residential building facing the dog run. One one side is the Prospect Expressway, which is noisy in and of itself and helps to mask noise, and across the street is a school. Therefore there were no apartment buildings in opposition,” said Denton. Plus the area was already being used as a dog run informally, although the owners were subjected to sporadic ticket blitzes. The group has applied for 501c3 status to start fundraising, but they’re fortunate because the area is already enclosed by a fence, and the Parks Department generally delivers wood chips for free.
South Slope Dog Run petition [Brownstoner]
Dog soldiers! South Slopers want a place to run their pets [Brooklyn Paper]