Astoria Park, It's Going to the Dogs

A rare weekend off found me at Astoria Park on Saturday morning. For the last couple of years, my wife has been getting up extra early on Saturdays to bring our little dog Zuzu over to the park for “off the leash” time, and has been after me to come along and witness the crowds of happy dogs, and their yawning owners, at play.

Since I had the day off from walking tours or any other nonsense and was up early anyway, I said “yes” and I’m glad I did.

More after the jump…

Astoria Park is one of the few spots in the City of New York where it’s kosher to let your canine pal off the leash for awhile, if the time is prior to 9 am or after 9 pm. Accordingly, a group of the neighbors regularly show up to let the pups be pups and doff their leashes.

From nycgovparks.org:

Although widely known for its beautiful pool, the oldest and largest in the city, Astoria Park offers more than aquatic pleasures. Outdoor tennis courts, a track, a bandstand, multiple trails, basketball courts, and playgrounds lure visitors from the five boroughs and beyond. And the views! Sitting on the edge of the East River and resting between the Triborough Bridge and Hell Gate Bridge, the park offers shoreline sights and sounds that make the benches along its perimeter popular spots year-round.

Concerns about the usual dog stuff are fairly unfounded here. Owners are pretty responsible about cleaning up the various dog eggs which might be laid in the turf, and the canines themselves are self governing. If an aggressive dog wants to flaunt its stuff, it will soon be surrounded by a couple of dozen other pups who will remind the dominar that this is play time.

Also from nycgovparks.org:

Designated Off-Leash Areas: Certain park areas allow dogs to be off-leash from the time the park opens until 9 a.m. AND from 9 p.m. until the park closes. Dog owners/attendants with dogs off-leash in these designated areas must obey all general rules, including having their dog under control at all times, licensing the dog, and carrying proof of the dog’s rabies vaccination. Parks that contain designated off-leash areas are listed by borough below. Reminder: Off-leash rules do not apply to park areas where dogs are strictly prohibited (e.g. playgrounds, tennis courts, athletic fields, and basketball/handball courts).

Sticks are redistributed from place to place, and tennis balls are a hot commodity for the ad hoc pack. The only negative impact this has is on the tree squirrel population of the park, who must think that some sort of siege has literally been unleashed upon them. A lot of high comedy ensues whenever this many dogs are in one place, incidentally, as in when these four decided that their best path forward was to run between the legs of the gentleman pictured above.

To a non dog owner, this might look like a fight. It’s not.

A gaggle of the dogs like to wrestle, and what looks like a bite is actually just a move. They seldom if ever use much force when putting their mouths on each other, rather it’s a bit more of a “see, see what I could do if I wanted to?” sort of thing. As mentioned, dogs are remarkably self governing.

Astoria Park’s off the leash scene goes all year, through every season, here at Hells Gate. My wife has come home absolutely frozen during the winter, but all she can say is that it’s worth the discomfort if only to allow the dog to be a dog for an hour or two.

Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman lives in Astoria and blogs at Newtown Pentacle.