Irving Square Park has been allocated $1.2 million in funding to build a dog run, rocketing the long-debated project forward.
The news reached the Bushwick community just days after BK Reader reported on a renewed push to get a dog run in the park amid a spike in local dog ownership.
Council Member Sandy Nurse allocated the capital funding for the construction of a dog run at Irving Square Park in the FY24 budget, and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation will now be responsible for bringing a proposal on the project to the community board for approval, Nurse told BK Reader.
"While this project has been contentious in the past, if the park remains in the same condition, we will continue to have dogs off leash. Dogs off leash are destroying the park's green areas and children are often scared of them. We need a solution and I believe a dog park is the way," Nurse said.
The push for a dog run goes way back. In 2015, then-Council Member Rafael Espinal earmarked $650,000 for an Irving Square Park dog run, but the project stalled due to community pushback, with opponents citing safety concerns, opposition from residents along the Wilson Avenue length of the park, and many residents who said the children's playground should take precedence, Bklyner reported at the time.
Since then, the reasons for opposition have not changed, but the local dog population has grown.
NYC Parks will now begin its capital process for the project. The first step is a scoping meeting with key local stakeholders on the dog run, which will be held in the coming year.
According to the NYC Parks advice on capital projects, the project would then go through a design and approval process which takes 10-16 months, on average. The dog run would then go to procurement, which typically takes about nine months, and then onto construction, which takes 12-18 months on average.
Brooklyn Parks Commissioner, Martin Maher, told BK Reader the Parks Department looks forward to engaging with the community as the project continues through the capital process, starting with the design.
"Thanks to Council Member Nurse, we’re excited to bring a dog run to Irving Square Park and provide our four-legged friends a space of their own to play," he said.
Members of the Friends of Irving Square Park community group — who have been rallying the community around the idea of a dog run over the past months — seemed pleasantly surprised at the news of the capital funding allocation.
In the past week, Bushwick community members in favor of the run had expressed concern about its estimated price tag, where they might find the funding and the apparent lack of unified community support for the run.
In a joint statement, three members of the group — James Quinlan, Carolina Wang and Joe Tonelli — told BK Reader they welcomed Nurse's support and felt it showed "true commitment to our community."
"We look forward to continuing a strong relationship with CM Nurse, NYC Parks, and CB4 as we work to strengthen the connection between our civic leaders and our community," they said.
Community Board 4 District Manager Celeste Leon told BK Reader the board was also advised about the capital funding this week. She had passed the information along to relevant leadership.
"The board is currently on summer recess, and we have yet to receive any requests to present related to the funding," she said. "In general, the committee’s review process starts with a presentation request, which is referred to the relevant committee chair and coordinated accordingly."
"It’s too soon to say what the overall process will look like this time around, although... funding was previously allocated and later reallocated after it was determined there wasn’t overall community or CB support for the project."
