The unprecented development north of 96th St. (and extending well into Harlem above 110th) has filled the north end of Central Park with more people than ever before. This summer the increase in park users was dramatic, particularily on weekends.
While I belive that everyone should be free to enjoy one of New York City's greatest assets, I am in constant conflict with the small (but growing) number of dog owners who allow their dogs to run off the leash beyond the "normal" leashless hours. This is a particular problem in the woodland or "Forever Wild" areas that include the Loch and Ravine in the north end of the park. Dogs are never suppose to be off the leash in "Forever Wild" areas.
You may notice the broken plants in the photo on the left. I cannot state for certain that the damage was done by dogs but I have dogs do similar damage to the native plantings in the Wildflower Meadow.
Not only do these unleashed dogs destroy plants (and force the Parks Department to spend many thousands of dollars in replantings) they also destroy necessary and vital habit for resident and migrating birds and make it harder for bird watchers (and photographers) to enjoy these areas.
Last Thursday, while I was trying to photograph a Northern Waterthrush feeding along the stream in the Loch no less than 8 dogs came running through the water in the span of an hour. Needless to say it was impossible to get a photo of the waterthrush. I came on Saturday and managed to get my shot but only by dint of luck (and a lull in dog traffic.) The photo below is from this session. The waterthrush is eating a worm it dug from the bank of the stream.
The lakes and streams of Central Park are essential breeding and feeding grounds for resident and migrating birds and, as such, should be protected from this type of damage and disruption.
The Park's Department, however, does not seem to see it this way: I was shocked to discover that most of the "Leash Dogs in Woodlands at All Times" signs had disappeared from the Loch and Ravine. The signs that were once displayed prominentely at the east and west entrances to the Loch and Ravine are gone as is the sign that once graced the uppper part of the Wildflower Meadow. Several other signs have also been removed along to south path in the Loch and Ravine. There are no "Keep Your Dogs Out of the Water" signs anywhere in this vital habitat.
This can hardly be an accident. An e-mail requesting a clarification on the missing signs was sent to Regina Alvarez, Central Park Conservancy's Woodlands Manager but it has not been answered but I am very curious to hear what she has to say.
Unfortunately enforcement of the leash laws in the north end of Central Park is non-existent. In fact, I have yet to see a PEP officer in the Loch or Ravine this summer. Occasionally a mounted patrol will amble through on a public relations mission but the last thing they want to do is get down off their horses and enforce the leash law. When people realize there is no downside to letting their dogs run free (apart from the consternation of bird watchers and other nature lovers) why should they leash their dogs?
And speaking of that consternation, I receive constant verbal abuse when asking dog owners to removed their dogs from the stream in the Loch. The answer I usually get is, "There's no sign that says I can't." Yeah, right.
You would think I would stop after being physically threatened by a large man who let his five enormous dogs run amok in the wildflower meadow last summer. (Don't bother calling 911 if you get in trouble in the north end of the park, the only location they have in their computer is Lasker Rink.) But this brings to mind another point: when laws are not enforced people take laws into their owns hands. I only pray the unfortunate incident of the spiked meat last week near the Great Lawn is not a consequence of this problem.
As you may be aware, there is a determined group in Brooklyn and Queens trying to get the city to enforce the leash laws. The Queens group has even sued the city to try and compel them to enforce the leash laws in all city parks. Commissioner Benepe has declined the judges recommendation that the parties meet and work out a compromise. It seems he would prefe the judge decide. A ruling is not expected before this fall.
Commissioner Benepe has sent a mixed message about leash law enforcement. In a 1998 New York Magazine article he stated:
What is strikingly new, says Benepe, is the size of the breeds people are
buying. For many decades, the typical New York dog tended to be a handbag baby
-- Pekingese, Maltese, Yorkie, Pomeranian, etc. -- no doubt because rules
against pets in apartments were pervasive and strict, and the little fellas were
easier to smuggle in and out. Now, says Benepe, he and his staff are seeing
bigger and bigger dogs coming into the parks: the obvious retrievers, German
shepherds, St. Bernards, Rottweilers, huskies, and Labs, but also Rhodesian
Ridgebacks, Irish wolfhounds, Great Danes. Several of these appear on the
American Kennel Club’s top ten breeds of last year (the top two are Labs and
Rotts). The Big Dog syndrome can be seen as an invasion of suburbiana into the
city’s culture -- the priorities of Westport, White Plains, and Saddle River
abroad in Central Park. Benepe, however, believes they’re “a fashion statement.”
Henry, a corporate lawyer who lives “in the Eighties just off Park,” laughingly agrees. Henry had a good year in ‘97 and bought himself a colossal Great Dane we’ll call Dog Doe. But it’s not just fashion, says Henry; he likes “the feeling of walking along the street with a big dog in tow.” Perhaps it’s akin to that earlier-nineties chic: being trailed by a large bodyguard with a wire in his ear. Or perhaps -- big dog being current media slang for an Alpha-male over-achiever -- owning one makes you, by association, the meanest predator in the pack. Like sports utes, these often dangerous, always expensive dogs are symbols of boom times: They mirror the bulging pecs of an economy on steroids. Henry also bought a Range
Rover last year, mainly to have something to transport Dog Doe around in.
Big cur, big car.
Henry’s self-image is his own business, his choice of cur -- and car -- a
private one. Until he goes outside. Then it becomes a public affair. Benepe
points out that New Yorkers, charmed by the unquestionable grace and heft of
these animals -- many well in excess of 100 pounds -- fail to realize that
they’re working dogs, bred to be hunters, trackers, shepherds, and guards.
(The Rhodesian ridgeback, for example, was bred to protect livestock and hunt lions.)
No matter how steely your buns, if you’re a lissome 110 pounds, you’re going to
have trouble holding back a Siberian husky whose vocation in life is pulling
fully loaded sleds with large Alaskans standing on them.
“People are almost compelled to let them off the leash, because they need so much more exercise and space,” says Benepe. Dog owners make these choices and then expect their fellow New Yorkers to live with the consequences.
“They say to us, ‘You need to allow us to exercise hunting dogs in crowded
nineteenth-century parks.’ “
I don't think Henry is going to change. If he feels his "big dog" needs to run free in Central Park then he will let it. And, of course, Henry is a potential Central Park Conservancy donor. I am not one for conspiracy theories but I could see how the Conservancy would not like to anger the Henry's who live next to Central Park and consider it their backyard.
In any case, it is clear the leash laws are not being enforced in New York City Parks and I support the Juniper Park Civic Association's lawsuit. More on their lawsuit at the
Prospect Park Advocate Blog.
Please sign the
petition requesting Commissioner Benape enforce the leash law in New York City parks.
