The East River Esplanade opened the New Wave Pier dog run in December 2022. It’s been a resounding success! The neighborhood accepted the dog run. It’s a part of their routine; socializing their furry friends and saying “hello” to their human neighbors, often for the first time.
It’s about time we look at improvement plans for the dog run!
How to get started
We have to start with a compelling story. Building a strong story is important, not only to convince dog owners, but also your most stubborn neighbor.
Our story starts with the success of our dog run. It’s been called a “life-line”, “game changer”, part of their daily routine, a social area, a safe place, and it makes a lot of people and dogs happy.
We also have some challenges. New Wave Pier dog run is often compared to the well-established Madison Square Park’s Jemmy Dog Run. Honestly, it helps as a guiding light or “what good looks like”. But not all that’s in Jemmy’s Dog Run make sense for New Wave Pier Dog Run.
New Wave Pier Dog Run is a welcomed addition in the neighborhood and a open canvas. We should focus on what makes sense for the neighborhood.
That’s why we are reaching out to the neighborhood and see what improvement(s) makes the most sense.
Outreach
We opened a project idea poll. Go there now and vote!
We looked at our own dog run and other dog runs in the city and this is what we came up with:
High level requirement:
- Approachable cost
- There is no dedicated fund raising group for the East River Esplanade
- The cost of the project needs to be reasonable and within a local fund raising effort
- Low maintenance
- There is no dedicated staff, we depend on the generosity of our neighborhood volunteers
- Vandalism should be expected, and repairs and maintenance should be doable by volunteers
- Executable time and effort
- The dog run is designated as a “pilot” so a large capital project is out-of-scope
- The dog run is a pilot because the East River Esplanade is slated for a larger project
- We want to ensure a dog run is part of the final plan for the East River Esplanade
- We want to be sensitive to possible supply limitation and the skills to implement
- The dog run is designated as a “pilot” so a large capital project is out-of-scope
Here are the list of improvement ideas we posted in the poll:
| Project idea | Purpose | Notes |
| Barrier between the dog run and the FDR | Help block the noise and road splash and make the space a bit more inviting | NYC Parks recommends an artificial ivy mesh we can weave between the existing fencing; offers low cost and low maintenance and vandal-tolerant |
| Lighting in the dog run | Some patrons like to use the run in the evenings. This will be more apparently in the winter season with less daylight | There is no electrical in the area. Simplified installation and maintenance may be solar lamps. A stretched idea: a partnership with green companies |
| Make the space more inviting (painting and flowers) | Decorating a space more inviting shows our commitment to dog run and our neighborhood. | Existing AllKB projects with “It’s My Park Day” at Glick Park and painting the alleyway at 37th street AllKB has experience in this area and it would be easier to rally volunteers, supplies and tools |
| Some shade would be nice | The dog run is exposed with no shade and can be particularly rough in the summer months. | NYC Parks no longer has metal umbrellas in stock Traditional shade umbrellas would prone to any conditions between a the FDR highway and the East River; vandalism, and volunteer’s time to maintain Possibly large planter pots with large plants or small trees |
| Something easier on the dog’s paws other than bare road | In extreme heat or cold, flooring would help our furry companions. It also contributes to a more inviting space | NYC Parks does not recommend loose material (ie: sand, wood chips, gravel) due to constant maintenance and resupply Turf (seen at Madison Square Park) is a high capital cost and requires excavation and months of work and likely will not get approval Sports coating is painted on and is cured in 24 hours and can use different colors; NYC Parks has experience installing these across a number of new parks |
| Other | Any requests that we may have overlooked | We can always consider for future plans |
We are focused on one project at a time, but if time and funding permits, we can certainly expand it to more. Let’s look into early polling is showing us.
Early polling results
We started the poll in the beginning of June. The poll was only posted in two places: dog run newsletter and a QR code on the dog bag dispensers at the dog run. These poll results are from only a few weeks and will stay open. As of today these are the results:
The top three votes are the flooring at 63.8% of the votes, FDR barrier at 12.1% and shade at 12.1%.
Nearly all the respondents are from the neighborhood.
This shows there’s a strong interest in our small sample. We can share this poll to other organizations and gather a larger sample set. The objective: provide evidence the neighborhood sees the need for improvements.
What are we doing?
Outreach efforts
- We are reaching out to other organizations to help with the polling
Research
- Posted early discussions with contractors (look above) on flooring
Finances efforts
- We’re also reaching out to NYC Parks recommended contractors to get started on early estimates
- Started early conversations with another organization on fundraising frameworks
What can you do?
Share the project poll and encourage others to vote. We will use the results to demonstrate the “need” for improvements.
We will also need help on research. A research page will be released soon. But if you want to get ahead:
- Why improved flooring is important for the dog run
- Why one particular flooring is preferred over the other
- We provided some guidance on the “notes” column above
We will need reliable references to help re-enforce the story. The more academic and data supported, the stronger the story, especially to those who don’t want improvements.
We are also preparing what financial efforts look like, that may include fund raising. This is also in its early stages, but we’ll loop everyone in once we lock down more details.
Summary
We want to improve the dog run and it needs the community’s help. It’s the community that owns the dog run’s future. We need to bolster support. There are those who don’t believe it needs improvement, but we do. That’s why we need to tell a good story. That’s why we need your help.
