By Carol Tannenhauser
Some readers went to the 87th Street Dog Run in Riverside Park on Monday morning, June 6th — the start of Phase 3, when dog runs and other recreational facilities were supposed to reopen — only to find the gate still locked. We reached out to the Parks Department and learned that what they meant was, they would begin “the process of reopening 5,000 features and amenities in parks throughout the five boroughs, on June 6th, on a rolling basis.” That’s not as daunting as it sounds. A spokesperson said they expect the dog runs to be open “sometime this week.”
Don’t expect the dogs to social distance when they get there and greet their old pals. Not so for humans, who must still keep their distance and mask up. As far as dogs spreading the virus to humans, the CDC says the risk is low.
Phase 3 also means basketball, tennis, volleyball, and handball courts will open.
Below are the neighborhood’s six dog runs. We’ve requested their hours of operation, and are awaiting a response from the Parks Department.
Riverside South Dog Run (Hudson River Greenway, 72nd Street, under the highway)
72nd Street Dog Run (72nd Street and Riverside Drive)
87th Street Dog Run (Riverside Park at 87th Street)
105th Street Dog Run (Riverside Park at 105th Street)
Morningside Park Dog Run (between 114th and 117th streets in the park)
Bull Moose Dog Run (81st Street and Columbus Avenue, next to the Museum of Natural History) will remain closed due to its ongoing renovation, of which Elaine Boxer, one of those who championed the project, said, “They’re putting on the finishing touches.” Parks blamed the delay on the pandemic. The project has been under discussion since 2011.
In the process of researching, we discovered a helpful blog called DogSpin, which has descriptions of some of the dog runs, and a lot of information related to having a dog in NYC.
Here’s to one uncomplicated, uncontagious, apolitical, joyful, distantly social (for humans) re-opening!
I mean, I’m sure none of that is guaranteed, just given – well, people, and this sneaky virus. But it would be so nice. The dog runs can be so wonderful for hounds and humans. Fingers crossed.
Hear hear!
WEAR A MASK.
Keep 6′ apart.
Bring your hand sanitizer.
Avoid touching your face.
Let’s all do this, and dog parks could be a nice respite. Dogs are such a joy to be around.
Agreed! My fingers are crossed too!
Unfortunately, as of 12:30pm today the 87th Street Dog Run is still closed. Very disappointing
Agreed! We took our dogs down at 1:30pm and ran into the locked gates. I talked to a supervisor who was passing by in a cart. He said the dog run was still closed because of a very large dead tree branch that needs to be removed by forestry, and it will probably be tomorrow for 87th Street Dog Run (Riverside Park at 87th Street.
87th Street dog run was closed. Hopefully it will open later this evening!
Just got more info from Parks. Updating article.
We’ve known for weeks that Phase III included dog run reopening. The parks had weeks to prepare. Why the delay? What priorities did they have? Riverside Park needs new management. First the nonsense with the bike lines being made more dangerous with the rerouting. Now this?