By Gus Saltonstall
For the past couple of weeks, someone has been dumping an orange powder, possibly paprika or cayenne pepper, at the entrance to a lawn on Riverside Drive, according to a West Side Rag reader who wrote to the site and an Upper West Side social media forum.
Along with the note from the tipster, warning signs posted at the entrance to the UWS green space this week, allege that whoever is dumping the powder appears to be bothered by dogs in the area.
The saga is unfolding within a small island park at West 112th Street and Riverside Drive, which has a sign proclaiming a section of it is “Passive lawn: No pets or active sports.”
“For several weeks, there have been reports on local forums about a resident intentionally spreading harsh spices (cayenne/red chili powder) to harm dogs in Riverside Park,” a tipster, who wished to remain anonymous, emailed West Side Rag.
According to the tipster, the person is “spreading it on walking paths” in a way that “poses a risk to leashed dogs, people and wildlife.”
On Wednesday, signs went up along a path through the island park to alert people who frequent the West 112th Street green space.
The signs allege that someone was spreading “an orange spice…which can cause pain and irritation to dogs.”
“This is animal cruelty,” it reads.
The poster added that the orange spice is not only at the entrance to the Passive Lawn, but due to the wind, has been carried around the area. It also provides tips for what to do if a dog does ingest the substance.
While dogs are not allowed in the Passive Lawn within the West 112th Street green space, animals are allowed in a path above it and in the rest of the small island park.
The Rag was not able to independently identify the orange substance.
Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here. And you can Support the Rag here.
Lots of rude dog owners with a misguided sense of entitlement bring their pooches onto passive lawns when the sign clearly forbids it, many times unleashed. The answer is enforcement, not paprika.
Agree. You can’t walk down a sidewalk without seeing dog feces everywhere. Especially in the area of West 96,97 and 100th sidewalks.
These dog owners should be fined. And I’m talking dogs that look like ponies.
It’s a cesspool and smells are gross 🤮
Enforcement? Not in Manhattan in 2026. Alvin Bragg got re elected with over 70 percent of the vote. The DA doesn’t believe in prosecuting people.
Haha yeah remember the good old days before the libs when you could eat off the sidewalks, there was no crime, . People got tickets for not picking up poop, even spitting on the sidewalk would get you in jail. Those were the days amiright?
Tell our new mayor.
Unfortunately, “enforcement” seems to be a relic of the past.
High praise to dog owners who do follow the rules. I adore dogs but like when people follow the rules out of respect for their neighbors. But, yes, enforcement does seem to be a relic, and this is why no one can be bothered to keep their dog out of grocery stores and restaurants (where only TRUE, trained service dogs are allowed, not emotional support animals, i.e., pets). It’s also why we see so many jumping turnstiles and not paying for the bus, and why bikes are all over the sidewalks, going the wrong direction on one-way streets. We need some enforcement and we need some civility and mutual respect!
Agree. I think so-called Progressives have gone too far in seemingly equating enforcement of many crimes below major felonies as injustice. It’s unjust to allow rhe civic fabric to deteriorate like this. When I was in Belgium not long ago, I was amazed at how clean and, I’ll say it, orderly the city was.
Belgium’s entire population is 11 million. Perspective, please.
This is what happens when people continually break the law and there are no repercussions. It doesn’t make it right but it is understandable. Dog owners are an entitled scourge on the UWs
Yorkies voted for it and they got it. No sympathy at all.
SOME DOG OWNERS. Not dog owners. Most of us comply and are trustworthy and unlike you, good natured.
So, we have a suspect in Bill. I hope this is investigated!
There are some careless dog owners but it’s not right to harm pets. The owners are responsible.
Absurd generalization.
Many of us are active participants in the life and upkeep of the Upper West Side. I was a dog owner for 14 years (until she died) and continue to be an active volunteer in Riverside Park. Your generalization is ridiculous.
It’s ridiculous to assume all dog owners would behave brazenly flout the park’s rules, but it’s very clear that there are many who do. It’s up to us all — dog owners, dog lovers, and everyone else — to respectfully request that dog owners follow the rules, for everyone’s good. It’s called civility.
Barbara is right. Most dog owners I know try not to inconvenience others and are sorry when we inadvertently do. Also, dog owners often pick up trash that the groundspeople have missed.
Why so fragile?
I”m not sure you know what that word means.
Reading is fundamental.
How is wanting the rules to be followed and enforced fragile?
There’s a way to express yourself without being offensive and fragile.
Fragile is the new triggered.
It isn’t. Calling an entire group of people “a scourge” is.
Down with the dog owner scourge!
A lot of folks won’t get your “humor.”
Oh, but we do…
Vigilante justice! That’s what we need! We should round up every deranged old lady on the UWS and deputize them! Shouldn’t stop at old ladies, everyone should be deputized! Every law is always being broken somewhere, at some time! We should be policing ourselves, our neighbors, our children, especially other people’s children, and doubly especially their dogs! When you’ve really cracked down on thy fellow neighbor and opened the necessary number of cans of hwoopass, your assigned Overseer will administer Brownie Points for top citizen of the fiscal quarter. Everyone will be vying for that one coveted seat on the board of directors, open to the top Citizen Enforcer.
Dogs watch out! But also thank you dogs, you’ll have ushered in a new era of peace and civility via total anarchy and paprika vigilantism.
Paprika, so much paprika!
Hi “FKA”
Not understanding the labeling/belittling reference “deranged old lady”.
What’s up?
This person was being facetious.
100+ comments, minimum.
A prophet walks among us.
Not until we add in parked cars
And e-bikes.
A new meaning for a Hot Dog
Best comment award!
Orange powder bad.
Perhaps it is Donalds makeup
My dearly departed fur baby killed many rats in Riverside Park, as well as a few in Central Park and on the UWS streets. She and many other terriers provide a strongly needed service to the neighborhood.
Does this give them a right to be on a passive lawn that clearly forbids dogs?
That’s not what she said, or even implied.
Did I say that it does?
Why did you mention it?.
Maybe it’s time to wake up.
I think she was responding to comments that seem hostile to dogs and UWS dog owners in general.
great! now do central park!
Michael C should be investigated as a suspect too.
Think ahead about the consequences. There are people and wildlife that will be poorly affected.
The REAL ISSUE HERE is that dog owners are selfishly taking their dogs into an area which is not only SIGNED as a NO DOG AREA, but also one where dozens of toddlers and small children are taken to play by their day care or schools every week.
Residents have repeatedly asked them not to let their dogs run and defecate there, and they respond in unbelievably rude fashion. Calls to Parks and 311 have gone unanswered.
So yes, someone decided enough was enough. I’m surprised no one has locked that gate on their own to prevent dog owners from the behavior. Parks should be fining, and dog owners should respect their neighbors and the rules of shared urban spaces
Living in NYC and owning dogs doesn’t compute!
Of course they’ll never be fines for people who allow their animals to defecate/urinate .. everywhere! … WHY?
Another suspect.
So, Nope, having read about how your actions actually harm people, animals, and children not at fault, will you stop? BTW, you did lock the gate briefly last year. That didn’t work either, did it?
Oh that’s very very amusing to think this is my doing – but you and your off leash, untrained dog are barking up the wrong tree
. You really don’t think this is a matter of concern and frustration for residents in the neighborhood? For Bank Street & Family Annex? For the parents whose kids play there every day?
Bad behavior by dog owners is widespread and there are a lot of people who are pissed off at it. Not surprised in the least that someone decided to take matters into their own hands after Parks proved unresponsive & dog owners continued to act like no rules apply to them.
You live in a society. Act like it. If you don’t, other people may just go out of their way to do so
That you can justify this behavior speaks volumes about your moral compass. Or, lack thereof.
Wrong tree, yourself. I think it is a great matter of concern for the neighborhood that someone is spreading a possibly toxic or dangerous substance. Especially so for Bank Street and Family Annex.. Putting children and other innocent parties at risk in the name of deterring bad behavior by dog owners is illogical, indefensible, and illegal.
It’s *cayenne pepper* not ricin. That’s not toxic. Pepper is an irritant, unless it is concentrated a la pepper spray/CS gas/oleoresin capsicum.
The kids are more at risk of bacterial infection from dog defecate in that enclosed space than they are of sneezing a bit too much or having watering eyes from the pepper.
Are you comfortable with kids playing in defecate? Would you allow your animal to relieve itself in a playground sandbox?
The real issue is someone trying to enforce the law on their own.
Putting irritating substances into our park is not the answer. Read my earlier post about allergy.
If there is a problem with dogs in a No-dogs area, contact the parks department.
Yea and they do nothing
Found the perpetrator!
This behavior harms any local wildlife and children playing in that area as well. The person puts the powder on the gate handles too – last time I checked, people (including children from a local preschool who play here almost every day) are the ones to touch gate handles. Not dogs.
i’m so curious if the same people making unhinged comments like “do central park next” or “they deserve it because their owners suck”, etc. would feel the same way if someone left rusty nails or something equally dangerous and offensive in areas where children shouldn’t be but parents let them roam anyways. pro tip friends, make sure you stretch before jumping straight in to the mental gymnastics you’ll surely be doing to try and justify why that is any different. some of you need some serious therapy.
You really should take your own mental stretching advice. What are the public spaces accessible to you that exclude children (little humans)? You’re that special, huh? Or, conversely, even if a there’s a space that’s off limits to children, that makes it OK to leave rusty nails or dangerous substances?
Spending more time with people, not dogs, might help.
Peter: Another suspect.
This analogy is absurd. I’m laughing, but not with you.
I am not in any way condoning putting this powdered substance where it will irritate or harm dogs. But for God’s sake, it is no where near the equivalent of getting children to step on rusty nails.
It is not really that different to some people, and it is not that bad of an analogy. To most pet owners, their pets are an extension of their family, and to some, their pets actually replace their children.
And Peter, you are apparently completely missing the point. Seems like you are the one here who would benefits from the mental stretching.
Oh ok. Great repartee. Enlighten silly Peter, won’t ya?
The whole “debate” is nonsense. Of course noone should be doing any of this. The violation of dog behavior rules, the spreading of powders, the ridiculous “nails for kids” BS., etc etc. Stupid analogies don’t help either.
I think you have stated the underlying problem. Regardless of how or what you consider them, dogs are not your children. They are not humans. They do not have the same rights as humans. They do not get to go everywhere you go..
As someone who lives nearby, I’ve seen what this person does. They dump the powder all over the public path (not just in the protected lawn) and all over the gate handles.
This type of behavior harms dogs who are simply walking by on a path where they’re allowed to be (not entering the lawn), local wildlife, and people and children who touch the gate handles. There are preschool kids who play in that lawn almost every day.
The preschoolers, school staff and parents have been dealing with dog defecate in that space for a while, FYI. Staff walk that space before the kids play and make certain there’s no “remainders” on the ground.
So spare us. It’s pepper.
I don’t think “defecate” can be used as a noun.
I dare the pro-animal torture crowd here (remember, even if the dog is somewhere they shouldn’t be, the dog doesn’t know that) to show their posts to their priests/pastors/rabbis.
Nonody is blaming the dogs. Their humans who take them into a space specifically off limits (a passive lawn, a coffee shop, a grocery store) are to blame.
You understand that the dogs are the ones who get hurt, right? Right?
Yet it’s the dogs that are most directly harmed by this selfish behavior.
or their vets, because you know some of them have pets too, they just think they’re better than everyone else.
I only wish there was a substance we can spread in the middle of the sidewalk to prevent dog owners from allowing their dogs to poop in the middle of the block – the sidewalks are getting insanely gross
Sophie: Suspect
😂😏
Our sidewalks have become toilets.
You live in NYC. Keep in mind dogs need to eliminate. Not everyone everyone lives near a park. I pick up every time after my dog.
Yes, but not only the middle of the sidewalk anymore – there was doggy doodoo at Fairways the other day! I had to walk out of the store.
That is so disgusting! Are dogs even allowed inside Fairway?? I thought they were not, other than service dogs. Also, Fairway today is unrecognizable from the Fairway of the 70’s and early 80’s. It used to be a mecca. Now I try to avoid it as much as I can.
Actually quite a few people take dogs to Whole Foods.
(Some give dogs treats from the hot food/ salad bar)
Staff are too intimidated to say anything.
Complain to management every time you see a dog in a supermarket that clearly isn’t a trained service dog. (Sorry, but I think there are very few chihuahua and pekinese service dogs out there.) I adore dogs, but some people don’t. And in the case of grocery stores (and restaurants), can’t we all just respect the regulations, which are there for real health reasons?
dbnyc,
Unfortunately store staff are too intimidated.
Staff who say anything are routinely hassled (and even threatened with firing) by dog parents
Leave the dogs…deal with the humans.
I only saw the first part of this article”Dangerous orange pow”
Of course I thought I would be reading about our dangerous president.
Protect our pets, too.
Hysterical@ 🤣😅😆
I wish there were a similar antidote for e-vehicles.
Of course this act is terrible. However, why label the person mentally ill when none of us know there is that diagnosis? It is part of stereotyping people with mental illness and denigrating them. The vast majority of people with psychiatric conditions do not commit vile or violent acts and are more likely to be the victims than the perpetrators of violence.
The use of that term in the posted notice contributes to the misunderstanding around mental illness.
I live with 2 Great Danes. Every day I remind myself that I am an insane person. I love them but do not expect anyone else to love them. This is my choice, my insanity. Dog owners should not expect their neighbors to suffer from the dog owners’ self-inflicted lives of fecal matter and general squalid living. I love my dogs.
You are one of the few self-aware dog owners on the UWS.
As a dog owner (who always picks up poop) and knows a lot of dog owners, I think the mess is probably left by 5-10% of irresponsible owners and I judge them too. Even when I’ve run out of bags (which is rare), I just wait a minute or two and bum one off another dog owner.
The actions of this individual spreading powder of some kind just make me sad for everyone and it’s dangerous for the completely innocent victims (unwitting people and dogs). Whatever anyone’s gripe, this is not the way to handle it and it’s the “easy way out” compared to pressuring Parks enforcement, which is hard but could result in systemic change (that would also spur more behavior change).
Perhaps it’s Trump’s make-up artist.
OMG I can’t get over all of these comments coming from both sides of the argument without any concern for the poor depraved individual that is so broken that they felt they needed to do such a thing, as for everyone else: “Pretend Its A City”… and get a life.
No. One curmudgeon is spreading harm. You have no idea if they’re “broken” – they may jsut be malevolent and selfish.
This person should know that I am highly allergic to peppers. Would this person like to be responsible for my death?
Clean up this danger and stop!
I thought of this immediately! Pepper allergies can be severe!
A complicated issue. On the one hand, if dogs are not permitted on the passive lawn, and owners are ignoring that, then there needs to be SOME kind of enforcement – perhaps at random times by officers of the 24th Precinct, giving out summonses. Give out enough summonses, and word of mouth will spread among owners, who will (hopefully) minimize or eliminate the practice.
On the other hand, even if owners are breaking the law (or regulation or whatever), the answer is obviously NOT for someone to engage in creating a danger to the animals. That, too, is against the law.
And the response to this would be similar: perhaps random walk-throughs by an undercover officer of the 24th Precinct should be done, particularly in the mid to late evening and/or early morning, when the person doing this is most likely there. That person should also be summonsed, and warned that if they continue, they will be arrested for animal cruelty – which can rise to a felony in some situations.
Ultimately, however, it has to start with dog owners stopping selfish practices; if they were obeying the law/regulation, then this would not be happening.
Only you could describe someone spreading pepper in the park as a “complicated issue”.
Every time a dog owner enters a supermarket with dog in tow, they are not only violating NYC regulations but creating a potential health hazard. It’s a shame that stores don’t do anything about it, and it reflects an arrogance (less likely ignorance) on the part of the pet owner.
Are you worried you might get rabies?
About 6 years ago someone pulled this same stunt in front of a building on my block–either 704 or 702 WEA. But they put cayenne or paprika on the sidewalk in front of the stoop, presumably so dogs couldn’t pee there. Doubt its the same person, since the area reported is about a mile away, but…who knows!
There’s a residential building on W 87th St. between Broadway and West End Ave (north side) that has permanent (brass) plaques that state that “this area has been treated with a substance harmful to dogs”. It was not on or near a tree pit. That’s more than a stunt and I’m surprised that it’s allowed. They clearly don’t want dogs near their building but that’s over the top. IF they are treating it just to keep dogs away, that’s wrong. And how far from the building are they treating? The sidewalk doesn’t belong to them. I walked my dog on that sidewalk a few times before I saw that. Was he at risk? And for what? Something temporary or permanent impairment?
I find it ironic that dog owners are complaining about paprika ! On the ground! From my perspective I don’t appreciate dog owners letting their dogs urinate and defecate all over the sidewalks, tree wells etc. Crazy hypocrisy/entitlement or “rules for thee but not for me” evident here! I don’t see how hot pepper is toxic to dogs anyway – they can just avoid it.
Someone mentioned that NYPD should ticket people – I just don’t think they do that – it is either a park ranger or sanitation enforcement that ticket. In the event that park rangers do show up – by golly all off leash dog owners hastily put their curs back on leash! I’ve been in private parks where they say “curb your dog before entering this park – or you will be asked to leave”
Either way we have many scofflaw dog owners who need to do better!
As a dog owner, I’m all for ticketing scofflaws. That said, maybe focus your ire and energy on the more egregious things the PD is ignoring that actually put lives in danger – like red light runners and eBikes that go wherever they want whenever they want regardless of traffic laws. Theres a lack of enforcement of many things, dogs are pretty far down that list for me (but I wouldn’t complain if those laws were enforced too).
It is parks that are supposed to enforce regulations, but as another person mentioned a month or few back, there are no assigned rangers to the north end of Riverside Park. Adams hollowed out the budget.
Dog owners will bleat at any sort of enforcement (see here https://www.fox5ny.com/news/woman-arrested-over-unleashed-dogs-in-nyc-park). The arrested woman repeatedly walked 2 large dogs on the south end of the park, did not provide ID, and refused to obey commands of the Park Rangers to leash her pets.
They’re pets. Not ‘fur babies.’ If you own one in the city, you are responsible for the animal, including obeying laws about leashing, vaccination, cleaning up their defecate, not going inside food establishments. Take some responsibility for yourselves.
P.S. The word is “feces.”
Yes, although, I’m becoming more accepting of the term; “precipitate” is a noun used in chemistry. There are a few similar correct usages.
It is not animal cruelty, what is animal cruelty is irresponsible owners who take their dogs into forbidden areas. And who don’t carry spray bottles to wash their urine off surfaces.
Whatever you think of scofflaw owners, this act described in this article is INTENDED as animal cruelty and adversely affects non-offending dog owners as well as unwitting people.
What is going on? We need cameras all over Riverside Park. I keep reading about poison and acts of violence going on in the area. More needs to be done. I’m afraid to walk down Riverside.
Why not call Kristi Noem.? She’ll take care of this “problem.”
Mentally ill? No. someone that knows how to read and follow rules. The mentally ill are the entitled dog owners
Orange powder, Must be Trump.
Passive lawns!? Who came up with that name? And why is it named at all?
Yeah – “passive” until people go play soccer there, which happens all the time and is also not subject to any enforcement. So the animal haters here are just outing themselves.