Gantry Plaza State Park just north of Pier 1, where a posted sign says dogs are not permitted. Signage with new rules, however, has since been put up. Photo: Nathaly Pesantez)
Oct. 2, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez
A new dog policy is about to go into effect at Gantry Plaza State Park that will do away with the no dogs rule and allow leashed dogs in certain areas of the park.
Starting Oct. 4, NYS Parks will permit leashed dogs to be on paved pathways and plazas throughout the park during its regular operating hours of 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
They will not, however, be permitted on grass, garden and landscapes areas.
The park’s signage will be updated as of the morning of Oct. 4 to reflect the revised rules, said Leslie Wright, NYC Regional Director for New York State Parks. Some parts of the park, however, already have updated signage.
The policy update comes months after a community meeting on the topic and countless emails and comments NYS Parks has received on dog rules at the park. The 12 acre park, running from Anable Basin in the north to Center Boulevard and 50th Avenue, has virtually been off limits to dogs, except for the plaza area right before the gantries and at one pier.
Many considered the former no pets policy to be confusing, given the rules at the adjacent Hunter’s Point South Park, which allows for dogs on paved pathways and other areas.
The new policy also reflects what several residents and park-goers suggested at a June meeting—to allow for dogs and pets in the park’s pathways, but keep them off the grass.
Concerns, however, remained on how the rules would be enforced, and whether cleanliness and dog waste on the grass would be an issue. But dog owners at the meeting said it was a small group of irresponsible dog owners who give attentive dog owners a bad name.
Nonetheless, to help promote cleanliness, NYS Parks will be adding additional dog waste bag dispensers to the park pathway areas as part of the new policy change. Park police, additionally, will help enforce the revised rules.
And, as always, dogs are welcome on and off leash in the state park’s two dog runs on the corner of 48th Avenue and Vernon Boulevard and on Center Boulevard between 46th and 47th Avenues.
