Dogs of Isham Park, a grassroots neighborhood group, is committed to DEVELOPING, SUPPORTING, and MAINTAINING a restricted off-leash section in an appropriate area of Isham Park in accordance with the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation guidelines.
Our Goals :
- To secure a safe area where dog owners can congregate and where their dogs can play and exercise.
- To encourage responsible dog ownership and respectful park stewardship.
- To maintain the area with organized activities and clean-up dates and by supporting and sponsoring ongoing cultural, neighborhood activities held in Isham Park.
- To establish a positive relationship with the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation manager by encouraging an educated dog-friendly community and by installing a dog clean-up station.
- To support and sponsor ongoing cultural, neighborhood activities held in Isham Park.
- To provide a strong deterrent against crime in the park in the late evening and early morning hours.
Please, JOIN US TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN! and PASS this info to your neighbors and friends.
Contact Us:
http://dogsofishampark.blogspot.com/
Linda,
ReplyDeleteHi, I think it would be a good idea for us to also request a meeting with the local police precint in regards to the benefits of having our dogs meet in the park and run free in regards to detering crime and the security of the neighborhood.
The mugging I witnessed a couple of nights ago might have been prevented if the nornal flow of dogs in the park was not detered by the fear of getting a ticket for letting the dogs play. I know a lot of the dog owners are encouraged to use the park if they know that there will be neighbors to meet and greet while their dogs get some healthy exercise towards a good nights sleep.
Dog traffic in the park has severly decreased since the rangers started ticketing which means a less secure environment and a perfect place for muggers to operate.
i agree --- about the safety issue and so much more. any news about our neighbor who was injured?
ReplyDeleteI spoke with an officer Babey at the 34th. She understood our situation and concerns. She'll get back to me about who to contact in the Parks Department. She gave me the name of an officer Kelly who is in charge of crime prevention. I'll see if I could speak directly to him next week. They both sound like good allies because they realize we're into the solution not just the problem.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Hoppa, North Manhattamn Parks Admin. is on vacation. I want her to meet me face-to-face.
Our dog walker, on Thursday, told us that our neighbor is still in Harlem Hospital with a head injury. It seems one of the muggers hit the back of his head with a rock.
It was more serious than originally expected.
The problem I keep facing is that no one knows exactly who in the Parks Dept. can officially designate an "offically off-leash area".
Any direction here??
Linnie
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ReplyDeletecheck this out
ReplyDeleteAfter a walk in Inwood Hill Park my husband was assaulted this afternoon at around 3:32, as he was exiting the park, by a youth with
After a walk in Inwood Hill Park my husband was assaulted this afternoon at around 3:32, as he was exiting the park, by a youth with a stun gun in the company of three others. (He was coming down the path behind Payson playground less than 100 yards from the road.)
ReplyDeleteHe is fine, thankfully, except for a small welt on the back of his neck that took a while to show up.
These guys seemed to be hanging out looking for an opportunity, so Lars had his guard up as he came down the path. One of the guys approached him with an "Excuse me, sir, what time is it," and after Lars read him the time off his phone while keeping a close eye, he slowly turned to leave and the guy came around and planted the stun gun on the back of the neck. Although it hurt like hell, for some reason it didn't render Lars unconscious, and he reflexively swung, knocking the weapon from the assailant's hand. Very pissed-off but unsure what to do, Lars now faced his assailants as he dialed 911 for police. The youths slowly retreated as they scrambled for the weapon, and then ran into the park as Lars described them to the 911 operator.
The reporting officer's response was standard procedure but entirely ineffectual, and they completely lost a good opportunity to apprehend the perpetrators. After waiting several minutes at the corner of Payson & Dyckman where he told 911 he'd wait, Lars walked one block to the police van stationed at Dyckman & Seaman. Finding it unattended, he walked directly back and found an officer approaching in response to the call. This officer attempted to intimidate Lars, and treated his description of the incident with suspicion. For example, he grilled Lars about why he was coming from somewhere else and seemed to question his story. Additional subsequent questioning by the officers repeatedly attempted to trip up his description of the attackers. ("So one of them was wearing a red & white striped shirt?" "No, I said a solid yellow shirt." And again a bit later, "So there was a red & white shirt?" "Um, no, like I said, it was a solid yellow shirt.") When Lars said that the perps were still in the park, the responding officers refused to go up into the park to look for them ("Noooo, we tell people not to go up there…") despite that Lars was saying that he could easily identify the guys and that there were several other people walking or jogging alone in the park who might be endangered. They also actually asked if he would want to press charges. ("Of course." "So we should fill out an incident report, then?" "Well, yes, of course.") But they seemed to come around and they ended up asking Lars to wait for a supervising officer to arrive. Finally nearly an hour after the incident, the supervisor arrived and said they should go on up into the park. Lars accompanied them in the van up into the park, but of course it was too late.
Please everyone be careful. And please report any crime or disturbance to 311 or 911 as appropriate so that we can work on getting more of a police presence up here. I still don't understand how parks this size can be virtually unattended by authorities.
For what it's worth, the guys were in their late teens or early twenties and one of them was on a bike.
One last thing - if you know us, we don't want to discuss this openly in front of our kids, and respectfully request that you won't discuss it openly in front of yours – we don't want Julian hearing about this from his friends.
Thanks, and be safe,