Escape to New York. Snake Plissken, we need you now! An interview with Matt Parker, VP of NYCdog.org: Recently, a few highly resourceful individuals and myself had a conference interview with Matt Parker, VP of NYCdog.org (founded 1999), pronounced ‘NiceDog’, an umbrella advocacy organization for multiple dog friendly interest groups in NYC. Matt discussed the history of ‘off leash hours’ in NYC - its origins, challenges, and ultimate triumph. He also evaluated our particular circumstance and gave unvarnished opinion on how he thought we should proceed. New York State does not have leash statute, as does Arizona, so the flexibility of the individual cities is greatly enhanced, as Matt readily admitted. But we’ll get to that later. New York City has a powerful Parks department. One way to look at it would be to consider it almost like our Federal model out of Washington, the States (NYC boroughs) provide input, but the Parks Commissioner is the heavy hitter indeed. ‘We don’t have city council or councilmen govern parks’ he said , ‘the elected borough politician rarely will challenge Parks on anything’. For years off leash dog walkers and other citizens shared their park areas, with hot and cold patches of tension, much like Phoenix does - or every other place for that matter. But in the early1980s a dog loving Parks Commissioner, Henry Stern, informally recognized the value of regular park attending off leash walkers - and made it Park policy for rangers not to harass them if their dogs were well behaved and non -troublesome. The volume of off leash walkers swelled and ‘many people, including a fair number of city elected officials, credit that Parks decision as a major aspect in the beginning turnaround that NYC began experiencing at that time.’ ‘NYC was not a really great and safe place to visit in the late 1970s’. Eyes and Ears began returning to the parks, neighbors chatted more, picked up refuse and formed watch groups. The parks became safer, cleaner, and more inviting. The informal recognition of the off leash crowd had ‘a major positive impact there’. But this seemingly certain positive condition was always informal, never codified, always subject to opposition. And a heavy dose of it came in 2006. A Queens homeowners group around Juniper park, ’real Archie Bunker types’, objected to the regular use of off leash walkers there. City Parks said, in effect ’We’ll if you won’t accept the off leash folks, we’ll build a fenced run, that’s the way we operate’. Homeowners wanted neither and sued. Outrage and panic combined to mobilize city dog associations of all stripes under the NYCdog umbrella; that voice became a roar. Yet the judge, a dog lover himself, in prudence urged both sides to compromise, which the City with NYCdog backing was willing to entertain. Homeowners : No Way!. The court battle ensued, yet with thanks, the ruling didn’t go the way Juniper Park Homeowners would have wished. ‘Off leash Hours’ became formal and codified. The past 30 years of formal and informal ’off leash hours’ experience in NYC has provided a wealth of information, both anecdotal and serious academic, that points towards the benefits - to man and dog - of canine off leash socialization. Vicious bites have ‘dropped 90% during that period‘ , less leash aggression, less territorial instinct, less excessive barking… less less less of just about every negative aspect of the dog turned problem case. NYC has fenced runs indeed, but the ‘off leash hour’ model has become a valuable tool to further enhance the quality of live in that city. A very positive social experiment indeed. **** Matt’s assessment on how we achieve this level of bliss in Phoenix?: ’You’ve got a major obstacle with your state statute. Don’t waste time fighting it - you won’t win’ was his flat out assessment. ’Because the votes just won’t go your way. Likewise, don’t bother with the elected officials. 40% of households have dogs and perhaps a sizable chunk of them don’t share your off leash views, and the other 60% are not with you at all’. ’An elected official won’t care to help you with those kind of numbers (sic).Find the person of power in bureaucratic city government, and slowly build your case with him.’ “Would you be happy and settled with if the status quo you knew were restored’ he asked. We answered yes, but were afraid it perhaps never will again, hence this ever small grass roots effort. ‘That is a tough spot your in, some awful bloodletting must have happened.’ We said we couldn’t find examples. ‘Then go to the person of power, the one who made it happen, and simply ask to get what you knew back.’ An almost shockingly simple approach that set us back a bit, but it’s simplicity was alluring to all . In the mean time ‘use email, face book, other social media to combine your efforts and slowly get support, signatures that can be used to strengthen your hand with the power seat in city enforcing your code.’ ‘Get pro bono legal advice to scour that code. There is what is written - and nooks and crannies in the verbiage that allow room for interpretation.’ ‘Either way, you know you will go off leash again - there is no stopping it - and the city must realize this as well.’ Moreover, ’they can spend their valuable resources forever chasing you down, or they will begin to realize the body of evidence that suggests leaving you be, with reason, would be better for all.’ In another blunt analysis ‘ Your parks will start deteriorating without you’. We thank him for his time with much appreciation. *** I can accept much of what Matt said without question. But Phoenix is different than NYC - even not considering the state statute. The Parks department there has great power, and a friendly head of it allowed ‘off leash hours’ - it just as easily could have gone the other way. His disregard of elected officials probably reflects the fact that they have a smaller influence on this matter in his city. I don’t know how that applies to Phoenix, the weight of the council here. Certainly changing laws will require their involvement, but his assessment of voter’s net organic opposition to us is probably forever true, and elected officials know it. Remember, codified ’Off Leash Hours’ in NYC came only after a court ruling that allowed for it. There are other cities I will study, Portland, Boise, and many more, with time. I believe some locales used political agitation to ignite a voter base (that may be entirely different than ours). Others, from what I initially gather, have dog owner associations that are so strong, candidates for office are screened by them in special town halls - ‘the purity test”. I look forward to learning more. Did I miss anything T. ?
Posted on: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:16:28 +0000