Hello, all! I attended the Spring Check-In Meeting with Eric Greene, Park Manager of our district, and Mike Lavery, our helpful contact at Partnership for Parks. Here are a few things I learned:

- Eric Greene suggested, as an interim solution, that we could work with Parks to "break up the surface" and add gravel, as a temporary improvement until we get the resurfacing project we want. It would be an improvement, but only if this interim fix will not hurt our chances at getting a real resurfacing job.

- Mike talked with me more about a meeting with Bill de Blasio. Two or three of us are going to set up a meeting to discuss funding and support for our project.

- I asked Mike Lavery if getting in touch with Marty Markiowitz's office was a good idea and he said yes, so I am going to try to get support from him.

- He also gave me advice about how to formally approach Community Board 6, so I will work on that as well.

- Parks wants to see more volunteers recruited; they will be contacting groups to get our membership numbers and talk about that.

- Not related to the dog run, but I learned that citizens can fill out a request for a tree planting on the Parks website. The city is having a big campaign to plant a million trees in the city. http://www.milliontreesnyc.org/

The other attendees were the Gowanus Dredgers, Sunset Park, Carroll Park, Butterfly Park, Greenwood Playground, Cobble Hill Park, Old Stone House, and Coffey Park, which is just over the expressway in Red Hook. Molly from Friends of Coffey Park was very nice and there might be ways we can work with them in the future.

If you are interested in getting more involved, please write me at andiattack at gmail dot com.

Spring Check-In Meeting with Parks Dept

Some of us will be attending a "spring check-in" for park community groups on Monday, April 7th at 6:30 pm. Park Manager Eric Greene and Brooklyn Outreach Coordinator Mike Lavery will be there to talk about our work and to address any concerns we may have.

Here are the details if anyone would like to join us:

Monday, April 7th at 6:30 pm
Conference Room, Litchfield Villa
95 Prospect Park West

Renovation Update

Hi, everybody. This past month we have been talking to Joan Millman's office (State Assembly) and Bill De Blasio's office (City Council), and also our contact at Parks. It is critical we get our project approved this month, because March is when projects are funded. This will be a very busy month for us. We will be posting updates as we have them.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of you all at the run in this milder weather!

The big push for our dog run.

Hi, all! Because budget decisions are made in March, now is the time to follow up with the decision-makers at the Parks Department, the Community Board and the City Council about our renovation proposal. That is exactly what we are doing! Our proposal asks for a new surface, a small dog area, a new water fountain, as well as other improvements. This proposal was passed from the Community Board to the Parks Department last year and we have been waiting many months for a reply from Parks. If you have experience with local politics and would like to help, please email me at andiattack at gmail dot com.

We will not give up until our dog run is repaired.

Howl-O-Ween Fundraiser

Hi everyone - Tons of people have been asking for pictures of the
Howl-O-Ween event, and they are indeed long overdue. You can see them
at the following link: http://flickr.com/mirosdogrun

Thanks to everyone who came and supported the dog run! We raised some money for the run and had a great time!

Howl-O-Ween Fundraiser

The official Howl-O-Ween Fundraiser to support our dog run is on October 21st, 12-3 PM, at the DiMattina Dog Park. Please email cgdogrun@gmail.com if you would like to help out in any way! Suggested donation is $10. There will be a dog costume contest, a raffle with great prizes, and other exciting events!

Please come and spread the word!

Flyering this weekend!

I will be flyering and collecting signatures with my dog at Atlantic Antic this Sunday. If any of you are interested in joining me, drop me a line! (andiattack at gmail.com)

Dog Park Manners

Dog Park Manners

An expert says at a minimum dog park users should pick up dog waste, "have a reasonable recall on [their] dog, and be respectful of people's feelings." If your dog tends to display dog-dog aggression or plays more roughly than other owners like, closely monitor your dog and keep him under control.

"Additional dog-park etiquette rules include:

• "Unleash your dog. A leashed dog may feel threatened by others moving freely.

• "Keep moving. If you stand in one place, your dog may be more apt to become territorial.

• "Never leave your dog unattended, and don't use a dog park as a drop-off daycare...

• "Make sure your dog has updated vaccinations.

• "Leave your puppies at home until they're fully vaccinated and physically up to the sometimes rough-and-tumble play. Initial socialization for puppies is often better coming from a puppy training class.

• "Wait until your female dog is out of season...

• "Use caution with toys. Some dogs can be very possessive of their toys; others will want to steal everyone else's toys... it's usually a good idea to leave the toys at home...

• "Be careful with children. Not all dogs do well with children, and many dogs will bowl young kids over. If you take your children with you, supervise them closely.

• "[Do] not take more dogs with you than you can control; which for most people is a maximum of three [if they are] well-trained, responsive dogs.

• "Don't let your dog dig in the park. It can cause a hazard to other dogs.

• "Leave the wildlife alone... for both the wildlife's and your dog's safety.

"Relax. The dogs usually figure things out pretty quickly and have a good time. Be watchful and considerate, but stay positive -- your tension communicates itself to your dog"

From the Takeyourpet.com newsletter:

Fundraising meeting

Hi everyone - we are having a fundraising meeting tomorrow, Tuesday the 4th, at 7 PM in the neighborhood. If you are interested in coming to plan the fundraiser, email me and I will give you the address.

Thanks!

Susie

Fundraiser

I think it's time for a blog update:

As we speak our friend Mike at Partnership for Parks is reviewing and passing along our proposal to the Park's Department. We are just waiting on a quote. In the meantime, we will be having a fundraiser to raise some preliminary fund and spread the word.

We now have 6 volunteers to help plan fundraiser. We need this to be a collaborative effort! If anyone else is interested in helping to plan it, please let me or Andrea know via email.

Thanks again!

Susie

Next Meeting! Tuesday, August 7th!

DiMattina Dog Run Meeting
Brooklyn Social
335 Smith St., between President and Carroll Sts.
Tuesday, August 7th
7:30 to 8:30 PM

Please come! We need a much better turn out than last time!

Fundraiser

Hi everyone. I am planning to do a fundraiser soon for the dog run. Please let me know if you would be interested in helping me with this by emailing me at susie.gersten@gmail.com. We will also discuss this at the meeting on Tuesday, August 7th at 7:30 at Brooklyn Social.

Thanks!

Pictures from Clean-up Day!

Thanks again to everyone who came out, and a special thanks to Mimi for sending these pics along!

Reminder that our next meeting is Tuesday, August 7th at 7:30 at Brooklyn Social.

Thank you, Cleanup Crew!

Thanks to all who came to the cleanup Sunday morning. Everyone worked really hard, even through the rain, and the run looks so much better. I hope this effort shows the Parks Department that we are serious about improvements. At the next meeting we will talk about how to put the pressure on.

Next meeting

Our next meeting is Aug 7th 7:30-8:30 pm at Brooklyn Social

In case of rain...

Hi Everyone -

In case of rain tomorrow, the clean up day will be rescheduled for next Sunday, August 5th, 10 AM to 1 PM.

If it's not raining, I will see you all tomorrow morning!

Thanks!

Susie

Dog Run Cleanup Day!!

Please join us for our very first Dog Run Cleanup Day! Sunday, July 29th from 10 AM - 1 PM in the DiMattina Dog Run. Feel free to brings your pups if you don't think they will get in the way. There is also the possibility that we will be painting the big wall under the baseball field fence!

Please email me with any questions and spread the word as much as possible. We are counting on a great turn out this time! Big thanks to Partnership for Parks for providing the cleaning tools.

Just a reminder that our next official meeting will be August 7th at Brooklyn Social from 7:30 to 8:30. Please try to be there and bring some friends! We need support if we want to get this resurfacing done.


Susie