The Dust Bowl of Brooklyn: A vital community space for dogs made possible through sheer will
A dog park in New York City is a community gathering space, constantly buzzing with activity and bringing dog owners together around their common interests. For hundreds of thousands of the city’s canine residents, dog runs are the only designated public spaces where they can engage in safe and legal outdoor exercise.
In Brooklyn, the South Slope Dog Run, known as the “Dust Bowl” to locals, has become a staple of the Park Slope, Greenwood Heights and Sunset Park neighborhoods. Though hundreds of people frequent the park to play with their dogs, only a handful have taken on the responsibility of maintaining it.
Evan Saucier is one of those people. Saucier, who has lived in the area for about six years, volunteers his time and energy to keep the dogs running at South Slope Dog Run.
Saucier is a regular at the park with his beagle, Indiana. He has a finger on the pulse of the community and knows how important the dog run is. He also knows first-hand the challenge of organizing people.
“It’s a very ad hoc process,” Saucier said, referring to the dog run’s maintenance. “Depends if somebody has the initiative and desire to do something.”
As it were, there’s plenty of desire, but not enough initiative.
Saucier coordinates the dog run’s GoFundMe campaigns. For one fundraiser this summer, the South Slope Dog Run raised $2,000 in just 24 hours.
“There are enough people here who use this run and are invested in it enough that I think raising the money wasn’t a problem,” Saucier said. “It’s really communication and organization that is the chief impediment to renovations.”
Unlike other dog runs in New York, the South Slope Dog Run does not have formalized representation, like a non-profit advocacy group. Instead, it’s up to four or five people, by Saucier’s estimation, who have taken on the personal charge to improve the park.
One such volunteer, Adam Maynard, runs the group’s Facebook page, posting park updates and calling out for help with projects. The Facebook page is the dog run’s most formalized communication channel, but even Saucier admits he rarely uses it. Beyond Facebook, GoFundMe and some printed flyers at the dog run, there is no consistent avenue for the community to get information.
“I don’t think our current mechanisms are the most effective or efficient,” Saucier said. “Is there a better way? Absolutely. I don’t know what that is.”
Despite the communication challenges, Saucier, Maynard and the other volunteers have done great work making the South Slope Dog Run an enjoyable destination for dogs and their owners.
According to Saucier, the group’s “big-ticket item” is the very issue that gives the Dust Bowl its ironically affectionate name — dust!
The dog run, which sits on 18th Street in South Slope overlooking the Prospect Expressway, is nothing more than a fenced-in triangular lot. There are a few trees, a couple of picnic tables (paid for through local crowdfunding) and a whole lot of dirt. One trip to the Dust Bowl leaves people and their pets covered in a thick layer of earth, but Saucier says that dirt is critically important.
About 70% of the money raised over the summer went to buying dirt, which was used to fill holes and make the dog run safer. The dirt also protects vital shade trees by covering exposed roots; currently, the dog run has three trees, one of which is already dead. Drainage was also a concern, but a make-shift trench dug by volunteers has alleviated some of the water woes.
The community has considered other solutions, like gravel or synthetic turf, but every option has obstacles, from funding, to permitting, to implementation.
“Unfortunately, there’s no elegant solution,” Saucier lamented. “Anything seems too expensive or not a lasting enough solution.”
The park’s soil situation is just one of many projects on the wish list, from simple items like removing the dead tree to larger-scale work like putting in a permanent water source. (Right now, the dog run has a portable water cooler, filled by volunteers with no formal organization or regular schedule.)
The dream of a newly renovated dog run is dampened by the nightmare of communicating with NYC Parks, acquiring necessary funding and permits, and dealing with construction.
“We, as the community, have no idea who to ask,” Saucier explained. “Right now, we don’t know where in the bureaucratic structure we’re supposed to ask these questions.”
Something as simple as getting mulch delivered proved difficult. Because the dog run did not have a permit for dumping, landscaping companies were hesitant to take on the work, for fear of being fined.
“There’s plenty of city bureaucracy that will tell us ‘no’ or fine us,” Saucier continued, “but there’s none to say, ‘if you raise the concern to us, the power of the government [will] give its blessing.’”
These challenges have deterred the more permanent solutions that Saucier hopes for, leading to stopgap measures that require consistent coordination. However, even if the dog run could get clearance for major work from the Parks department, Saucier isn’t sure that’s a viable option.
“We’re worried that a capital project like that would mean the park would be shut down for multiple months,” Saucier said. “On the cost-benefit, if you’re losing it for a year and a half, is it worth it not being dusty if I have to forgo it for that solution to get implemented?”
Short of requesting a capital project with the City, the South Slope volunteers have done their best with dirt, mulch and jury-rigged repairs to keep the park in acceptable shape. It’s people like Saucier and Maynard who must make these decisions, with little support beyond their small circle, to maintain an integral service for the community at-large.
Saucier is uncelebrated, but undeterred. “It might be dirty, it might be dusty, you might have to bring your own water,” he joked, “but a lot of people use this run.”
Are you a local dog owner concerned with these issues? You can learn more about the South Slope Dog Run on Facebook, or you can stop by the park, where you are likely to find Evan or Adam on any given day. You can also contact Brooklyn Community Board 7, which oversees the neighborhood.
