Much to the delight of canine homeowners in Bushwick, the Maria Hernandez Park canine run – identified for coating dogs in mud and turning into a paddling pool within the rain – is getting a $300,000 renovation.
The schematic design for the neighborhood’s solely official canine playground, launched by the Parks Department, reveals the small-dog space and the big-dog space will each increase, incorporating some adjoining grassy area.
Currently all dust, the canine run shall be lined with a particular K9 turf that features drainage. Trees shall be planted exterior the runs to offer some shade, and seating and lighting will improve, the rendering reveals. Drinking fountains will embrace canine bowls and hose hookups.
The rendering of the schematic design. Image by way of the Parks Department
The devoted Maria Hernandez Park Dog Run Pack volunteer group, which incessantly hosts cleanups on the park and has been advocating for upgrades, posted the rendering on its Instagram page final week. Overall, members are pleased with the plans, they stated.
The group’s two strategies for enchancment are incorporating a small gravel space for pet reduction and including extra paving across the entrances for correct ADA access.
The schematic designs are nonetheless a piece in progress, and suggestions from the neighborhood board is being integrated, a spokesperson from the Parks Department instructed Brownstoner. A last design shall be offered to the neighborhood board in February.
The large-dog space
The small-dog space
“We’re completely reconstructing the dog run at Maria Hernandez Park, giving Bushwick residents and their four-legged friends a beautiful, safe space for recreation and connection,” Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Martin Maher stated in a ready assertion forwarded to Brownstoner.
Maher added the revamped canine run joins different investments occurring inside the park, and he thanked native Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez. The money for the canine run repairs got here from Gutiérrez’s discretionary funds in 2022.
Sports turf, a exercise space, and skateboard ramp have all additionally not too long ago been added to the park. Currently within the design section is a kids’s playground renovation, budgeted for as a lot as $10 million.
The park is among the few outside leisure areas in Bushwick and is a well-liked neighborhood gathering spot. Especially on nights and weekends within the hotter months, it’s usually thronged with teams of all ages socializing, together with households and soccer and volleyball gamers. Vendors promote toys and snacks, and the inexperienced area additionally generally hosts conferences, protests, and occasions.
The new sports activities turf
The skateboard ramp
The present timeline for completion of the canine run is January 2025, though development timelines won’t be set till after procurement, the Parks spokesperson stated. The canine run shall be totally closed for round one yr to accommodate the work, in keeping with the Maria Hernandez Park Dog Run Pack volunteers.
The canine run at Maria Hernandez Park is the one devoted off-leash space for dogs in Bushwick, and locals have lengthy requested for enhancements and growth. While the jury is still out on whether or not the pandemic led to a rise in canine possession within the metropolis, dramas centered round off-leash dogs and homeowners who don’t clear up after their dogs happen incessantly on social media.
A $10 million playground reconstruction is within the design section
In Bushwick, fences and padlocks were installed in 2022 at Green Central Knoll (bordered by Evergreen, Central, and Flushing avenues and Knoll Street) to stop dogs and their homeowners from utilizing the softball fields as a run. However, some recent visits confirmed that dogs have made considerably of a comeback on the discipline.
Across Broadway in Bed Stuy, the canine run at Herbert Von King was not too long ago revamped, however the dust floor was changed with bark chips and the realm continues to be prone to flooding. Local canine homeowners have been advocating to get higher drainage put in. Meanwhile, again in Bushwick, canine homeowners round Irving Square Park have additionally been asking local pols for a fenced-off canine run on the park.
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