By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
INWOOD — Good fences make good neighbors, but in the case of the Inwood Little League and Homer's Run dog park in Inwood Hill Park, those fences can also foster animosity.
That was the lesson learned Monday by the two groups, after volunteers from the little league, which has played in the park since 1950, got caught snatching a bag full of gravel from the dog run located on the other side of a fence in the park to use for repairs to their pitcher's mound.
At approximately 11:25 a.m. on Monday, Inwood residents and members of the group that runs the dog park Zaida and Daniel Grunes came across two men shoveling gravel into a bag from inside Homer's Run near the 207th Street entrance of the park.
The gravel-nappers then loaded the bag onto into a borrowed Parks Department golf cart and drove it to the Diamond 5 field, where they proceeded to mix the stones with cement to repair and build up the field's pitchers mound, according to the couple.
After learning about the incident from the residents, a Parks Department supervisor chastised the little league volunteers for stealing gravel from the dog run, which is maintained by the privately-funded volunteer group, Inwoof, according to Parks officials.
League president Carlos Fortunato apologized that his volunteers had stolen the gravel and immediately offered to replace it and train the Little League volunteers on proper protocol for repairs.
"They unknowingly did it and thought it (the gravel) was owned by the Park Department," Fortunato said.
Inwoof president John Barclay, an Inwood resident of seven years, said he accepted the apology, and added that his group considered the gravel-snatching an "honest mistake."
He added that he looked forward to building a relationship with the League, adding the dog group has never had formal discussions with the baseball group.
"This is a great opportunity to open up a dialogue with the League," he said. "I don’t think anybody was trying to do any harm."
According to the group’s treasurer Monique Buzzarte, Inwoof paid $1,879.27 to purchase gravel for the dog run in their founding year, 2005, under the leadership of Deb Snyder, who died last year.
Volunteers clean and redistribute the rocks throughout the dog run several times during the year during It's My Park Day citywide volunteer events.
Inwoof members said the lack of communication between dog run members and little league members persists despite the fact that the two groups are only separated by a fence and a small path.
Zaida Grunes wrote on her Inwood blog, Manhattan’s Peak, there has been a "long and not very friendly history/relationship between the baseball players and the locals who use Homer's Dog Run."
"Over the years, we have asked for partnership face to face with players and through park supervisors, and we have not received it," Grunes added.
The lack of communication is rife in Inwood Hill Park, which has a history of conflict between divided communities gathering in the park to play chess, play baseball or softball, use the swings or play fetch with their dog — with little to no contact between each other, locals say.
Both sides said they hope the gravel incident will bring them together for a positive outcome. The two groups are now working out a deal to replace the stones.
