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24-Hour Dog Run Opens in Pup-Friendly Hunters Point

 The new dog park has benches, a doggie water fountain and a poop bag dispenser.
Dog Run at Gantry Plaza State Park
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LONG ISLAND CITY — Hunters Point has literally gone to the dogs.

The neighborhood opened its newest dog run Thursday, which will be open to pooches and their humans 24 hours a day and boasts a doggie water fountain and poop bag dispenser.

The $750,000 run is located on Center Boulevard near 46th Road as part of nearby Gantry Plaza State Park, and is the third public park for pups in the neighborhood, which is also home to a bevy of doggie day cares and other services for pet owners.

"It's great," said Rachel Breslin, who was at the run with her 14 month-old lab and border collie mix, Fergus. "It's more open space than any other dog parks we have over here."

In addition to a drinking fountain for dogs, the run has benches for owners to sit on and a pebble surface ground for pups to run on.

"Of all the households in New York City, one third of them own dogs," said State Parks Commissioner Rose Harvey. "They have to have their own place to play and have some fun as well."

Michael Tammero, who lives nearby, brought his five-month old shepherd and spaniel mix Daisy to the new run Thursday morning for the pup's first dog park outing.

"It's nice to have an official space for dogs to get out of the apartment and get their workouts in," he said.

Plans to add a dog run at the site, located across the street from the Queens West sports field, have been in the works since 2013. The idea originally drew criticism from local parents who worried about the pup park's proximity to elementary school P.S. 78.

Officials said they struck a compromise with concerned parents by building the run further away from the school building, with its entrance on Center Boulevard.

A community garden was also built as part of the project in front of P.S. 78, which will serve as a "buffer" between the dog run and the school, according to City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer.

"This is a real win-win," he said.