Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Designs for Astoria's $1M Dog Run To Be Discussed Next Month

 Astoria residents Pamela Shandrow and Michael McKinstry with dogs Sweet Pea, Puddle, Persy and Eros, at the site of the future dog run.
Astoria residents Pamela Shandrow and Michael McKinstry with dogs Sweet Pea, Puddle, Persy and Eros, at the site of the future dog run.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Jeanmarie Evelly

ASTORIA — Neighborhood pet owners will get a chance to weigh in on plans for Astoria's first city-run dog park, a $1 million project planned for a lot under the Triborough Bridge.

The Parks Department will hold a public meeting on Jan 6. to discuss designs for the project, according to an announcement from the Old Astoria Neighborhood Association, which is sponsoring the dog run once it opens. 

"Projects such as dog runs can create a great sense of neighborhood and good neighbors," the group's president Richard Khuzami said in an email. "We want to help design and run the best dog run possible."

The future run will be built at Triborough Lot C, on one half of what's currently a basketball court under the bridge at Hoyt Avenue North between 23rd and 24th streets.

Local dog owners have been pushing to get a new dog run in Astoria, where there's currently only one privately run space in the neighborhood for pooches to run off-leash — though that one has been criticized for being too small and run-down.

City Councilman Costa Constantinides allocated $500,000 for the project last year after it scored more than 700 votes during his participatory budgeting program. Queens Borough President Melinda Katz pitched in another $500,000.

Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski previously told DNAinfo New York that the hefty $1 million budget is not unusual for this kind of project. Construction will need to include hooking up water access to the site, which currently doesn't have it.

The meeting will be held on Jan. 6 at Bohemian Hall starting at 6 p.m.