Responsive to ongoing overcrowding and in effort to manage social distancing, Mayor Bill de Blasio has ordered all of the City's dog runs/parks closed until further notice.  
 Please pass word to any dog run users and allies that Freeway Dog Park will be closed for the time-being.  We are hopeful that the COVID situation will resolve soon, and NYC will be able to reopen the dog parks!  In the meantime, other parks remain open, and off-leash and pooper-scooper rules are in effect.
 NYPD and Parks Enforcement Patrol are out in parks ensuring New Yorkers follow social distancing guidelines.
 Please check NYC Parks website for changes to service and closures (nyc.gov/parks)
Thanks for working with us, and all of your neighbors, to keep everyone safe as we battle this virus!   We will continue to work with Parks to provide updates when available.

Here are the rules we've proposed to the Parks Dept to post at our park and still awaiting an answer. This is based off of NYC basic rules, rules that have been discussed with other dog groups around NYC at meetings and forums, and pain points told to us by Freeway Dog Park users. If you experience someone not following the currently posted rules, or an agressive dog or owner, please call the 100th precinct:(718) 318-4200.

Proposed Park Rules and Guidelines by NYC Dog Park Groups
1. Owners are legally responsible for their dogs and any injuries caused by them.  Cooperation between dog owners is essential.
2. All dogs must be properly licensed, vaccinated, and healthy.  No puppies under 4 months.
3. Dogs must always wear a collar and ID tags.  No prong, choke, or spike collars may be worn inside the park.  Owners must have a leash.  Unleash and re-leash your dog within the double entry gates to avoid fights.
4. No dogs without humans or humans without dogs.  No more than 3 dogs per person.
5. Owners must clean up after their dog's waste and must fill in holes dug by their dogs.
6. Dogs showing aggression towards people or other animals must leave.  Avoid bringing a dog with a history of aggressive behavior.
7. Owners must always supervise and control their dogs.
8. Dogs in heat are not allowed inside the park.  Spaying or neutering your dog is strongly suggested to avoid fights.
9. No food in the park.  No glass containers allowed.  Waste should be thrown in proper receptacles.
10. Parents bring children to the park at their own risk.  Please do not bring children under 5 to the park for their safety.  Children under 13 must be supervised by a guardian.  Please keep children off agility equipment and discourage activities that may excite the dogs.  No bikes, skateboards, roller blades, scooters, or roller skates permitted inside the park.
 

Issue #1

Welcome to our first newsletter since revamping our group! You are receiving this newsletter because you signed up for our mailing list or partnered with us at one time. Because we are completely volunteer based, we can't promise a newsletter every month, but we will certainly try. If you want to hear more frequently from us, follow us on our Facebook page! If you do not want to receive newsletters from us, there is a link to unsubscribe at the bottom.

We've been pretty busy this last year, and hopefully soon, you'll notice the hard work. Through a grand for Partnerships for Parks, we were able to obtain a new platform that will keep us more organized and helped us get our new website up and running. Check it out and let us know what you think: www.arf-arfrockaway.org This new platform also includes fundraising tools, volunteer management, event registrations, and more. We'll keep you posted as we get more pieces into production.

We also recently received a 2018 Bronze Seal on our GuideStar Nonprofit Profile! GuideStar is the world's largest source of information on nonprofit organizations. In order to get the 2018 Bronze Seal, we shared important information with the public using our profile on www.guidestar.org. Now people can easily confirm our nonprofit status and help support our cause.

Our focus will always be on improving the dog park, and you may have noticed some changes in the park! On July 20th, 2018 s small group of volunteers from Pfizer came out and helped us plant seed for mosquito repellent plants and put up pallets along the front fence to help get rid of the holes that some people have noticed and expressed concern about. We thank them for their hard work and willingness to come out from Manhattan to lend a hand! The focus for that project was the small dog area, but we hope to expand to the rest of the park in phases. We still need to place some more slats on the pallets that are already up and paint the fence, which we'll be doing at our Spring cleanup day. Stay tuned for that date.

Lastly, we still plan on hosting our annual fundraiser events, so keep an eye on our website calendar! The next event in the park will be an adoption event hosted by AC&C in partnership with the Councilman Ulrich. For more information on that event, please contact Natalia Kozikowska at nkozikowska@council.nyc.gov.