To RIOC and All those Who Represent Our Island Community:

We are members of the Roosevelt Island community who are concerned with RIOC’s abrupt decision to scrap their plan to put a “temporary” dog park beside the ferry landing. The new plan, only recently announced with intentions to start work immediately, to relocate said temporary dog park in a field allocated for sports and recreation, namely Firefighter Field, leaves the community in the lurch.  Firefighters Field is used for organized youth sports such as soccer and baseball,  as well as adult sports like volleyball and softball,  ultimate frisbee, and informal games of catch, to name a few uses.  It is also the sight of the annual community Easter Egg Hunt, and a place where schools and youth groups hold games games and field days. 

While we acknowledge and support the need for better dog parks on the island, it is illogical to take away an existing sports field, and the only such one in Southtown, for this purpose.   Children’s mental health has suffered enough during the pandemic, when yellow tape went up on the fields and playgrounds and human use of these spaces was prohibited.  We are finally getting some normalcy back, and parents are relieved to see the joy return to their children’s lives. 

We demand a better solution that dog owners and families can all feel good about.  As yet another building goes up, the need to preserve the open space we have left becomes all the more urgent.   Please, stick to the plan you announced last May for the ferry location under the bridge, or else find a more viable alternative that the whole community can live with.