What’s so bad about dogs in Port Chester parks?
August 29, 2024 at 2:08 a.m.
As we have just celebrated International Dog Day on Monday, Aug. 26, let’s talk about dogs in Port Chester parks, which has been a hot topic around the village and a subject of discussion at village board meetings in recent months.
New signs were installed at the entrance(s) to every park, which clearly state, as the old ones did, that dogs are not allowed in the green space. Unfortunately, I was not asked to proofread the lettering for the signs before they were made. If I had been given that opportunity, I would have made an important change. Among the prohibitions, the signs read: “Prohibited: Dogs or pets,” which doesn’t make sense. Isn’t a dog a pet? They should say: “Prohibited: Dogs or other pets,” or simply “dogs.”
While this prohibition has been on the books for many years, it has rarely, if ever, been enforced. Until now. Mostly by the park patrol and sometimes by police officers, who have been going to Lyon Park early in the morning and at night, according to Police Captain Charles Nielsen. But tickets have not yet been given.
At the Aug. 5 Board of Trustees meeting where Lt. Marchello Presta, who runs the park patrol, appeared with Captain Nielsen before the board, Nielsen said that people get annoyed when chastised about walking their dogs in Lyon Park. That’s where most of the infractions occur.
In June and July, 174 dogs were removed from the parks, said Presta. Of those, maybe 173 were at Lyon Park, and there were many repeat offenders.
“Unfortunately, we are getting a lot of resistance,” said Nielsen. “They don’t want to hear it.”
One of several dogs observed in Lyon Park during Port Chester Day on Saturday, Aug. 24.By Richard Abel
Deputy Mayor Phil Dorazio said a property owner told him their taxes pay for the upkeep of the parks and therefore they should be able to walk their dog in those green spaces.
Presta said the other retort the park patrol has heard is that the dog is a therapy animal.
I can’t blame them for resisting.
If your dog is well behaved, on a leash, and you pick up after them, I see no reason why they can’t walk through the park. How is it hurting anyone?
I’ll use this as an opportunity to thank everyone responsible for making Port Chester Day on Saturday, Aug. 24, one of the best I’ve attended in its 35-year history. More vendors and organization tables than ever, plenty of activities, a nice variety of food trucks, wide-ranging entertainment and fantastic weather. It was the epitome of an event to bring our diverse community together just to enjoy the day.
Even though I observed more than a handful of dogs in Lyon Park over the course of the day, they were all on leashes and didn’t bother anybody.
Deputy Mayor Dorazio, who has been the biggest proponent of enforcing the law, has stated that if people don’t like it, they should come out to a meeting and suggest changes to it. I’m not convinced that is going to happen. However, if you have an opinion about the topic, we welcome your letters to the editor which will be printed in this space in future issues so we can air this issue and settle it once and for all.
I recall well-known community activist Goldie Solomon raising the issue of dogs in Lyon Park more than once over her many years attending village board meetings. She said if the law wasn’t going to be enforced, it should be repealed.
Why not modify the law to say: “no unleashed dogs allowed in any park in the Village of Port Chester except the dog park in Abendroth Park”? That should do it.
The park patrol, made up of three young people, according to Presta, has no police power, and police officers have better things to do than chase people with dogs on leashes out of parks.
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