A Pooch Push: Grassroots Campaign For UES Dog Run Takes Shape

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A dog-run-free Ruppert Park? Not if these Upper East Side pet owners have something to say about it.

In the weeks since the city first unveiled a plan to rehabilitate the aging Yorkville park without including any dedicated dog space, neighbors began a grassroots push to make permanent the informal, unsightly dog run that has already sprung up in Ruppert Park.

"During COVID the number of dogs in the city skyrocketed. Ruppert Park has become dog central," said Aliyana Traison, co-chair of the Upper East Side Dog Collective — and owner of a rescued Catahoula mix named Luli.

"We don’t want to be in a dog run that is breaking the law."

Their push has persisted even after the city revised its plans last month to include space for a dog run — a move that may have the support of Community Board 8, which will hold a final vote on Ruppert's redesign on Feb. 16.

Since the Collective formed last month, it has swelled to nearly 300 dog-loving members, Traison and fellow chair Samantha Mellone told Patch. The group has begun writing letters to CB8, hoping to push the dog run plan over the finish line.

Mellone lives with Mallow, her two-year-old rescued Samoyed, in the Ruppert Yorkville Towers, giving her the "most direct view of the park imaginable." For years, Mellone said, a dog-owning community has tried to establish a formal presence in Ruppert Park — when they failed, pet owners were forced to make the mile-plus walk to the Carl Shurz Park dog run, which happens to be inaccessible for wheelchair users.

Besides persuading the community board, Mellone and Traison hope their collective will win over another constituency: the Upper East Siders who are vocally opposed to including a dog run in the new Ruppert Park. Those residents — some of whom spoke up in last month's CB8 meeting — are concerned mostly about sanitation, noise and accessibility, Mellone said.

Aiming to reach common ground, the collective will host a virtual community discussion at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8, with residents on all sides of the issue invited to attend.

Ultimately, Traison said, the driving force behind the Dog Collective is a shared sense of neighborhood pride.

"The Upper East Side is such an unusual place ... I have never felt more at home," said Traison. "What’s motivating me to do this right now is how much I care about this community and how much I want to be a part of its success."

Read more about the UES Dog Collective on its website.

More Ruppert coverage:

• Ruppert Park's Latest Redesign Adds Dog Run, Pleasing UES Board
  
• Design Unveiled For Upper East Side's New Ruppert Park: See It
• Upper East Side's Ruppert Park To Get Major Renovation