Van Vorst Park Dog Run

[parkman]

The work on the dog run is complete except for a repair on the utility gate between the small and large runs. Feel free to let your dogs use the entire space until the city can fabricate a new hinge (probably by this afternoon, latest by tomorrow). There will be some temporary dust until we get rain this weekend.

Enjoy

[parkman]

You may use the run until 10:00pm today but it will be closed tomorrow for about 2 hours in the morning while the city adds a few more inches of top surface, which they were unable to get to this afternoon. They really did a great job and a good part of that goes to Rodney Hadley the head of Parks and Forestry for being on-site to supervise his men.

[parkman]

To all Van Vorst Park dog run users:

The run will be closed from noon until 4:00pm today, 9/30/09 for general maintenance. I finally got the city to attempt reducing the amount of standing water after heavy rainfalls. They will be tilling the top 6” of the surface, which has become impacted over time and inhibits the ability of the drainage system to work, adding new material with a deodorizer mixed in, and mounding the new surface from the center out. It will not be perfect, but should reduce the time it takes to drain the run.

Thanks for your cooperation.

-Parkman

   

[parkman]

To all users of the Van Vorst Dog Run…we are down to the last boxes of waste bags.

In January of this year, I bought 20,000 bags for $642. Run users have used 18,000 of them or 600 per week. These bags are paid for by donations from the dog owner community, not the city, and it’s time to ask for your help again.

We get hundreds of users in the run each week and last time I asked for donations, I received only five checks. Fortunately they were generous amounts but it’s not fair for a handful of people to be providing bags for everyone else and this supply has lasted only 6 months.

Thus far, I have received $100 from a local dog walker, $225 from one of your generous neighbors, and $56 from multiple individual donations…we still need $261 just to cover the next 6 months.

If you would like this amenity to continue, please send a check made out to “Friends of Van Vorst Park” with “VVP Dog Run” in the memo to:

Marc Wesson
430 Communipaw Ave.
Jersey City, N.J. 07304


Ps. the reason we prefer the provided bags instead of the plastic supermarket shopping bags, is that ours are biodegradable, easy to dispense, and keep the run neat.

[Frank M]

Thanks for the welcome... and sorry that my first post makes me look like a curmudgeon!

By the way, I recently started a collection of photos on Flickr, and many were taken in Jersey City.  See below for the link.

Frank,
Take it for what it’s worth from a professional photographer of 40 years; you’ve got a great eye for composition, lighting, interesting subject matter, and variety. If you haven’t already, find a rep.

Thank you for the compliment, I appreciate that.  A few people have suggested I try making money with my work, but I'm hesitant to open that can of worms. 

10 years ago I shot a lot of slides, but I didn't stick with it and wound up forgetting how rewarding photography can be.  It wasn't until this past summer that I started taking it "seriously" again.  I was hesitant to move away from film, but I haven't regretted the decision.  (What--I can shoot at ISO 100 outdoors, and then step inside an abandoned building and switch to ISO 800 just like that?!  What a luxury.)

[parkman]

Thanks for the welcome... and sorry that my first post makes me look like a curmudgeon!

By the way, I recently started a collection of photos on Flickr, and many were taken in Jersey City.  See below for the link.

Frank,
Take it for what it’s worth from a professional photographer of 40 years; you’ve got a great eye for composition, lighting, interesting subject matter, and variety. If you haven’t already, find a rep.

[Frank M]

...a high volume of dogshit on the surrounding sidewalks and even the sidewalks within the park itself.

Absolutely.  I noticed that many dog owners in Jersey City do not clean up after their companions.  This week marks one year living on York Street across from the park, and the problem is slightly worse with the increased "dog traffic" in the neighborhood. 

I grew up with dogs, my parents still have dogs... I LOVE DOGS.  However, I think the dog run is a travesty.  Common sense should tell us that green spaces should not be removed from a park to make way for something resembling a parking lot.  (The plastic playground is bad enough.)  Also, I think it's selfish for most urban residents, who tend to live in small apartments and work long hours, to have dogs in the first place...  but that's another discussion!

Welcome Frank M. keep dropping science....I think you hit the nail on the head. Most people probably feel guilty about mistreating their pets in this way (keeping them locked in a small apartment for 8-10+ hours a day) so they compensate by demanding things like dog runs in inappropriate places like its current location in Van Vorst Park.

Thanks for the welcome... and sorry that my first post makes me look like a curmudgeon!

By the way, I recently started a collection of photos on Flickr, and many were taken in Jersey City.  See below for the link.

[Kindelan]

...a high volume of dogshit on the surrounding sidewalks and even the sidewalks within the park itself.

Absolutely.  I noticed that many dog owners in Jersey City do not clean up after their companions.  This week marks one year living on York Street across from the park, and the problem is slightly worse with the increased "dog traffic" in the neighborhood. 

I grew up with dogs, my parents still have dogs... I LOVE DOGS.  However, I think the dog run is a travesty.  Common sense should tell us that green spaces should not be removed from a park to make way for something resembling a parking lot.  (The plastic playground is bad enough.)  Also, I think it's selfish for most urban residents, who tend to live in small apartments and work long hours, to have dogs in the first place...  but that's another discussion!

Welcome Frank M. keep dropping science....I think you hit the nail on the head. Most people probably feel guilty about mistreating their pets in this way (keeping them locked in a small apartment for 8-10+ hours a day) so they compensate by demanding things like dog runs in inappropriate places like its current location in Van Vorst Park.

[Frank M]

...a high volume of dogshit on the surrounding sidewalks and even the sidewalks within the park itself.

Absolutely.  I noticed that many dog owners in Jersey City do not clean up after their companions.  This week marks one year living on York Street across from the park, and the problem is slightly worse with the increased "dog traffic" in the neighborhood. 

I grew up with dogs, my parents still have dogs... I LOVE DOGS.  However, I think the dog run is a travesty.  Common sense should tell us that green spaces should not be removed from a park to make way for something resembling a parking lot.  (The plastic playground is bad enough.)  Also, I think it's selfish for most urban residents, who tend to live in small apartments and work long hours, to have dogs in the first place...  but that's another discussion!

[NON]

The VVP scribbler has a new religious bent. Today, I removed “god is shit” from three benches. It’s now the “anagram scribbler” with a dislike of dog shit and a feeling that god does not love him.

not that i advocate religion (or vandalism), but this guy/ gal is making a very sincere and timely statement of his/ her experience in the park area. setting the whole sophomoric god thing aside, which was thankfully absent from the earlier work, part of me likes the fact the he/she confronts the irresponsible vvp folks with an accurate and concise message. not my personal choice of tactic, but it's still effective nonetheless.

my suggestion; take away his / her ammunition by addressing the shit-all-over the- place issue and he/ she will probably stop due to lack of inspiration. not that i think that you personally should clean up after these folks. but someone should. if not, then enjoy the public art; it's a reflection of what's really goin' on over there.....which is kind of disgusting, and has been so for years.

What you are in fact doing, is advocating vandalism; this “sincere” expression of his, is nothing more than that. What this person has accomplished is to upset parents who are having their kids exposed to his ranting, cost time and money to remove his “enjoyable public art”, encourage others to add their own graffiti on the gazebo door and other benches in the park, and frustrate those that are trying to maintain and beautify VVP.

You are assuming this is a rational individual espousing social commentary. Does that mean if we eliminate god, fart, piss, fuk-u, along with dog shit from our surroundings he will lose inspiration and move on to other endeavors such as running for mayor or starting his own blog?

I think what we are dealing with (a least I am), is a sad human being, having no motivation whatsoever other than to call attention to himself.

Neighbors volunteering to help in the park will accomplish much more positive results than his graffiti -- encouraging or justifying his actions is not the answer.   

Awwwww. I think they were sort of tongue-in-cheek about their praise of the dog/godshit scribbler. Well, everyone but maybe Kindelan.

So has anybody looked into RABBITRABBIT's genius concept of painting the benches black, in a parallel dimension where white and silver markers don't exist? I'm thinking of renaming him ROCKETSCIENTISTROCKETSCIENTIST.

 

[parkman]

The VVP scribbler has a new religious bent. Today, I removed “god is shit” from three benches. It’s now the “anagram scribbler” with a dislike of dog shit and a feeling that god does not love him.

not that i advocate religion (or vandalism), but this guy/ gal is making a very sincere and timely statement of his/ her experience in the park area. setting the whole sophomoric god thing aside, which was thankfully absent from the earlier work, part of me likes the fact the he/she confronts the irresponsible vvp folks with an accurate and concise message. not my personal choice of tactic, but it's still effective nonetheless.

my suggestion; take away his / her ammunition by addressing the shit-all-over the- place issue and he/ she will probably stop due to lack of inspiration. not that i think that you personally should clean up after these folks. but someone should. if not, then enjoy the public art; it's a reflection of what's really goin' on over there.....which is kind of disgusting, and has been so for years.

What you are in fact doing, is advocating vandalism; this “sincere” expression of his, is nothing more than that. What this person has accomplished is to upset parents who are having their kids exposed to his ranting, cost time and money to remove his “enjoyable public art”, encourage others to add their own graffiti on the gazebo door and other benches in the park, and frustrate those that are trying to maintain and beautify VVP.

You are assuming this is a rational individual espousing social commentary. Does that mean if we eliminate god, fart, piss, fuk-u, along with dog shit from our surroundings he will lose inspiration and move on to other endeavors such as running for mayor or starting his own blog?

I think what we are dealing with (a least I am), is a sad human being, having no motivation whatsoever other than to call attention to himself.

Neighbors volunteering to help in the park will accomplish much more positive results than his graffiti -- encouraging or justifying his actions is not the answer.   

[kitten]

I think in LSP it should say goose shit

[Hurtle]

Hurtle, I think what you are seeing in Liberty State Park is the artist's earlier works, where he practiced and honed his craft. The pieces that we see in Van Vorst Park are the ultimate expression of that diligence and practice.

"Fuk-U" was added to the mix within the last month.  Those steps next to the foot bridge were cleaned and the scribbler covered them again.  It may seem old because this type of maintenance isn't done in LSP very often but when the grafitti is removed, it's put back within a week or so.

[Kindelan]

Hurtle, I think what you are seeing in Liberty State Park is the artist's earlier works, where he practiced and honed his craft. The pieces that we see in Van Vorst Park are the ultimate expression of that diligence and practice.

[Soshin]

God = dog

Can we have a scribble font please? 

[Hurtle]

not that i advocate religion (or vandalism), but this guy/ gal is making a very sincere and timely statement of his/ her experience in the park area.

I don't think this is the case, at least not anymore.  Remember, this person also hits Liberty State Park where there is very little dog shit.  In LSP, the "dog shit" is also supplemented with "piss", "fart" and "fuk-u" as well as the religious stuff.

At one point I think there may have been a loose correlation to the amount of pet waste on the ground but now it's about writing something that will shock and annoy.  I think it will continue even if dogs stopped shitting altogether.

[Kindelan]

I completely agree with jcpacem as you can see in post #11 here: http://jclist.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=10115&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=0

[jcpeace]

The VVP scribbler has a new religious bent. Today, I removed “god is shit” from three benches. It’s now the “anagram scribbler” with a dislike of dog shit and a feeling that god does not love him.

not that i advocate religion (or vandalism), but this guy/ gal is making a very sincere and timely statement of his/ her experience in the park area. setting the whole sophomoric god thing aside, which was thankfully absent from the earlier work, part of me likes the fact the he/she confronts the irresponsible vvp folks with an accurate and concise message. not my personal choice of tactic, but it's still effective nonetheless.

my suggestion; take away his / her ammunition by addressing the shit-all-over the- place issue and he/ she will probably stop due to lack of inspiration. not that i think that you personally should clean up after these folks. but someone should. if not, then enjoy the public art; it's a reflection of what's really goin' on over there.....which is kind of disgusting, and has been so for years.

[parkman]

The VVP scribbler has a new religious bent. Today, I removed “god is shit” from three benches. It’s now the “anagram scribbler” with a dislike of dog shit and a feeling that god does not love him.

[Hurtle]

i must say that the dogshit scribbler has a point.

Someone should just write "Clean Up Your" in front of every DS scribbled.  That would burn the scribbler and get the message out as well.

More people should have sex in VVP.  I'd love to see that described on the benches.

[jennymayla]

okay, you win. "Dog Shit Obstacle Course" = brilliant!

[jcpeace]

Stay out of my park and then you won't have to worry about it.

no prob. i'll just go there when i'm in the mood for a dogshit obstacle course. i certainly don't go there to gawk at the chicks, that's for sure!!

except you, of course jenny

[jennymayla]

i must say that the dogshit scribbler has a point.
when we were walking around vvp sunday night we noticed a high volume of dogshit on the surrounding sidewalks and even the sidewalks within the park itself.

what an irresponsible bunch of a-holes in the vvp neighborhood.

Stay out of my park and then you won't have to worry about it.



OOOOOOOOH!

just kiddin'!

The VVP is the Place to Be! 

[jcpeace]

i must say that the dogshit scribbler has a point.
when we were walking around vvp sunday night we noticed a high volume of dogshit on the surrounding sidewalks and even the sidewalks within the park itself.

what an irresponsible bunch of a-holes in the vvp neighborhood.

[jennymayla]

So much for the "state-of-the-art" dog run, which is closed until this Thursday to repair drainage problems (the section for small dogs is open in the meantime).

Oh c'mon RabbitRabbit, relax.