Roosevelt Island: Land WITH Dogs and Their Poop

My how times have changed on Roosevelt Island. Just a few short years ago dogs were close to outlawed as parodied in the below movie but now pooches are almost encouraged based on the presence of conveniences like the above dog poop bag dispenser, pictured here at Southtown's Riverwalk Commons. This is the only poop bag dispenser I have seen anywhere on the island so this may be just a Riverwalk thing.

See the next post regarding an alternative use for the waste bags in light of the dispenser's location.

Cooling Off with Style

The temperatire is rising today as well as the humidity. This local Roosevelt Island pooch knew what to do, just jump into the fountain just behind and Southeast of Blackwell House.

Picture courtesy of Dick Lutz of the Main Street WIRE.

Doggy Daycare Concerns During Tram Outages

With the upcoming planned tram outage scheduled for June 10th through 17th a few of the island's dog owners are concerned what to do regarding their anmals. Like many of the children on the island that go to day care when their parents go off to work so to go a few of the lucky dogs that commute each day via the tram with their owners. Where residents can just switch from commuting via tram to subway the issue is not so easy when the traveling companion has four legs and a tail.

For a small dog that fits into a hand held carrier the issue is less cumbersome as the dog can be carried down into the subway with minimal extra hassles. But for a larger dog the decision of what to do becomes harder.

Take for example if an owner travels with a stroller carrier (see the above picture) and the destination is the dog care / grooming establishment on 60th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues. The owner could try to take the subway but will have to deal with the posibility that either the subway elevator on Roosevelt Island or the one at Lex / 63rd Street is out of service not to mention rush hour crowds. Parents who use strollers during rush hour know what a hassle this is.

If either elevator is out of service the owner will have to risk to taking their animal out of the stroller in violation of Section 1050.9(h)(2) and walking up or down the stairs and then putting their animal back into the stroller without being told by a cop that they are in violation of the rules etc. I see no defined fine for breaking the rules other than being asked to leave the subway.
Overall it appears that commuting with a large dog into Manhattan poses a number of logistical issues and added time that will affect each affected owner's decision to leave their dog home or attempt to bring them in not just this coming June but for a good part of 2009 when the Tram is offline for reconstruction.

New Roosevelt Island Dogs Blog

It's official Roosevelt Island has gone to the dogs. Despite the old belief that no dogs were allowed on the island (see the parody movie) the past two years has seen an explosion of residents owning dogs due to the buildings at Southtown and the Octagon allowing dogs as pets.

The creation of a new blog "Roosevelt Island Dogs" officially seals the new reality and their place as residents. So far the blog chronicles in pictures and text the first meeting of the Small Dog Play Group at the Octagon-Coler dog run on the Eastern side of the island. The run is by the Coler Hospital parking lot facing Costco and the West Channel of the East River. The blogger who created the blog is listed as "Hanahlly" and lives in the Octagon. No contact info was provided nor does the blog provide for comments to be left by readers. A post on the Octagon resident's website is how I learned of the blog. A follow up post on that site gives information for those dog owners looking to joing the group.

Recently I had been speaking with one resident who commutes with his dog into Manhattan using Tram about the state of the Southern of the island's two dog runs which sits across from the Riverwalk buildings behind their sales center. As shown in the picture below the run at this point is pretty bare and some of the residents who use this run are hoping it can be improved but it is unclear who and what organization is responsible for its upkeep. I am guessing RIOC built the runs to encourage residents to limit off leash exercise to within their confines but I have not confirmed this assumption.

Roosevelt Island: Land Without Dogs - Now Online !

A few months ago I saw a YouTube short featuring clips from various films Jefrey Powers had worked on. One of these films was "Roosevelt Island: Land Without Dogs". I had only heard about this film from other island residents who had seen it at local film festival sponsored by the RI Historical Society. Well after a few e-mails and the pleading of this bloggist the film has been brought into the digital age. Enjoy the fun and let us know back here what you think and to thank Mr. Powers (photography & producer)and Mr. Jeffrey Pickett (writer, director, and producer)for digitizing the film and making it available here.

Times have changed and we now see plenty of pooches on the Island but once there was a dark age when man's best friend was not welcome. Double Click the above still photo to link to the film. Did I mention that the film is great travelogue for the Island.

Description from the film's creators: 16 min 2 sec - May 25, 2001

"This film examines a peculiar place that remains surprisingly anonymous despite its location in the heart of the most talked-about city in the world. Roosevelt Island sits just a stone's throw from New York's Upper East Side, nestled in the East River between Manhattan and Queens. What makes it so peculiar is not only its anonymity but its by-law stating that no dogs are to be allowed on the island at any time, for any reason. The absurdity of this issue is eclipsed only by the impassioned feelings of many of Roosevelt Island's citizens concerning the specter of canine rights, or, in this case, an acute lack thereof."

Update: “Roosevelt Island – Land Without Dogs” Movie

Please pardon the poor screen shot from the Land Without Dogs movie. But great news for anybody like me that has never seen the movie. It looks like the movie will soon be digitized and a link made available here for those interested to see this hilarious film. If you can’t wait a few snippets are shown within the YouTube Jeff Powers “reel” we presented HERE a week or so back.

Now granted a lot has changed since this film played at the 2004 Film Festival and there are now plenty of dogs on the island but that privilege may actually be traced back to the dogs in this movie. They were trailblazers fighting for the right to be on this Island. Since I have not seen the movie, all of this is made up in my mind but I am just so excited that if everything works out we may soon see the movie. Hooray! Thank you Jeff Powers! Thank you Mr. / Ms. Director!