Acknowledging noise complaints, Pacific Park Conservancy reduces dog run hours. Dog owners, neighbors both frustrated. Can sound be tamped down?

This is the second of three articles about the Nov. 6, 2024 Atlantic Yards Quality of Life meeting, sponsored by Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project. The first concerned the way the project was framed.

So, master developer Greenland USA, though it's about to lose six tower development sites to foreclosure, is still in the game, with Design Director Jen Kuang--the partial successor to previous point man Scott Solish, who left in early 2023--making a presentation about the project, especially the new open space.

Looking east to 595 Dean from larger of two dog runs

The most significant discussion, as described below, involved policies regarding the noisy dog runs (one for small dogs, one for large ones), where noise disturbs residents of the west side of the 595 Dean west tower.

That said, I learned more outside the meeting from both a project neighbor and a representative of dog owners, neither of whom are happy.

If there had been an in-person meeting, perhaps various people would've been able to discuss these issues, getting closer to resolution, rather than have mostly one-way communication in an online meeting with attendees opaque, no chat, and no ability to see others' questions.

Greenland holds on

Why is Greenland even involved? Well, they retain development rights to two valuable parcels, the B1 tower once slated to loom over the arena, and Site 5 catercorner to the arena, longtime home to the big-box stores P.C. Richard and the now-closed Modell's. See project outline here. 

They have gotten ESD support to shift the bulk from the unbuilt B1 to construct a 1.242 million square-foot two-tower project at Site 5, but they need a formal approval process. 

Greenland likely would engage a partner or even sell the development rights, so for now, they surely want to appear responsive.

Leading off

Kuang began with some rather mundane information about maintenance efforts--sidewalk cleaning/trash disposal, and snow removal--at Site 5. See slide above right.

She provided contact information for the developer's Community Liaison Office and also the Pacific Park Conservancy, which manages the project's open space. 

She acknowledged that they were still updating the phone number for the Community Liaison Office. Those contacts can be useful for people with questions about site maintenance. That said, don't expect real-time replies.

Here's background on the Conservancy, which includes owners of the extant buildings and the project developer (Greenland, for now), which, until all eight acres of open space are completed, controls the Conservancy.

Updating posted phone number

Kuang acknowledged that the Conservancy phone number number, 646-930-4852, is new. I reported in May that the previously stated number, as shown in the photo at right, didn't work.

A contractor will soon fabricate the new phone number to attach on the entrance signage to the open space, she said.

"We have added 1.67 acres new open space" to the southeast block, she said. "so the whole block right now is gorgeous park." The total: 2.7 acres of open space.

Note that the "we" in this case means a project led by TF Cornerstone, the developer that built the two-tower 595 Dean project.

She then showed various images of the "new parks," which, of course, is privately-managed, publicly accessible open space. (See images at bottom.)

New dog run hours

Kuang noted that the Conservancy board had "received many comments about the dog run." (OK, but they ignored my queries in May.)

Some want longer dog run hours, she said, not explaining--as I since learned--that some dog owners are frustrated at arbitrary closures and think the space should be open 6 am to 10 pm year round, as with other dog runs in the city.

The challenge is that few of those, if any, are that close to a tall residential building, with little barrier for sound. (Remember, as the mantra goes, Atlantic Yards "is a very tight fit.")

The longtime dog run hours were, apparently, the hours of the open space: 6 am to 10 pm May through September and 7 am through 8 pm October through April. 

(That said, the sign on the dog run says it closes at dusk, which obviously has been ignored.)

Others--presumably neighbors concerned about loud barking--want to reduce hours, Kuang said, and the board approved cutting the ending times to 8:30 pm in summer and 6 pm the rest of the year.

That change was when announced earlier this week to the representative of an informal group of about 100 dog owners, with Conservancy Board Chair Ashley Cotton stating that the new operating hours would be "in line with sunrise and sunset, as this schedule allows for more effective management and reflects the interests of the broader community."

That representative, Ian White, responded--in a message he shared with me--that "daylight hours have no bearing on people's schedules and this renders it largely unusable for a number of us."

For reference, the New York City Noise Code allows construction between 7 am and 6 pm on weekdays. It also allows for enforcement of "[a]nimal noise that is unreasonable and plainly audible from within nearby residential property" if the noise continues for ten minutes or more between 7 am and 10 pm, or five minutes or more between 10 pm and 7 am.

Neighbors' concerns

Even the new hours can't be a full solution, since, as Randal Wilhite, a resident of the West tower of 595 Dean, told me, "would still mean that incessant, plainly audible barking will be heard beginning at 6 am, even on weekends." (He and some neighbors have posted Google reviews saying the noise is disturbing.)

Looking southeast at the two dog runs

Indeed, Wilhite said that, while he appreciated the Conservancy acknowledged the issue, he wasn't satisfied, since the enforcement was absent, with loud dog barking past 10 pm the night of the Quality of Life meeting.

(Yesterday, the dog run did not close at 6, as I observed. See video below, which shows me walking from the central open space to near the dog run, shortly before 6 pm, with regular barking. That's what happens at a dog run.)

If there are issues issues with enforcement, an ESD staffer said at the meeting, peoples can report that to the Conservancy's email or phone number as well to on-site security staff, who are available 16 hours a day, from 7 am to 11 pm. However, no phone number for security was provided.

Kuang said the dog run would be locked on the new schedule "as soon as possible" and "hopefully people can follow the rules and use the park properly."

Is there a fix?

Asked about steps to reduce noise, Kuang said the Conservancy would consult some professionals. "You know, frankly, it's open space, [an] open air dog run," she said, so that would mean "very limited measures," but they will "do some research to see what we can do."

Presumably new measures could be taken. As I wrote, various companies, such as the AcoustiFence Dog Barking Barrier Project or the Acoustical Solutions Soundproofing Blanket, offer sound barriers, though installation of opaque fencing, depending on the height, might be seen as detracting from the dog run's permeability.

(This isn't a direct analogy, but there is some precedent for retrofitting: the Barclays Center added a green roof to tamp down noise escaping from the building.)

I'd note that renderings for the open space, below, suggest denser tree cover between the dog runs and the B13 tower, the West tower of 595 Dean, than actually exists. (See photo up top.) There are trees, but their branches and leaves are more sparse.

Dog owner White expressed frustration with the Conservancy: "We have many constructive ideas to address noise-related issues but without a willing partner this is moot. We have ideas on self-policing, limiting access, canopy cover/noise abatement, noise/complaint monitoring, fundraising, beautification."

(By the way, 595 Dean developer TF Cornerstone has a representative on the Conservancy board, but presumably has the greatest interest in ensuring that its tenants aren't displeased.)

As to the issues raised by neighbors, White said, "Also, it's important to note that we live in a dense urban area and life in NYC is based on compromise."

Abbreviated hours, he observed, would likely increase the number of dogs in the park during peak hours, potentially making it dangerous. 

The location question

Wilhite, the 595 Dean resident, said the issue was beyond hours. "They should either find a way to substantially mitigate the noise or admit that it is fundamentally ridiculous to put a dog run for the entire neighborhood in the narrow space between two large residences," he told me, noting that it could constitute a violation of the city's Noise Code. "I hope they are serious about looking into noise mitigation."

At the meeting, ESD's David Viana, Assistant VP for Community Relations, read a comment that it seemed unfair to locate a dog park that disproportionately affects certain neighbors. (By the way, because of the placement/design, the noise apparently has less impact on those to the west, in the 535 Carlton tower.)

"Generally, the response there," Viana said, is that the dog run had been part of longstanding plans and "there haven't been any other plans to locate additional dog runs in the current area."

That deserved more discussion. Might ESD acknowledge that the location, given the demand and the design, might be flawed? After all, as I wrote in May, it was not originally supposed to go there.

The concept of a dog run--two, at locations near the B6 and B7 towers--surfaced in the open space plan unveiled in June 2015 by landscape designer Thomas Balsley. They were not envisioned outside the B13 tower.

Annotations added

Rather, the two dog runs planned, marked #13 on the schematic above and highlighted in purple and pink, were attached to the open space bordering B6 and B7 over the railyard, between Sixth and Carlton Avenues. Those towers, however, require an expensive platform, which hasn't been built.

Those dog runs were sited a reasonable distance south of each tower, with a street--not a building--as a southern buffer, likely leaving less of a chance to impact immediate neighbors. 

Instead, it seems that expediency--a market need to serve a burgeoning population that includes dog owners--led to a shift in design.

Update: one reader asked if the dog run opened before people moved in. Answer: no. Market-rate move-ins started May 1, 2023, as did the affordable housing lottery. The dog run opened Aug. 14, 2023.

More about maintenance

In her presentation, Kuang rather bureaucratically stated that the dog run would be power-washed once a week.

What was unstated--as I later learned from White--is that dog owners had complained about poor maintenance, finally getting a commitment for weekly power washing, daily inspection of waste bins, and weekly inspection to ensure replenishment of dog waste bags.

However, on Nov. 6, the power washing started at noon with no notice, rendering the space unusable for a while, according to White. That, he said, suggested a need for better communication from the Conservancy.

White also was told that a damaged water fountain and bench armrest in the large dog run have already been repaired, while the Conservancy is waiting for a contractor's quote to complete the playground gate repairs.

The Conservancy, according to the message from Cotton to White, will conduct weekly walkthroughs to identify and address any maintenance needs. (Yes, Cotton is the former Forest City Ratner executive, now at MAG Partners, who lives on the Pacific Park site.)

The Conservancy did not agree with a request to establish a web presence, but Cotton told White they were "committed to maintaining open lines of communication," citing the email address and phone number. White, though, said he was frustrated that it took two months to get a formal response to a letter he sent. I'd note that I never got any response to my queries.

More images from the presentation

A dog run is at bottom right in the slide directly above