Bailey tosses on the asphalt of the stumbling block. She snaps at her squeaky rubber toy, barks, and races from one side of the fence to the other. Little does Bailey know that she is in the middle of a battlefield of class struggle in New York. She is five months old, a brown Labrador puppy with innocent eyes. Until a few days ago, Bailey had exclusive access to the small dog run in the upscale Tribeca district in south Manhattan, which is home to many Wall Street bankers. Your master Jeff Clift paid a membership fee for the private park, 120 dollars a year, and received a secret PIN code with which he and his animal could gain access. The only problem: Warren Street Dog Park wasn’t a private park at all.
A group of wealthy dog owners had got together and simply closed a public park for the “rabble”: They hung a lock on the entrance, registered pleasant dogs like Bailey and pleasant masters like Jeff Clift, established rules of behavior and collected the membership fee. So unwanted four-legged friends and their less well-off owners stayed outside and inside everything was nice and clean. At least that is the point of view of the wealthy.
The privatization coup was blown at the end of April – after ten years. The city park administration cracked the lock and put up a new sign – a hot topic. Some fear that naughty youngsters at night and uneducated dogs during the day will populate the run and leave their dirt behind. Others see the dog park hijacking as a symbol of the audacity of the New York rich.
Dogs with less privileged upbringing are also allowed in now
In any case, the park privatization group Dog Owners of Tribeca (DOOT) is not aware of any guilt. DOOT was properly registered as an association and always used the membership fees to the best satisfaction of the members. “For more than a decade, the park has been insured, cleaned, repaired, equipped and fully serviced by our community group without the park administration having made any contribution, be it monetary or otherwise,” wrote the former DOOT presidents in a city district -Blog. “The result is a park that is cleaned three times a week and is a role model for others.” After the public moved into the park, the privatization group disbanded immediately.
And has it now turned into a meander? The park is sparkling clean, no sausages or anything like that. And the park is empty. Except for Labrador Bailey. Good thing, thinks Clift. A large dog bit her ear once in one of the public parks, where you can’t rely on the dogs to behave, he says. “I hope everything stays the same here.” He had no idea that his private dog run was actually always public. “I was surprised for a second when I found out,” he says. “And then I thought: typically New York.”
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