Little India, while we're on the topic, IS very filthy. There's a thick layer of grease and embedded dirt covering everything up there. But that has more to do with the food than the people. Take a look outside any poorly maintained restaurant and you'll see slippery, gross, grease covered sidewalks (that attract cockroaches right inside). One of the worse offenders downtown is Marco & Pepe. They have a nasty grease trail coming from their kitchen to their basement and their sidewalk is all falling apart. Little India has it worse because there are SO many greasy restaurants.

just a reminder, i live in a flooded downtown brownstone too without hot water and who knows what else to look forward to when i get home.

but this is a dumbass place to live and have a city. its built over a swamp and it is your responsibility to protect yourself or deal with the consequences.

it is only going to get worse, and we're due for a big hurricane.

sure the sewers and a lot of other stuff could and should be better, but you knew what you were getting yourself into when you bought

you have nobody to blame but yourself for your situation today

when it happens next time, it'll still be your own damn fault.

vote for change. fix the sewers.

you're still going to be swimming in it if you choose to stay here and don't fix your house

anytime your home floods its your own damn fault

you chose to live in what used to be a swamp
you chose to live in an old building
you chose not to reinforce your basement
you chose not to plug your drains
you chose not to get sump pumps
you chose not to block or seal your basement windows and doors

and now you have a flood in your basement

don't expect the "government" to protect you.
take care of yourself

the lines in the street aren't forcing the water through your (our) walls and floors. the rain settling in front and back "yard" combined with a hundred years of cracks and the lack of any waterproofing is causing the seepage. if you're blaming the sewer, its because the sewer is backing up through the pipes. if you have a floating drain plug, the flow won't reverse.

do you live on montgomery between jersey and barrow? then you have the exact same house as me. yes it sucks, but it's the fault of the building design, not the sewer.

it's your basement's design that's faulty, not the sewer.

If you have floor drains in your basement, installing a floating floor drain plug will keep the floor drain pipe from backing up.

Any basement flooding will cause the float to rise and plug the drain.

Its raining. Take a look out in the dog run toilet these next few days and you will see a nasty cesspool of urine and feces.
Drainage requires grading, catch basins, and somewhere for the water to go. This dog park has none of that.
This is not only disgusting. It poses a real danger to the health and safety of anyone in and around the park. With the increasing number of dogs in the park it is only going to get worse.
When is real drainage going to be installed?

Thank you for your efforts to reduce the noise level from the dog run. It is appreciated.

"what's interesting is that this guy comes out to yell at the dog owners if the dogs are barking, but when there was a very loud fistfight between who drunks the other night, he was not to be found and did not call the cops. While I feel his pain (and just to be clear - i am right near the park too and have been awoken early and on weekends due to the barking) his noise complaints are certianly geared towards a certain type of recipient. He doesn't call the cops on the loud cars, the crazies and the drug dealers. Just the dog owners."

..
Here's the thing... I used to run to my window anytime I heard someone screaming. A year ago some woman started screaming. I went to my window and some guy was beating her by the payphone across from the library. I grabbed the phone and dialed 911. The cops were there before they picked up the other end of the line though. I call the cops anytime I see violent or dangerous activity. I want my family and friends to be safe too.

I'm not going to call the cops on a passing disturbance. Boisterous people walking home drunk, loud cars passing, even loud neighbors throwing parties until the wee hours on occasion. That's all to be expected in this neighborhood. (I'll post my other ideas on noise in another thread sometime)

But when I hear screaming outside every 10 minutes each time a hound tries to mount a poodle, it desensitizes me to the possibility of real danger. So in reality, it makes the park less safe when there are no people in there. I've heard wolf cried too many times.

To clarify, I do not condone the fantasies of my neighbors. I don't even really mind it all that much at 7pm at night. (I did hear that guy yell the other day, though, and I was in my kitchen at the rear of my apartment). A certain level of noise is the price I expect to pay for living in a major city AND having trees out my window.

I simply wish the people would not gather together and make loud noise every night at times when it is illegal to do so. There should be some quiet time.

I'd never ask the park itself to be closed/policed after 10, only the dog run. I don't even have a problem with people walking their dogs in the other parts of the park at night (on a leash). But when you let a dog loose, the dog will run, get into trouble, bark and be yelled at. It's inevitable.

Hello, I live right on the park. The dog park is right outside my window.

I've lived here for 4 years, and since they've put in the dog park, it has been a nightmare of barking and yelling nearly 24-7. I've lived with dogs all my life. I love them, but this is hell.

People are in there at all hours, until 1 or 2 am or later, and then again from 5 or so in the morning. They're there all hours, running around with their dogs. The dogs start barking. They get into fights and then the owners yell at the dogs.

They're even louder than the shakespeare people that use the place to practice their drama in the summer, but at least the shakespeare people have the decency to leave the park after 10pm.

How can this stop?
The park is supposed to close at 10pm.
We need our sleep.
We're going insane.

I called the police (547-5477) and asked them to send a cop over, but I hate to involve them in such low-level crimes. I know they hate dealing with this.

I asked the people who were there out past midnight to please keep it down or leave, but they seem not to care.

My neighbor suggested bb-guns and rat posion, but his wife thought lasers and high-frequency speakers might do the trick without jail time.

The dog owners can't be expected to resist the temptation of entering the gates, so what can be done to prevent it from happening or punishing those who do so?

Can we lock the gate after 10pm?
Can we fine people in there past 10pm?
Can we confiscate their dogs if they're in there past 10pm?
Can we do anything more than call 547-5477?

Suggestions, please...