Sunnyside Library to be Closed This Summer, as New Roof is Installed

Sunnyside native – When I see a service dog partnering with a blind person I see the highest level of human- dog relations and I am glad to be alive. When I read about rescue dogs, drug and bomb sniffing dogs, crowd control K-9s, guard dogs, retrievers who go duck hunting or herding sheep, bloodhounds finding lost children or prison escapees, dogs protecting property, and yes,even dogs providing companionship and entertainment for lonely folks, I love dogs. Here comes the however. Something has gone wrong with the human- dog equation. When I get on the elevator and happen to be in between a pitbull and two tiny terriers who go at each other I don’t like it. When I walk from Woodside near Doughboy park down Skillman Aveniue to work every morning and, the closer I get to the Lodati dogrun, the more I have to look down to avoid you know what, I am upset. There are just too many dogs in the neighborhood and the owners do not pay for their share of the environmental impact. Even when the owners “clean up”, do they know what happens to 2lbs of waste in a plastic bag? Where does it end up?Landfill? Can anyone tell me of a single summons issued for a pooper scooper violation in our neighborhood? I just think 1 million $ + dollars for one dog run is enough, and another dog run is an unwise allocation of discretionary funds. Why can’t the dog owners raise money for themselves and research environmentally sound waste disposal methods like biodegradable bags that can be flushed down household toilets like human waste.Some municipalites have begun databanks of dog DNA so violators can be tracked down. Does it have to come to that?

@ Dog lover – if you are a dog lover, why would you want to take away funds that were originally allocated to the Woodside dog run? I have friends who own houses and co-ops in Woodside, who now often walk down to the dog run in Sunnyside. As fellow tax payers who own dogs, don’t they deserve the same ROI for the property that they purchased, as a Woodside resident? The current Dougboy dog run needs a facelift, plain & simple. Politicians try to appease ALL of their constituents, not just the ones with human offspring…

Hippsters! Obama! Damn them all!

It’s amazing how much time can be wasted on such a minor issue. Go Rangers, beat LA! What about a hockey article.

Zero the Hero,

I am included on all these kinds of things re: the dog run, and, my word, no taxpayer $ is going toward any of it. Any internal improvements like umbrellas, plantings in the greenspace, poop bags, pools, hoses, cleaning products, etc etc are all either donated, or we pay for them ourselves:)

The contractor tried blaming the dogs for the erosion of the surface. We were able to show him that there has been no such erosion in the small dog run space, only the big one. The reason for this was that not enough of the cool pavement surface was applied in the big run (it began to erode 2 weeks after opening and I immediately let the NY Parks Dept know).

Also, as the run wasnt completely level in all spots, water pooled, leading to it peeling as well. This was the contractor’s fault. He lost the argument and is honoring the deal.

I absolutely understand the skepticism though, after all, we are talking about govt:)

Rick

Funding can be moved or cancelled and reallocated. JVB has agreed to be a part of participatory budgeting which allows district residents to vote on how discretionary funds, like those for dog runs and Sunnyside Gardens Park, are spent. It’s not too late for him to exercise some discretion and change his mind. Check out pbnyc.org and the city council’s website where you can find his allocations.

Don’t you have anything interesting to write about such as the opening of a new nail salon or dry cleaner?

All those mentioning the concept of moving funding (already allocated) from one project to another have no idea how capital project funds work, it aint that simple.

Is Jimmy Van Bramer on the case? How are taxpayer dollars spent on such a project that requires this kind of repair merely 4 years later? Is anyone accountable?

I’ve enjoyed the branch in Astoria- it’s huge. It might be tricky to get there without a metro card. There’s also a small library under the Citibank building by Courthouse Sq. I order books online and they let me now when they are in.

I picture Reuben and Larry on neighborhood patrol: one is looking for “sketchy” people and the other one for new material. Just what we need!

Zero the Hero,

I think I explained it already, so there is no need to: “hope that the dog run re-paving job really isn’t costing a dime either as reported here but I’m not going to believe that until the work is done and there isn’t a bill for “unforeseen” costs…..”

Do your due diligence, like I do, and do some fact checking and you’ll see it’s all legit. If you only knew the wrangling that went on behind the scenes to get that contractor back to fix the mess, honoring his contract…
Thus, it wont cost any of us a dime.

All city work projects are guaranteed for X time, depending on the project. If something goes wrong the contractor fixes it on their dime. Not sure what the time period is for guaranteed work on a roof, but it should be longer than a year…

Rick Duro
SUDS

Who needs a Library and Park when you have all these new bars opening around town? Lets drop the drinking age to 5. Problem solved!

Is it really that hard for people to get their kids to all the other parks around here?

While the Library issue is a bit more tricky, I’m pretty sure the Woodside branch has decent hours. The mobile Library is a good idea as well. My question is who is the lucky contractor that will be making a mint off of previously substandard work that I’m sure already cost tax payers a fortune? I’ll laugh if it’s the same one who did a crappy job in the first place. All these unneeded construction projects are nothing more that a way for corrupt companies and politicians to steal our tax dollars.

I hope that the dog run re-paving job really isn’t costing a dime either as reported here but I’m not going to believe that until the work is done and there isn’t a bill for “unforeseen” costs…..

The little bastards will be out of school with nothing to do but destroy and deface. great.

I concur with Natty and woodside guy. No park and no library for the summer!! How could “the powers that be” allow this. It’s absurd and very inconsiderate to the neighborhood and then there will be a lot more construction noise added to the noise coming from the bulldozers in the park and the crane operations from that school being built on 42nd Street. All this construction within just 2-3 blocks of each other – poor poor planning.

That’s too bad, but the Woodside branch is close by, and I’ve got lots on my Nook. I love the library system in Queens. So much to read, and I don’t have to spend a dime.

Can you guys do a story or investigate on if there’s a half way house or a section 8 / homeless hold up in Sunnyside because there’s been a lot of sketchy people in this neighborhood lately

Are you kidding me?! And no park?!

Pretty funny Pete. Moron.

A new roof installed five years ago has to be replaced?

Somebody got ripped off.