Who runs the dog runs?

A Partnership of People and Parks

There are more than 80 designated dog runs in NYC, along with countless off-leash areas throughout the five boroughs. Each dog run is under the jurisdiction of Parks, but the department’s responsibility ends at the gate. The daily maintenance and upkeep of the facility has been delegated to the community. This division is so stark that Parks Department employees will change trash cans outside the dog run, but not within it.

NYC Parks Press Officer Anessa Hodgson detailed the department’s reliance on local advocates in a statement:

"The key to success of a dog run is 100% about the community and friends groups that program and maintain these spaces,” Hodgson said via email. “We depend on our user groups to help with general maintenance like trash collection, and we also depend on them to help enforce waste pick-up.”

As a result, the operation of each run falls to volunteers in the community, regular people who take it upon themselves to organize cleanups, crowdsource funding for supplies, attend meetings with the City and more. Some dog runs have fully functioning 501(c)(3) non-profits; others have a fledgling group of volunteers; still more have no representation at all.

“It's just me running everything,” said Amy Willard, who oversees the Maria Hernandez Park Dog Run group in Bushwick. “I've tried to recruit others to get more involved, but most don't want to deal with the headaches that are local politics. But I do appreciate the volunteers who come out to cleanups. We usually have at least 15 volunteers show up on cleanup days.”

Do you know who, if anyone, maintains your favorite dog run? Check out the Volunteer Tracker map below to find out.

Volunteer Tracker Map Legend

  • Active Volunteer Group

    A green paw symbolizes a dog run with an active volunteer group, as judged by recent events, its social media presence or the existence of a functioning website.

  • Some Representation

    A yellow paw indicates a dog run with some representation, usually in the form of a Park Conservancy, but without an active volunteer group dedicated to the run.

  • No Active Volunteers

    A red paw signifies a dog run with no active volunteer community, as evidenced by dormant social media accounts, a dead website or lack of response to inquiry.

  • Off-Leash Area

    The dog symbol represents a designated off-leash area, pursuant to NYC Parks’ off-leash hours. Most of these areas do not have formal volunteer representation.

 Is there an error or omission in the Volunteer Tracker map? Need to update your social links? Please contact us!