PDP-ARF History: Marty Waxman Speaks

In the early 1990s dogs were off-leash in all of Peter Detmold Park. The park was not popular with the community as it was in disrepair and a known rendezvous site for drug deals and prostitutes. In addition, some area residents were reluctant to use the park because of the off-leash dogs. Parks Enforcement or local police would periodically hand out $100 citations to owners with unleashed dogs, but their visits were too infrequent to act as a deterrent.

About 1992 Janet Hearn, a professional dog walker, suggested to Martin Waxman, a local dog owner, that they petition the Parks Department to create a dog run in Peter Detmold Park. Marty, an IT professional, used the Internet to research dog runs in other communities so that the group which later became PDP-ARF would know what features to propose when they presented their proposal to Parks. Among these were a double gate (the first in NYC), free poop bags, and access to water.

The proposal was presented to then-Parks Commissioner Henry Stern. Mr. Stern’s deputy, Mike Cuomo, and, later, Manhattan Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, handled most of the negotiations. While Parks was considering the proposal, Janet, Marty, and several volunteers gathered over 2,000 signatures from neighborhood residents to demonstrate that the run had community support.

In addition, the dog run proposal was presented to Community Board 6, and the Turtle Bay Association. Both organizations approved and supported establishment of the run.

The dog run was initially opposed by the boards of nearby buildings and the Beekman Place Association. Eventually, in meetings with all parties present, compromises were reached.

In 1994, Parks accepted the proposal and set up temporary fencing, and the run was born. (Later the run boundaries were tweaked in response to complaints from people who lived in the building adjacent to the run.) Meanwhile, Marty was busy making PDP-ARF a legal entity. This involved creating a non-profit corporation, writing bylaws, and applying to the IRS for 501(c) (3) status so that the corporation would be exempt from federal income tax and donations to PDP-ARF would be considered tax-deductible.

Eventually Marty and others convinced Councilman Gifford Miller to put a $100,000 item in the City’s capital budget. These funds were used to install permanent fencing, add a second tool shed, and finance a general clean-up of the Park.

When Marty resigned from the PDP-ARF Board in 2001, Jack Mara took over presidential responsibilities. It was during Jack’s tenure, and thanks to his lobbying of the Parks Department, that a water faucet was placed in the dog run.

Jack handed over PDP-ARF administration to the present Board in 2006.