Bed-Stuy's Herbert Von King Park dog run closed due to contamination

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The dog run at Herbert Von King Park in Bedford-Stuyvesant is closed due to elevated levels of arsenic and mercury in the soil.

Parks spokesperson Judd Faulkner said the contamination was detected during routine soil testing as part of a planned project to rebuild the dog run. That project isn’t expected to begin construction until fall 2027. “Out of an abundance of caution, we're temporarily closing the dog run while we address potential soil contamination we recently discovered,” Faulkner said in a statement.

Neither the Parks Department nor the Health Department has said what risk the metals pose to the people or dogs that used the run, which is one of the few fenced, off-leash spaces in the neighborhood. The run, on the northwest corner of the park, is a large, fenced off area. The ground is covered in mulch, but it’s spotty in places.

Parks has said that the rest of Herbert Von King Park poses no exposure risk and will remain open. As a stopgap, dogs are now allowed off-leash in the rest of the park before 9 a.m. and after 9 p.m.

Dog owners who spoke with Gothamist at the park this weekend said the closure had upended their routines with little explanation or notice.

“I just saw the sign that you have to come before 9 a.m., so I gotta reschedule my whole life,” said Sia Khasha, who has been bringing his dog Ziggy to the park for about a year.

Khasha called the whole situation “confusing.”

Karina Bastille found out about the closure from Instagram. Her 3-year-old dog, Kiwi, has used the run since she was a puppy. Bastille said she was looking forward to the run’s redesign, particularly the astroturf she’d heard the city would be installing.

“When [Kiwi] is at the mulch park, especially during the summer times, she can get really bad coughs,” Bastill said. “She'll run around, then the dust comes up, and then she coughs.

“And I've seen dogs chew on the mulch. I've seen dogs dig through. And now knowing that there’s a contamination to it, I'm afraid for my dog.”

Several dog owners said the new off-leash hours was hardly a substitute for losing access to the run, which is fenced and offers separate areas for large and small pups.

“I’m scared to take him off leash because he runs,” said Leeanne Scarione, who brings her dog, Dude, to the run. Instead, she’s been walking loops around the park “over and over again.”

Lourdes Figueroa, who comes to the park with her dog, Lily, said the dog run had “been helpful for the community. It certainly has created a sense of security and safety for the animals.”

She’d like the Parks Department to add a temporary, fenced-in area for the dogs while it sorts out the soil issues.

“Off leash is okay with some dogs, but I think many of us have poor recall dogs who would just run into the street and never come back,” Figueroa said. “It's just not safe.”

A spokesperson for Councilmember Chi Ossé, whose district covers the park, said the office was in favor of a temporary fenced-in area while the city works to address the issues with the soil. The councilmember’s staff plans to work with the Parks Department to get the run reopened in a timely manner, she added.

Ryan Kost is a reporter on the day-of news desk, where he covers breaking news and writes enterprise stories about jails, courts, prosecutors and government accountability. His work focuses on the public institutions that shape life in New York. Before joining the newsroom, he lead a multi-part investigation with Columbia Journalism Investigations and New York Focus into how New York prosecutors handle wrongful conviction claims. He's also been a staff writer at The San Francisco Chronicle, The Associated Press and The Oregonian. Got a tip? Signal: ryankost.20

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