Babylon Village set to close popular George Street dog park

Babylon Village officials are closing a popular dog park after tensions escalated between dog owners and residents of a nearby condominium complex.

Mayor Mary Adams said the board of trustees voted 4-1 during a work session last week to close the park, on George Street across from the Whalers Cove condominiums. Adams, along with trustees Dominic Bencivenga, Anthony Cardali and Robyn Silvestri, voted for the closing while Deputy Mayor Frank Seibert did not.

Adams said the village will first renovate and expand its other dog park on Locust Avenue, adding lighting, turf and a separate small dog run. Once completed, the George Street park will be closed, likely in the spring, she said. The parks are about a mile apart.

"The board and I thought it was just in the best interest of the village to make Locust Avenue our sole, premier dog park," Adams said.

A group of Whalers Cove residents came to a December board meeting to ask the park be moved due to "incessant" barking and dogs that run unleashed outside the park’s fenced-in dog run, which is locked after dusk.

The condos, which have hundreds of residents, have been there for nearly 50 years. The dog park has been there for 13 years, officials said. Tensions rose in recent months, which residents attribute to more people working from home and the park gaining popularity during the pandemic. Code enforcement and Suffolk police have been called to the park, Adams said, and officials feared incidents between residents and dog owners would intensify.

"God forbid somebody gets hurt there because of a heightened situation," Adams said. "I have now opened the village up to liability by not doing something about it."

A Suffolk police spokesman said there have been three calls regarding dogs at the park in the past six months: one for incessant barking, one for a dog attacking another dog and one for a verbal argument that was resolved before police arrived.

Condo resident Jo Poio put out a statement on behalf of 30 Whalers Cove residents who had signed a letter asking the park be moved, writing that the park has negatively impacted their quality of life.

"We hope the new dog park with all the various improvements can create an even better experience for dogs and their owners," the statement said.

Park users are angry with the decision, saying complaints by residents are overblown. George Street resident Kelly Morenus has organized a petition with nearly 200 signatures — including more than a dozen from Whalers Cove residents — asking the village to reconsider.

"For the village to make this decision when usage is up and people need the park is wrong, especially after not having a public hearing and sort of springing this vote on us after it had happened," she said.

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.