Saturday, August 10, 2013

That temporary fence in the middle of Tompkins Square Park



Several people have asked about the fencing set up in the middle of Tompkins Square Park. (Despite rumors, it is not a cattle chute.)



It is leftover from an event Thursday evening, which we never mentioned for some reason.

Here was the pitch via email:

I know you write about all of the exciting things happening in the East Village, so I thought you might be interested in this upcoming event! Celebrity designer and dog lover Nate Berkus will be in New York on Thursday, August 8 to host an unforgettable evening (5-7pm) of play for New Yorkers and their four-legged friends. Together with Beneful, Nate is kicking off a Play Date Tour that will subsequently travel the country, inspiring dogs and owners to play more.

Please consider joining us for this free and open-to-the-public event, which will take place in the East Village’s Tompkins Square Park (between Ave A&B, East 7th&10th) – a popular destination for city pups seeking open space to run free. A section of the park will be transformed into the ultimate play destination, with everything from spoon races to a squeaky toy pit to water misters set up for local dog/ owner duos looking to change up their summer routine. The visuals will be memorable, to say the least, and are sure to excite the rest of NYC’s furry population for National Dog Day, which will be celebrated later this summer.

And a photo at the start of the event via Bobby Williams...


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Liked it better when I thought it was just to keep people from being killed by falling branches.

Anonymous said...

is this the new drug pick-up spot?

Anonymous said...

Dammit. I had no idea about this but I would've gone. My dog lives to play.

Anonymous said...

Corporate appropriation of dog culture! And play culture!

Anonymous said...

Well, sure, great that it was a dog related event, but really, it was an advertising scheme for a large corporation trying to sell its products and using our public spaces to do so. And then, guess what: they leave the fences up and totally kill a full weekend of playtime and space for the kids right in the center of TSP. PURINA = VERY LAME. BAD DOG, PURINA... You left a big pile of chain link fencing in our park.

Anonymous said...

Will you please post the e-mail address of the person who sent you that e-mail pitch? We should all contact them to complain, and this would be a public service. That is some total BS, leaving that fencing up there all weekend in the park.

BTW, this is on wikipedia:

Although the claims are not confirmed to be true, there have been numerous complaints about Beneful dog food making owners' dogs sick with illness or possibly dying. The recorded symptoms of the ill dogs were all similar and included laziness, weakness, glazed over eyes, not interested in drinking water or eating food, white gums, and loss of control over bodily functions. It was recorded that Beneful is taking matters into serious consideration and that they do not wish to damage the healthy reputation that it currently has. It encourages people to notify Beneful, email Beneful, or mail Beneful if this happens to someone's dog.[5][6] The FDA has yet to take matters into their own hands and has failed to respond to the several complaints that Nestlé has been receiving.

Scuba Diva said...

I live a half block from the park and I also had no idea what the fence was for. Since I generally avoid events that take place in and around the park—like HOWL and all its components—this isn't surprising.

It totally sucks that they left the fence up for the entire weekend. [It's Sunday night right now; let's see how long it takes them to take down the fence now.]

I'll tell anyone who'll listen what a pile of crap Purina® foods are—even if your dog loves it. Even if it's the only thing he'll eat. I think I'm angrier now that I know what the fence was for.