I want a dedicated off-leash area for dogs in Markey Park!

New Orleans Recreational District is slated to close down and redevelop Markey Park in the Bywater. Preceding this, there were a series of lively, well-attended, public meetings, hosted by the Bywater Neighborhood Association, about how to redevelop the park with a grant from the Trust for Public Land.

Overwhelmingly, the neighborhood wants part of the park to remain an off-leash dog park. The design firm came up with three plans, all of which divided the space into a playground, a dog park, and a free space. The meetings were a testament to civic involvement, cooperation and democracy. Then, NORD and the BNA surreptitiously commissioned their own plan, without an area for dogs, and rammed it through the process, not allowing any input from the community. This park is an integral community meeting place and we want to have some say in what becomes of it! Let's use this space to organize and make our voices heard on this issue!