William from the Friends of St. Nicholas Park writes in to let us know that help is requested this Saturday for woodchip work on the park's dog run. As a veteran woodchip spreader, I can say these events are fun and a great way to meet people in the area.

Also, click thru for a note from Shawn and his pooch Axel on dog water in the run.

Friends,

We are scheduling a woodchip workday this Saturday, June 30th from
10am to 2pm.
Our woodchips in the run are dirty and need replenishing for the
Summer. We will be transferring woodchips to the run and filling up
doggie dug holes.

Your help is greatly needed and appreciated.

If you have a pair of work gloves please bring them. We will have some
available to those who don't. Also, we will have bottled water and
coffee for everyone.

It is usually better to come to the workday after you walk your dog.
Dogs demand attention while in the dog run, and the workday will be
more enjoyable if you can leave your dog in the comfort of his home.
Of course, we understand if this is not possible and appreciate any
help you can lend.

Information on this woodchip workday is below:

St. Nick's Dog Park
Woodchip Workday
Saturday, June 30th
10am-2pm

At St. Nick's Dog Park
between 136th and 135th streets in the middle of the park

Fellow dog owners,

After hearing of dogs becoming sick, I wanted to get to the source of what is possibly causing this. After
consulting with several other dog parks who use wood chips, they are not the cause of the problem.
Unfortunately, the probable cause is the water container and standing water in it. Since we do not
have running water, the water bowl will be removed.

Please bring your own water receptacle as well as water. We are not scheduled to get a waterline until
2008...but with all parks projects, please don't hold me to it...we are at the mercy of the capital projects
of the Parks Department.

Also, another probable cause is dog waste.

Everyone has been doing a great job picking up their pets
waste, I hope garbage pick up will be a more constant thing. Please note that diseases like Coccidia and Giardia are commonly spread in the dog population like the flu virus. Younger dogs will tend to fight this off and build immunity to it. Older ones who have a stronger immune system fight it off naturally. It's commonly spread by fecal matter. Using lyme to sanitize the run really doesn't prevent this. Certain dog parks turn the soil on a yearly basis...the PH balance in the soil will naturally kill any bacteria. Since our
run is on a slope, we certainly don't need to worry about standing water.

Please continue to be diligent in picking up after your dogs and pointing out when others aren't paying
attention to pick up after their dogs. Please let's keep our dog park looking nice and try to do all we
can to help keep our pets safe and healthy.

Also, since I am on the subject of dog health...it is advised to wash and clean your dogs food and water
bowls at home as well...after all don't we all wash our dishes we eat off of?? I'm sure our pets deserve
the best treatment we can provide them.

Best always,
Shawn & Axel

Posted by Chris at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Gina Fuentes Walker and everyone at artHARLEM are inviting artists and neighborhs to the next Artist Get Together this Friday June 22, 6-8 pm.

The evening will take place at Big Apple Jazz, 2236 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd (btwn 132nd and 133rd streets), which is worth going if you have not been there already (shame, shame).

Those who want to be polite and R.S.V.P.

And speaking of artHARLEM events, H.O.A.S.T. (Harlem Open Artist Studio Tour) is now accepting applications for the 3rd Annual Harlem Open Artist Studio Tour. Tour dates are set for Saturday, October 6 (12:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.) and Sunday, October 7 (1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.).

Posted by Chris at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was holding off posting on the return of neighborhood Chihuahua Bugzy, hoping to get a shot of the little camera hound. But, being that summer leaves me without a camera-friendly jacket pocket, and so no camera, I've missed some great picture opportunities. I am going with the update sans photo.

Bugzy was soon located at the 110th Street animal shelter after his great escape from the Lenox Ave Halstead office. This should have ended right then and there with sighs of relief all around, much face licking on the part of the pooch, and maybe a non-recalled treat when he arrived home. However, given that Animal Care and Control has a policy whereby animals only leave once spayed or neutered, little Bugzy was facing the knife.

Danni, Bugzy's human, was going to have none of that.

Bugzy came into Danni's life as a rescue dog with a sad background. The pup had been a victim of abuse and neglect. You could never tell it now, given his energy and excitement in meeting new people. I take that as a testament to the kind of mothering care Danni gives Bugzy. So, given all that Bugzy had gone thru, she wasn't about to see him get his balls cut off at his age. (Danni, men everywhere are quietly thanking you.)

Don't get me wrong. We, including Danni, all know that in the grand scheme spaying and neutering are the right things to do. Any stroll thru an animal shelter will provide all the sad-eyed proof one needs. However, this was not about the universe as a whole, this was about the little dog under Danni's care, and she would do what she had to do to protect him. Even if that meant, as she warned in one email, she might go to jail.

In the end, Bugzy was neutered, and Danni stayed clear of the slammer.

I ran into Danni and Bugzy on the street shortly after his surgery. The small dog walked over to me, slowly stood up on his hind legs, and hugged my kneecap. He didn't jump around, or really even pant, but simply stayed where he was with his head resting against my leg. I tried to reassure him the best that I could.

I told Cheryl all about it, and we ran into the two of them that same evening. This time, Bugzy didn't hug me, but stood in the middle of the sidewalk with his front legs somewhat apart, and threw up all over. Danni said that it may have been his nerves, or a bad reaction to the medication he was taking for the kennel cough he developed while in the pound.

As of now, Bugzy is on the road back to becoming his normal self.

Posted by Chris at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

:: Hey, so the Sopranos finale kinda sucked, right? Cheap, cheap, cheap. Way to send America to bed mad HBO. ::

Graceline Court's 111 Lenox Avenue sales office is open. On site features include a mocked-up kitchen and bath, simulated views, and a four piece jazz band. Thankfully, the band was far better than the music on Graceline's website.

Also, small cookies and bite sized brownies were readily available in a buffet style setting, but Cheryl and I could not seem to get table service for drinks.

As for the apartments, they will include granite countertops (check) and stainless steel appliances (check). As for the building, it will feature a fitness center, common roof-top terrace, a two shift doorman, and a pet friendly policy.

Apartments start at $475,000 for a 668 square foot 1 bedroom, 1 bath with Southern and Eastern exposures. The priciest unit I see is a 1417 square foot 3 bedroom, two bath on the 8th floor with Northern, Southern and Eastern exposures.

Posted by Chris at 12:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

For those who walk their dogs in the Marcus Garvey dog run, beware. Harlem resident and Post reporter Denise Buffa lost her Italian mastiff to electrocution from a ConEd lamppost on 5th Ave at 120th St this week.

Mushy, weighing in at 100 lbs, is no small guy. Once can easily imagine that if he could be electrocuted, so could any other dog, or child.

The loss of her dog is only made worse by the follow-up bungled buck passing between ConEd and city agencies. It seems that various people were able to confirm a voltage leak, but no one was able to resolve the issue.

· Con Ed Horror [NY Post]

Posted by Chris at 04:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea yesterday to hit up more than one of the 5 Starbucks in my office's immediate area for the free iced coffee from 10 to noon. I mean, I'm a red-blooded American, so why turn down something free, if not a lot of something free?

Early into the two hour window, I had the idea that I should have grabbed all Manhattan Starbucks addresses, geo-plotted them, optimized travel routes, and for the 10am start gun, have had myself set at the Southernmost location ready to work my way as far North as I could before time ran out. I could have selected the best attire (easy to move in office wear or standard running shoes and clothes) and maybe sent out a media advisory with a quote from Joey Chestnut.

However, the two gratis coffees that I had (as well as finishing Cheryl's morning tea, drinking my standard large morning coffee, and having another tea for lunch) are likely what was responsible for my being in the office until 10:15pm at will and staying up into the wee hours trying to find old friends online. (You would think that with guys whose last names include "Cudd" and "Grubbs" and women whose first names include "Chamie" and "Bryn" this would be a piece of cake, but somehow it was not.)

Anyway, here are a couple of upcoming Uptown events (and an update on Bugzy to come):

SATURDAY | JUNE 9 | 11:00 AM - 3:00PM | DYCKMAN LANDING (200th St and Hudson River)

Learn to Row!

The Harlem River Boat Club, Row New York, and the Alianza Dominicana invite New Yorker's to learn rowing.

The Harlem River Boat Club uses rowing to promote real waterfront and waterway access for all New Yorkers, especially in the communities that have historically lacked recreational facilities and access to their waterfronts. Programs are affordable to the community and the HRBC is working with other organizations to facilitate enviromental stewardship of waterfront areas along the Harlem and Hudson Rivers.

DIRECTIONS

Take the A (closer) or 1 to Dyckman Street, and walk West along Dyckman to the Hudson river.

SATURDAY | JUNE 16 | 1:00 PM | MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK

UPTOWNflavor sends along: Dog Owners and Their Dogs The New Yorkers: A Novel

Bring your dog to a special program for dogs and dog lovers in the Museum's courtyard. Best-selling novelist Cathleen Schine will read from The New Yorkers: A Novel (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007), a hilarious account of the interactions among residents on a tony Upper West Side block and the important role their dogs play in their lives. Adam Gopnik, award-winning critic-at-large forThe New Yorker will
introduce the program. In case of rain, the program will be held in the Museum's auditorium. FREE with Museum admission!

Dogs are welcome!

Reserve on line at www.mcny.org or by telephone at 212.534.1672, ext. 3395.
$ 5 for Museum members, seniors, and students
$ 9 for the general public

DIRECTIONS

By subway: #6 Lexington Avenue train to 103rd St., then walk three blocks west.
#2 or #3 train to Central Park North/110th St., walk one block east to
Fifth Avenue, then south to 103rd St.
By bus: M1, M3, M4, or M106 to 104th St., M2 to 101st St.

Posted by Chris at 08:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)