The Puppy Park

by Nicole Quirk

As an Upper East Side resident, I’ve noticed many things that seem to be staples to a UES family and more specifically, the Upper East Side mommy. She wears a quilted patterned Burberry jacket, sleeves cuffed just so the signature check patterned can be seen, pushes the McClaren stroller for her soon to be private school bound babies, and of course, she hold the leash to the little pocket sized pooch. Due to the size of most apartments in the city, a small dog is a comfortable fit for a family’s canine companionship. While walking down any Upper East Side street it is nearly impossible to go more than one block without see a little furry friend strutting proudly and happily in front of their owner. With narrow sidewalks, strict leash laws, and few hints of foliage, where do you take your puppy to roam free? Dog parks are perfect to let your puppy have a ball, literally.

While your puppy is at play you can simultaneously BBM, meaning Blackberry Message for all those less than tech savvy readers, feed your baby organic squash from a recyclable jar because the world is all about going green, and catch a few rays of sun to add to the highlights from the salon last week; or low lights, the fall season is fast approaching. What else are you going to do all day after brunch with the girls? You might as well breathe a little fresh air at the puppy park and show off that manicure and pedicure from your spa trip yesterday.

A fantastic neighborhood park is Carl Schurz Park located on 86th and East End. There are 2 puppy parks, one designated to the small dogs and one for the larger ones. The big dogs play rough, ruff I say! The small dog park overlooks the East River which is a beautiful sight to behold at sunset from a nearby bench. Each park has benches on either side of the gates for participants and observers. Runners, joggers and skaters utilize the generously sized paths, making this an excellent spot to people-watch while your puppy is burning off all those extra yummy caviar treats you snuck him when the hired help was not watching; how can you resist that little-widdle face?

Both the large and small dog parks have sturdy black metal surrounding gates, tall enough so that no pampered pooch will wander off in case you just have to divert all of your attention to that call from Betsy about the Tahari sample sale next week that is going to be absolutely fabulous. The smaller park is tiled in light blue ceramic because heaven forbid a dog should get his paws in the dirt or even grass from the natural ground! That is just disgusting. The tile also makes for an easy clean up incase little Fifi mistakes the ground for an extra large wee-wee pad.

It is an adorable sight to behold a group of little Coach-collared pups playing games with each other, investigating new scents and making friends. Sitting in the park and watching them is like observing a kindergarten class during the first day of school. Each pupil is curious of where they are and who is there with them.

When it is time to leave the park after you have made your precious yet incredibly important social appearance, pack up that Gucci diaper bag and strut that stuff home. Once the doorman opens your door for you, give your precious child to the nanny, put puppy down for her nap on the cashmere and diamond encrusted doggie bed, and go relax in a hot bubble bath that has been drawn for you by the housekeeper. It has been an exhausting day at the park. Your thumbs are tired from all the texting and baby has her Baby Genius Mozart tapes to listen to if she wants to get accepted into an Ivy League College and not let down the entire family. Tomorrow is another day of nothing and I highly suggest doing nothing at the Carl Schurz Park on 86th and East End sometime tomorrow with baby and puppy in tow. Bring the Chanel sunglasses; it’s going to be a sunny day!