Ideas Spark at the Doggie Park

I like the fact that Nassau County can spend money improving our public Parks by making areas for the disabled to enjoy public recreation and those with pets too.

The fact that Ed “The Reneger” Mangano wants the unions to give back money because he spent it all doing this, THAT makes me angry.

As a kid I had a dog and she was my constant companion and she would have loved a Park play date with Pals. Suzy was a Rhodesian Ridgeback (the size of a Collie or Bulldog) and we did not know her true breed till she was 3. She was originally my dad’s dog at his gas station in NYC, but after a few years there guarding the bays and lifts, my dad decided to bring he home. She was actually smarter than my 6-year-old sister at the time.

Suzy had an ingrown tail and where I had to take her for x-rays just to see if she was happy. The vet suggested that she see a psychiatrist, but that did not work out because she was never allowed on the couch. I used to mix pheromones in her shampoo so we could both get dates at the doggie run near the beach.

She was originally engaged to a German Shepherd, but my mom was against mixed marriages. Her next boyfriend lived next door. He was a Doberman Pincher, but that did not last long as the ASPCA arrested him for abuse for excessive pinching. Years later she frequented dog tracks looking for Mr. Right, but wound up with ones that skipped their gambler’s anonymous meetings instead.

She lived to be 18 in human years and we were inseparable growing older together in Brooklyn, except when I went to school. And she would have loved new improved Christopher Morley Dog Park. Not so much new as it is improved.

Now aside from the obvious hilarious jokes I told in the previous paragraph, I would like you to realize, with all seriousness, that the people planning the future for Nassau County have all the foresight of a blind crossing guard. They must have a great sense of humor, because the joke’s on us. You see, in my opinion, the empowered future plotters and planners and thinkers like Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Ron Popiel, and Edward Koch are nowhere near Nassau County.

It appears that the powers that be have their ears turned off to those ideas that would make us the best place to live on the planet. Many of these ideas have merit, but they are treated like a staph infection at a leper colony, no one wants to delve more into them.

I am talking about having the cameras on our highways pick up those very dangerous motorcycles that are white lining it in the summer while the cars and SUVs are stuck in bumper to bumper in traffic and issue them tickets, which would help fill the budget gap.

Giving a can or two of non-perishable food instead of paying the late fee at your town’s public library for overdue an book or video would help feed those in need on Long Island and also help the local businesses to sell more products. Trust me, the libraries are not helping their budgets much with the cash generated from these fees.

People, we are not talking ideas like planting fruit trees in public parks instead of oaks or spruces to harvest and feed the homeless with fresh produce. We are not talking catching and killing the wild geese that plague our public parks, so that food banks can offer a REAL CHRISTMAS GOOSE, for once to those that are going hungry in our own back yards. We are talking about having it mandatory for high school students to visit nursing homes and assisted living facilities in their immediate area to teach them to use a computer or cell phone or other electronic appliance for two weeks a year as a sophomore or junior.

This would improve our quality of life here greatly. This is a service that would pick up unused but prepared food and drinks late at night from our pro sports teams (Islanders, Ducks, Lizards) and various LI catering halls, (Which still goes to great waste) to redistribute them to needy Long Islanders in soup kitchens and pet food kitchens.

There are hundreds of GREAT, no cost or cost effective ideas out there that are not being considered by those with the real power to make positive changes. I have repeatedly challenged those in power to come and listen and discuss the benefits of these, which have fallen on deaf ears. It is not like we can even get to the part of the conversation where someone says, “this might not realistically work, but this on the other hand might be a solution to that.”  

The brain trust group behind the HUB at the Coliseum was given ideas on local improvements that had great merit (like a designated taxi service and overpass walkways with advertising and much more) and I guess that they chose to follow the old saying “ignorance is bliss” and bury their heads in the sand instead.

I guess I’ll just go back to trying to perfect my Doggie-Doo Be Gone biodegradable poop removal spray for the pet park pooper-scooper crowd and keep my Ideas for my Patch blogs.