Eugene Patron probably doesn't spend his summer weekends in Prospect Park. People barbecue everywhere, whether there's space in the authorized locations or not, and why wouldn't they, since the Parkies and police (regular and auxiliary) have no knowledge of the rules or at least interest in enforcing them. The fact that almost no summonses have been written says it all.
The park authorities were surprised earlier this year to discover that people had been LIVING in the park. how much attention are they really paying?

It's disgusting. They turn the park into their private living rooms. Camping out all day long leaving behind their filth.

As a regular in the park, (with 3 dogs) I regularly see the mess that is left behind by hostile, childish, belligerent, irresponsible, and inconsiderate picnickers many of which are from other communities in Brooklyn and don't have a stake in the park. These park "abusers" prove by their actions that they expect others to pay the bills and clean up after themselves. Bagging and removing one’s own garbage is a given, and shouldn’t have to be articulated to reasonable people.On two separate occasions, two friends( both fellow dog walkers), told me, one: that when she asked an NYPD uniformed officer she encountered in the park one afternoon why the cops don't enforce the BBQ rules he said, "I would if I could but I would be outnumbered".
Two: my other friend asked a female Park Police officer (ticket agent, not armed) a similar question, and the officer said she was afraid because "some of the picnickers are hostile and might have a knife".
The bottom line folks is that there is a lack of backbone and resolve by the park officials and the police to seriously enforce the park rules. Things have now gotten out of hand and all the good work by volunteers and dedicated conservationists, (plus money spent on restoring the park), are in jeopardy of being for naught.
Of course the taxpaying, dog walker who lives in the community is an easy target for the park police and a $100 violation (easy pickings and they usually pay the fine).
Write letters and make calls folks.

People who do this dont care because they are low lifes or ignorant or both. Find out the laws governing open burming (not just bbqs)in public parks as well as damage to park plants and trees. DID YOU KNOW that harming public trees in parks or on streets in nyc is a serious matter and the fines are big. Dont rely on the local parks dept they're lazy, dont come from the area and dont care. It infuriates me that people like this exist let alone get away w this pathetic behavior. Lets not even get into the screaming and loud music that often goes with this. To fellow slopers, learn the law, put pressure on the councilmembers and locate the agency or unit within the dept of parks who will respond. Just weakening the base of beautiful old trees should be enough to get them ticketed and or arrested. Enough already this is not the slope of 25 years ago YES WHEN I WAS GROWING UP HERE At least give ema piece of your mind freakin yell at em and if they do anything then call the police. Many of them are trash who also litter, make noise send their kids to pee on trees let their dogs roam and make u wish they went somewhere else. Dont be polite they're ruining OUR park for heavens sake.

I completely agree with Anne-Katrin and Ed on this issue. I've heard park officials claim there is no funding for enforcement. Why is it, then, that if someone has a dog off leash a minute after 9AM, a park enforcement person magically appears to ticket them? They NEVER, however, issue tickets to irresponsible barbecuing picnickers, litterers, and fisherman who use illegal barbed hooks and discard them and their fishing line all over the lake and park (causing the impalement, entanglement, and sometimes strangulation of waterfowl and turtles)?

If the park starts ticketing for these offenses, the extra manpower will pay for itself in no time.

Rina Deych, RN

They have just posted "No Smoking" signs all over the parks.

Don't the BBQ's create LOTS OF SMOKE?

If ever I go to Prospect Park again, I will be sure to light up.

If you make a law then it should apply to ALL smokers and not just the ones you don't like.

Hey, Winston Smith, don't tar dog owners with the same brush as the lowlife BBQers. Instead of using your head only as a hatrack, try distinguishing between the results of 50 dogs "rodeo"ing and 50 people setting inappropriate fires, blasting music and yelling, filling the air with smoke, and then leaving garbage everywhere. After off-leash hours (official or unofficial), after the monthly Coffee Bark or the Pupnic in June, look at the park--you'd never know scores of people with their dogs were there just minutes before. Like courteous and caring human beings, we clean up after ourselves; on the other hand, on a Monday morning or after a holiday, it looks as if sanitation trucks exploded all over the park. The one-cell lifeforms who are destroying the park have an ingrained and abiding belief that they hold no responsibility for any of their actions in life. They see Prospect Park as a province of the leisurely affluent, so they want everyone to experience their miserable lifestyle and wallow in their filth. Any wonder why some communities have gated parks?

Why even bother having rules for BBQing in the park when they're ignored? Why permit BBQing at all, especially if it's a fire hazard and the parks police are too scared to enforce the rules? Come a dry spell in summer, do we want a wildfire? With no BBQing, the parks police can then concentrate on ticketing the rich dog owners. Big Brother IS watching, Winston Smith--but only selectively.

No smoking in our public parks should mean no BBQing...as simple and easy as that....SMOKE is SMOKE and BBGing is much worse.....

that's right, black folks are the biggest offenders in the park, you know they love a BBQ! get those wings fired up, bring on the ribs, some beer, grape soda and giant bags of chips, (yes, the kids eat that crap too) AND everything is left behind. They live this way too, dont think its any better the way they treat the park. I believe there should be BBQ enforcement rangers. Arrest those offenders, or just stop haveing BBQ's all together. Go to Orchard Beach, its bigger with less trees.. Keep my park beautiful.

Its terrible and those of us who live across the street from the park have to keep our windows closed from the fumes - Ive seen large GAS BBQ being rolled in and no one stops the out of control BBQ - the mess they make their own rules, they ignore the signs etc - dont even go into the park during the summer - sad sad

I agree with the no cigarette smoking in the park than no bbq smoke either. That picture of the burned tree is sickening. BBQ should be banned from all parks.

Wish I could submit the picture that I just took of the large group with two big grills right next to trees with ribbons saying 'protect the trees'. I asked them if they thought they were too close and they asked me if I worked for the park. So I asked them if they thought it was okay to kill the trees as long as they didn't get a ticket and they said 'yeah that's cool'. Classy.

Janet, you misread my point. I said the BBQers THINK that the park is the concern of the leisurely affluent. Most of us who frequent the park are neither leisurely nor affluent, and some of like to be in the park on the weekends for fresh air and relaxation after having worked in offices all week exactly because we don't have ready access to what you call "recreational alternatives." You are welcome to join us dogowners on the Long Meadow during off-leash hours to see just how "unpleasant or even dangerous" we are; you might even make some friends among some very nice people and friendly dogs. And yes, after the dog playtime is over, "the evidence of their presence is gone, too" and that, precisely, is my point.

Winston Smith: uncivil, discourteous, ill-bred, filthy people SHOULD be blamed for their offensive and anti-social behavior whether they have dogs or children or bicycles or spare ribs and burgers. Why would you want Big Brother to be watching you at all? Enforce yourself.

Why isn't there 24 hour dog run in the park? There are plenty of areas that could be fenced off, well lit and safe for letting dogs and their owners do their thing.
In terms of BBQ and trash...Look, it is a public park in a heavily congested, culturally diverse area, it's gonna get abused. However, there are also people (from ALL walks of life) who will always fight to save it. Why haven't the people here who have taken the time to bitch (in both subtle and overtly racist statements) ORGANIZE and MAKE THE CITY DO SOMETHING? I'm sure the trash throwers aren't!

"Own" the Long Meadow? Er, did I say that? Do any of the sloppy and "cozy" dog people think they "own" the Long Meadow? God forbid that dog people should socialize! What does the fact that you cross the Long Meadow have to do with anything? I don't understand the non sequitur. Are you the hall monitor now? It's easy to target friendly dog people for your ire when you're actually annoyed with BBQers but fear their wrath. I sense that you prefer the massive BBQing and people who leave garbage to dog people who clean up after themselves.

I'd like to walk in the ballfields anytime I want but I don't because kids are playing ball there; so do I say begrudgingly that the kids "own" the ballfield? Some people think it's cute that there're kids "running all over the place." Not if you don't like kids. Dogs, kids, respectful people on foot or on bikes in the park--it's called sharing and waiting your turn.

By the way, all the poop might not be canine in origin: I've seen poop with toilet paper at the base of trees and under shrubs. In the absence of port-o-sans, where do you think the picnickers are relieving themselves during a long day of swilling and face-stuffing? If the park is "covered in dog poop," would mothers and children sit on the grass? Are you checking each tree for dog urine? Don't exaggerate.

Moreover, I used the word "friendly" as an adjective to modify the people, not the dogs. Don't intentionally misread to mislead. (And no, that's not an Orwellian quote).

" 'Dog people' are no better than the BBQers who leave a mess" ? Surely you jest! I believe that dog-hating has clouded your judgement, so I won't further dignify anything else you have to say with a thoughtful response; I'm done with you.