Best of Manhattan 2025 - Pets

Best Dog Park / Run

Dog Run 87

Riverside Drive and West 87th Street

www.riversideparknyc.org/dog-run-87

What a great name, Dog Run 87. It couldn’t be more prosaic, and yet there’s prosody there too, recalling “Car 54, Where Are You?” (episode for episode perhaps the greatest New York City sitcom of all time), Talking Heads 77 (the remarkable debut album from one of the city’s defining New Wave bands), and “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream” (a song that mentions the Bowery from his epochal 1965 album, Bringing It All Back Home). Dylan mostly lived downtown, but his future fictional rival, Llewyn Davis of the Coen Brothers’ early ‘60s folk-scene masterpiece Inside Llewyn Davis, had friends uptown, notably the Gorfeins, whose apartment had many books, two menorahs, and an orange cat—who accidentally escaped. No spoilers, if you haven’t seen it, about what happened to the Gorfeins’ cat, but one could easily imagine—easily!—that plucky orange furball crossing the inter-species divide and finding fellow travelers down at Dog Run 87. Little dogs, big dogs, and one fugitive cat, all in an idyllic hillside setting just steps from the Soldiers & Sailors Monument at West 89th Street—this is why we love Manhattan.

UES

Carl Schurz Park

East End Avenue and East 86th Street

www.carlschurzparknyc.org/dogruns

Year over year one doesn’t expect huge changes in the “best of” dog parks competition. Many parks and their attendant dog runs have many virtues, and while some don’t have many virtues at all, their names are being withheld here in hopes of improvements to come. Up at Carl Schurz Park—which name honors one of the German “’48er” revolutionaries who emigrated to New York and added so much to Gotham commerce, politics, and culture—there’s no waiting: The improvement is here, it happened in July 2025, and it is stunning. The park’s large dog run, previously an enjoyable, arena-like and generally sociable gravel dust bowl, has been utterly transformed into the best-quality, eco-friendly (PFAS free) doggie green space money can buy. Credit for this goes to the Carl Schurz Park Conservancy for raising the funds (nearly $300,000) and overseeing the project more expeditiously than the regular city bureaucracy allows. Three woofs for the Conservancy, which also hosts a popular Halloween Dog Parade.

DT

Washington Square Park

www.washingtonsqpark.org

Always a viable option in the West Village, the Washington Square Park dog run can now be considered a destination for dog lovers boroughwide, one you and your canine companions should try to visit sooner than later. Why? Because at press time in mid-December 2025, the park is in the midst of a remarkable and startling transformation: After years of neglect and half-measures, the open-air, illegal, and often aggressive drug market that has defined the park’s northwest corner has been removed. Thank the NYPD for this, as many locals already have, for without space for these purveyors of addiction and death, the park’s bearing, especially along MacDougal Street, has entirely changed. No longer is it a menacing obstacle course to be negotiated but a wondrous and still plenty diverse playground for humans of all ages, including both small and large dog runs. Rejoice, New Yorkers: The park is yours!

UES

Biscuits & Bath

1535 First Ave.

www.biscuitsandbath.com/locations/upper-east-side/

646-786-0970

With 17 locations from FiDi to the Upper West and East sides, Biscuits & Bath has Manhattanites covered—just as its workers are themselves often covered in dog fur. While most people will make their doggie day care decision based on proximity, this specific location on First Avenue between 80th and 81st streets in the East Winds Condominiums building stood out for its huge below-grade picture windows. Somberly walking back from the scene of a Yorkville apartment fire one recent afternoon, this reporter was startled—and then delighted—to be able to look in and see more than a dozen dogs, some lounging, others playing inside, while smartly dressed B&B workers moved about attending to their varied needs. B&B offers doggie day care, dog walking, 24-hour care, grooming, training, veterinary care, and even transportation.

UWS

Camp Canine

46 W. 73rd St.

www.nycampcanine.com

212-787-3647

Whether you live a luxury life yourself or, like many parents, sacrifice a little here and there to afford your dependents a greater happiness now and into the future, the counselors at Camp Canine, the self-proclaimed “luxury dog boarding facility,” are ready to love your pet as if it were a member of their family too. Among the boarding features are 24/7 staffing, daily housekeeping with “hospital grade” protocols, two meals daily (or on a customized schedule, as needed), wellness check and monitoring, three outdoor potty breaks, and participation in Camp Canine’s doggie day care program. From their morning walk to breakfast to playtime and on through the day and evening, the circle of dog life rolls on. For cat lovers and mixed-species families, there’s Camp Feline luxury cat boarding too, including “Deluxe Kitty Condos” and even a private VIP suite if kitty prefers to be alone. For East Siders, Camp Canine has doggie day care’s only location at 1001 First Ave.

DT

Dogma NYC

21 Seventh Ave. South

www.dogmanyc.com

212-366 4060

While one has only the highest regard for Japanese aesthetics—even slob-like journalists whose desks are barely visible underneath all the coffee cups, notepads, and old newspapers readily acknowledge their “fusui” could stand improving—how might that apply to dogs? (“Fusui” is the Japanese adaptation of the Chinese design philosophy “Feng Shui.”) Funny you ask, because it’s really quite a story, embodied in Dogma founder and owner Jun Takama. Raised in both Tokyo and Paris, Takama—whose own pups are named Kaharu and Kyoki—took the best qualities of both cultures, as she saw them, to create a more refined and personalized type of dog care business. Overnight boarding, day care, dog walking (with pickup / dropoff), agility play groups, grooming, dog training: Takama offers it all. Indeed, so stunning is Dogma’s work, even the dogless might try to get an appointment for themselves: brush out, blueberry facial, paw pedi soak and massage, it all sounds wonderful. Says Takama, “Dogs are a direct reflection of their environment and their parents. They ask nothing of us, yet give us so much in return. Dogs teach us that unconditional love is real!”

Best Dog Friendly Restaurant

UWS

Barking Dog

329 W. 49th St.

www.barkingdognyc.com

646-755-8009

With a name like Barking Dog—well, the rest of the lede writes itself, doesn’t it? There’s no bait-and-switch here either—inside and out, the Barking Dog’s love of canines is evident. There’s just one thing that confuses some people—dogs only eat outside. Please, don’t talk to them about this or that saloon that loves Fido so much that he sits on a barstool next to you and even shares your nachos. It might happen elsewhere, but it’s not supposed to, and it won’t be happening here—thank you! Outside, however, things are different, and while few veterinarians or restaurateurs advise feeding your dog nachos (the cheese tends to get all over a long-haired dog’s face for starters), if you follow their tips, which Barking Dog helpfully explicates, then fine-dining-with-your-canine-fun is assured. 1) Only a take a dog that socializes well with people and other dogs. 2) Always keep your dog leashed and at a safe distance from other diners. 3) Keep your dog away from high-traffic areas and so forth. See? It’s easy! Beyond that, Barking Dog has brunch, lunch, dinner, theater, kids and drink menus, including a Illyrian Sheepdog Burger and a cocktail named Pawsome.

Avoca

1678 First Ave.

www.avoca-nyc.com

212-202-0140

Whether your dog prefers craft beer or coffee, plantains or pecan smoked bacon, Buffalo Chicken Dip or Tuna a Poke Bowl, Avoca has a place for both of you. Just kidding, of course—dogs don’t drink coffee, beer, or cocktails, or at least they shouldn’t. Avoca really does offer a dog menu, however, and a pleasant outdoor patio on which to consume such species-specific delicacies as German Shepherd’s Pie (homemade ground beef topped with fresh mashed potatoes, $13); Mutt Loaf (lean ground beef, peas, carrots, panko, rice with steamed veggies, $13), and biscuits ($8), Dog ($8) as well and for “dog-ssert,” a pooch-friendly ice cream ($8). Whether your dog “wolfs” it down or nibbles daintily like an East Side “influencer” posing for their Instagram, you the human can be assured that you are welcome. For early risers, Avoca has an excellent weekend brunch, including vegan options, though your dog would likely yawn at that.

DT

The Wilson

132 W. 27th St.

www.eatatthewilson.com/nyc

212-259-2671

We rush so often through Chelsea it’s easy to overlook a place like The Wilson, located midblock between Sixth and Seventh avenues, just a long, loud holler from the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Flower District over on 28th Street. This is a doggone shame for not only is The Wilson an excellent bar and restaurant in a generally American-fare style, it’s also a renowned and Rover-ready dog destination. How do they do it? With an enclosed outdoor patio, that’s how, with a dog menu so enticing you might want to eat off their plate (the opposite is not allowed, nor can they drink from your glass). Grilled Steak or Chicken Breast; Wilson’s Burger, all served with steamed baby vegetable. Wilson also offers a “Spa Day” dessert-type section including Pupsicle (a frozen pumpkin, banana, peanut butter, coconut yogurt treat), mixed berries, and housemade dog biscuit. Note: dogs must be leashed at all times and their chow is served in dog bowls only.