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Anonymous North Castle Dog Park Donor Backs Out Of Commitment

ARMONK, N.Y. – After the North Castle Town Board gave a brief update of a revised sketch plan for the proposed Wampus Park dog park in its Wednesday night meeting, longtime North Castle developer Michael Ferrari provided the public with some bigger news.

Longtime North Castle developer Michael Ferrari read a letter from the proposed dog park's "anonymous donor," which said they were no longer interested in funding the project.

Longtime North Castle developer Michael Ferrari read a letter from the proposed dog park's "anonymous donor," which said they were no longer interested in funding the project.

Photo Credit: Michael Nocella

Ferrari read a letter that had been sent to North Castle Town Councilwoman Diane DiDonato-Roth and Town Supervisor Howard Arden on April 17 from an “anonymous donor,” who DiDonato-Roth has said would be the main source of funding for the project throughout the dog park discussions.

Ferrari said he knows the person well and that they asked not to be identified before he read the letter.

“I would like to formally withdraw my support of the proposed Armonk dog park at this time. My original intentions were to donate the Armonk dog park to the Armonk community—something that would stand in the name of (blank, blank, blank), that our town could have enjoyed,” the letter read.

“What has happened in the past weeks has turned very ugly and hurtful. I will not allow (blank, blank, blank) to be attached to something so bitter and controversial. This is not what our family signed on for.”

DiDonato-Roth confirmed the letter, explaining that the controversy dissuaded the donor from funding the park.

“Unfortunately, I was trying to protect the donor, who in turn would probably was going to donate anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000. She wasn’t just doing a dog park, she was doing an environment,” she said.

“She saw the emails starting to go around and she started to get a little nervous about it. She didn’t want to be part of this negative that was happening. So it’s rather unfortunate,” she added.

Ferrari took offense to this, saying those estimations were exaggerated.

“I have to speak to that. Let’s call a spade a spade, and tell the truth and the way things are. I’ve heard this $100,000 now, and it’s clearly not the truth. The person— she had a very sad thing happen to her and she had a death in her family,” he said.

“Four days after that person died, Diane Roth approached this person and said, ‘Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing to contribute $100,000 to the town for a dog park?’"

Ferrari added that the person was ready to commit an initial $10,000 and consider future gifts “down the line.”

Although the town was given FEMA money to clear the Wampus Park location after Hurricane Sandy, the Town Board did not have an answer for how additional work would be funded, if the dog park plan moved forward.

Both DiDonato-Roth and councilman John Cronin refuted the implication from some that the project is on the fast track and said it is still in its early stages. 

They also noted that while both the town's Rec Department and Town Administrator Joan Goldberg have deemed the Bedford-Maple Avenue location as the town's best suited location, the board is still open to and "constantly looking at" other suggestions.

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