Director Spike Lee has no love for newcomers to the Brooklyn neighborhood he grew up in — or their dogs. The famous former Fort Greene resident (he now lives on the Upper East Side) lashed out at white residents for “bogarting” black culture through gentrification and accused their dogs of mucking up the local park during an expletive-laden tirade dished up from the nearby Pratt Institute last week.
“Have you seen Fort Greene Park in the morning? It’s like the motherf - - kin’ Westminster Dog Show,” Lee said. “There’s 20,000 dogs running around.”
But the owners of the two dozen or so dogs who braved the near zero-degree wind chill on a recent weekday morning to let their pups socialize during the park’s off-leash hours believe Lee might want to get to know them a bit better before sounding off.
Drummer
High-energy 1-year-old black Lab Drummer gets two trips to the park every day from owner Wynne McCormick, 42, a small business owner who moved to the neighbor after Manhattan priced her out four years ago. “[Spike Lee] said he just wished people would respect the culture, so somehow having dogs was disrespecting the culture? That was perplexing to me.”
Skippy
“The people who come to this park with their dogs are not hipsters. They’re nice, normal, middle-class people who are just trying to find a nice place to live and enjoy some time with their dog,” says Michael Harsh, 36, a woodworker who grew up across from the park and now brings 10-year-old Skippy there every morning. “When I was growing up in this neighborhood, nobody used this park except for the occasional Saturday or Sunday picnic. During the weekday, this place was desolate. None of the lights worked. You couldn’t come here at night or you’d get shot at. It was dangerous.”
Ella
Boston terrier puppy Ella strutted into the park at 8 a.m. with owners Chris Williams, 29, and Tavia Nyong’o, 39, who own an apartment nearby. “It benefits her health to let her run around,” says Nyong’o, an associate professor in performance studies at NYU and a cousin of actress Lupita Nyong’o. “It’s a way of being a part of the neighborhood. Everyone shares the park.”
Brutus
Victor Chemtob, 31, thinks his mastiff Brutus might just tell the director to get the heck out and “leave us alone,” if Lee strolled by. “I heard what Spike Lee said, and I didn’t really appreciate it,” Chemtob says. “This is a very valuable thing for Brutus. It’s a good way to get out with the community and allow our dogs to enjoy themselves. I don’t see any harm in it.”