Dog Friendly City Guide: New York City, USA

New York is a harder city for a dog than it looks from the pavement, and a far better one than its reputation. The streets are loud and the restaurants keep dogs outside, but the city has some of the finest parks in America and off-leash hours that turn the best of them over to dogs before nine in the morning and after nine at night. Its hotels have taken the hint: two of the grandest near Central Park charge nothing for a dog, and the best of them lets your dog join you in the bar and the restaurant. Add the Brooklyn breweries that welcome a well behaved dog, and New York becomes a city where a dog can share almost every part of the day.

Getting There With a Dog

A dog flying into the United States from abroad has to meet the rules of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the first question is where it has spent the past six months. If that time has been only in countries the CDC treats as rabies-free or low risk, the dog must be microchipped, at least six months old, and travelling with a receipt for the CDC Dog Import Form, which you complete online before you fly. Time in any country on the CDC's high-risk list for dog rabies brings more paperwork and stricter checks at the port of entry, so read the CDC's guidance on bringing a dog into the United States well before you book.

Where to Stay

The finest stay for a dog in New York is The Whitby Hotel, at 18 West 56th Street, which holds an A+, the top grade among our ranked dog friendly hotels in the city. Every one of its 86 rooms takes dogs, and dogs stay free, with no charge and no damage deposit. What sets it apart is how much of the hotel your dog can share: dogs are welcome in the bar, the restaurant, the lounge and on the terrace. A bed, bowls and poo bags wait in the room, walking and sitting can be arranged, and Central Park is five minutes away. The weight limit is 40 lb, though the hotel told us it can make exceptions for a well behaved dog, so ask if yours is larger.

The Plaza, on Fifth Avenue at Central Park South, holds an A and is just as generous on money: dogs stay free, with no weight limit, two to a room. A dedicated dog space waits on site, dogs are welcome on the terrace, and the room comes with a bed, real bowls and free treats. The hotel runs both dog walking and dog sitting, and a settled dog may be left in the room while you go out. Across Columbus Circle, Trump International Hotel & Tower, at 1 Central Park West, also holds an A. Its fee is $125 per stay and its limit is 25 lb, so it suits a small dog best, but the welcome is thorough: lounge and terrace open to dogs, a bed, bowls, treats, toys and poo bags in the room, grooming, walking and sitting on request, and the park directly across the road. In Midtown East, the InterContinental New York Barclay, at 111 East 48th Street, completes the city's As with dogs of up to 50 lb welcome in the lounge and walking, sitting and grooming on request.

Two more hotels let dogs stay free. The Ned NoMad, at 1170 Broadway, and Kimpton Hotel Eventi, on the Avenue of the Americas, both hold a B, set no weight limit and let a dog stay in the room alone; the Eventi also welcomes dogs in its restaurant and lounge. Over the river in Williamsburg, The William Vale welcomes dogs of up to 50 lb in its bar, its restaurant and on the terrace, with Vale Park, its 15,000 square foot elevated promenade, for the evening stroll. Ace Hotel New York and Times Square EDITION, both Bs with no weight limit, round out the strongest choices; the EDITION even has a dog shower. Every hotel, with its fee and its grade, is on our ranked dog friendly hotels in New York.

Eat and Drink

New York State lets a restaurant welcome dogs in its outdoor dining area. Under Section 1352-E of the Public Health Law, it is the owner's choice, the dog must be leashed or in a carrier, it must reach the patio without passing through the restaurant, it stays off the chairs and benches, and any food or water it is given comes in a disposable dish. So in New York the question is always whether a place has a patio and wants your dog on it.

The restaurant that has built itself around the answer is Barking Dog, which calls itself the city's best dog friendly restaurant and welcomes dogs on its patio at 329 West 49th Street in Hell's Kitchen; a second Barking Dog stands at 1678 Third Avenue on the Upper East Side. For a dog staying at The Whitby, the hotel's own bar and restaurant are a rare treat, since dogs are welcome inside both.

For a drink, cross to Brooklyn, where several breweries say outright that dogs are welcome. In Gowanus, Wild East Brewing, at 623 Sackett Street, says plainly that dogs and outside food are welcome. Threes Brewing welcomes dogs at its sidewalk seating in Gowanus and Greenpoint, though not in The Yard at Gowanus. In Williamsburg, Grimm Artisanal Ales, at 990 Metropolitan Avenue, welcomes leashed, well behaved pets in its main level taproom, though not on the rooftop bar.

The best seat of the lot is on the Red Hook waterfront. Strong Rope Brewery, at 185 Van Dyke Street, is dog friendly as long as your dog stays on a lead, has water bowls and treats for anyone who asks at the bar, and has a patio facing New York Harbor with a view of the Statue of Liberty and some of the best sunsets in the city.

Walks and Parks

The city's rule for dogs is simple: a leash of six feet or shorter everywhere, except in designated areas. The great exception is off-leash hours. In Central Park, the Central Park Conservancy sets them at 6 to 9 in the morning and 9 at night to 1 in the morning in specified areas, with leashes required from 9 to 9 the rest of the day. Dogs must be licensed and vaccinated, some landscapes are off limits at all times, and the signs tell you which. A walk down the Mall under its elms before the city wakes is the finest start to a New York day.

Prospect Park in Brooklyn is, for many locals, even better. The Prospect Park Alliance allows dogs off the lead from 6 to 9 in the morning and 9 at night to 1 in the morning on the Long Meadow, except the ball fields, and on the Nethermead and Peninsula Meadow, except the woodlands. Dog Beach, at the water's edge, follows the same hours, though the water gets deep very quickly. In the woods, dogs stay leashed and on the paths at all times.

On the Manhattan waterfront, Hudson River Park runs a string of fenced dog runs along the river. The Pier 84 Dog Park in Hell's Kitchen is the one for Midtown, with a spray shower and water bowl from mid April to early November. Dogs are not allowed on the park's lawns, need a licence tag and a rabies tag, and no one may bring more than three into a run.

Across the East River, Brooklyn Bridge Park has two dog runs, at John Street and at Pier 6, open from 6.30 in the morning to 10 at night. Everywhere else in the park your dog stays on the lead, but the promenade along the piers, with Manhattan across the water, is one of the great city walks.

A Day Out

Start before nine in Central Park, with a run in the off-leash hours and a slow walk down the Mall. Head west to the river and let the dog loose again in the Pier 84 run, then cross town for lunch on the patio at Barking Dog on West 49th Street. In the afternoon, take a car over to Brooklyn: walk the piers of Brooklyn Bridge Park, then carry on to Red Hook and finish on the patio at Strong Rope as the sun goes down over the harbour and the Statue of Liberty.

Good to Know

Keep your dog on a leash of six feet or shorter everywhere outside the off-leash hours and the dog runs. Central Park asks that dogs be licensed and vaccinated, and the Hudson River Park runs ask for a licence tag and a rabies tag. State law lets a restaurant welcome a dog on its patio only if the owner chooses to, so look for the sign before you sit down. Off-leash hours stop at nine sharp, and in Prospect Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park, playgrounds and sports fields are always off limits.