Pricey New Union Square Restaurant Operator Named- Lawsuit Being Prepared

"Licensee shall make every effort to keep alcohol consumption discrete." - Union Square Park Pavilion License agreement between Chef Driven Market and the Parks Department.

The city has quietly approved a new fifteen-year deal to build a controversial restaurant in the Children's Pavilion in Union Square Park with upscale prices. A previous deal collapsed in September. Critics of the plan say despite vehement community opposition, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and The Union Square Partnership (BID) are attempting to take away thousands of square feet of potential recreation and community space for six months of the year in order to accommodate a seasonal restaurant.

The community wants the pavilion renovated and restored to its former uses which include a sheltered, indoor recreation center that serves a variety of year-round recreation and free public uses.

The agreement also allows the concessionaire to take parkland north of the pavilion for an outdoor seating area to serve alcohol. The park's northern plaza has historically been used for first amendment and free speech activity for more than 130 years.

A new lawsuit is being prepared. (Photos: © Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)

Manhattan

By Geoffrey Croft

The City has finally chosen another operator to build a controversial restaurant in the Children's Pavilion in Union Square Park, NYC Park Advocates has learned.

Simon Oren's Chef Driven Market, LLC., the owner of a number of high-end restaurants was picked as the new concessionaire of a proposed seasonal restaurant under a fifteen-year deal. The pricey eatery and bar would be open from 7 am to 12 midnight and serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. Brunch prices up to $ 19.95 with omelets up to $17.95; dinner entrées from $ 13.95 to $ 33.95; and breakfast fair up to $ 15.95, and deserts for $ 14.95 according to the schedule of approved menu items and pricing plan.

The facility would be open from April 15 - October 15th - when the public's need for and use of park space is the greatest.

For years administration officials have repeatedly told the community it would be moderately priced establishment in one of its many attempts to blunt public criticism for the restaurant plan. They also promised to go back to the community board for approval which they never bothered to do.

The concessionaire would also be allowed to serve alcohol outside in the north end of the park's historic plaza. The area would extend 17 feet from the pavilion and include an outdoor seating area which "shall have a cordoned off portion for serving alcoholic beverages."

Hide in Plain Sight? "Licensee shall make every effort to keep alcohol consumption discrete," according to the license agreement between Chef Driven Market and the Parks Department.

During operating hours Licensee shall assign, "two or more employees at entrances to ensure that outgoing customers do not remove alcohol from the Café area." The concessionaire is also required to train all staff members to monitor and enforce the designated alcohol consumption areas.

Alcohol prices were conspicuously absent from the approved items and pricing plan.

And if the concessionaire is unable to obtain an alcohol license from the State Liquor Authority, "the parties shall hereto shall cooperate in good faith to agree to an equitable solution," according to the agreement.

The large operation will be required to employ at least 99 employees including 40 servers and assistants, 19 kitchen staff , 7 bartenders, and 3 security staff.

The development and operation of a year-round satellite kiosk located on 17th Street, west of the pavilion is also part of the agreement. The stand alone kiosk is allowed to sell food and beverages, newspapers and magazines.

Tango inside the Union Square Park pavilion - June 18, 2011. For more than 7 years the community around Union Square Park has been fighting for the historic pavilion to be restored and used exclusively for year-round children and community uses like the pavilion in Columbus Park in Chinatown. The Union Square Partnership (BID) and the Mayor however want it used for a restaurant. In an effort to blunt public criticism for the commercial use of the public parkland, concessionaire has agreed to provide "community programming" for at least 2 hours, once a week out of a total of 119 hours the establishment is open weekly. They have also agreed to a minimum of 15 hours over six months (out of 3094 total operating hours) for Greenmarket educational tours and classes for children.

The Simon Oren owned Chef Driven restaurant group includes more than a dozen New York restaurants, cafés and fast food businesses including the Tour de France Restaurant Group, Barbounia, Nizza, Deluxe (on the Upper West Side), and the Five Napkin Burger chain.

Under the terms of the deal the concessionaire will pay the city the higher of a minimum annual fee (Year 1: $300,000; Year 2: $309,000; Year 3: $318,270; Year 4: $327,818; Year 5: $337,653; Year 6: $347,782; Year 7: $358,216; Year 8: $368,962; Year 9: $380,031; Year 10: $391,432; Year 11: $403,175; Year 12: $415,270; Year 13: $427,728; Year 14: $440,560; Year 15: $453,777) or ten (10) percent of gross receipts. Gross receipts also includes sales from catering food and beverage services.

Under the terms of the previous deal - which collapsed in September when celebrity chef Don Pintabona backed out - fees were supposed to start at a minimum of $400,000 a year or 18 percent of gross revenues and escalate by 5% each year of the 15-year license term. The concessionaire had also committed to a minimum capital investment of over $1.1 million to build the seasonal restaurant. Luna Cafe - occupied an south of pavilion paid the city $ 217,000 in its last year of operation.

Critics of the plan have long contended the restaurant will take away desperately needed year-round play space from children and a vital community space for the neighborhood. The area around Union Square Park has the lowest amount of playground space but the highest concentration of restaurants in the entire city. In CB 5 there are only two playgrounds but more than 150 eating establishments, bars and markets within just a two-block radius of the park. To make matters worse the Parks Department recently removed a popular playground in the park without any community input or notification.

Critics also charge that allowing the pavilion to be converted into a seasonal restaurant will dramatically alter the Park's historic first amendment and free speech uses. For more than a 130 years the Park's pavilions have served as a backdrop for countless labor rallies and social protests. It is this important role which served as one of the main reasons why the park was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997.

Table For Two? Eliminating the park's historic free speech and rally space. The proposed new seasonal restaurant including the outdoor seating area is expected to impede on the parks' historic first amendment and free space role in the Northern plaza as the city will be less inclined to issue permits for large gatherings in order to protect the commercial interests of the restaurant. (Photo: Justine Lane/EPA)

Union Square Park's historic pavilion located on the northern end of the park was once again the backdrop for social protest movement as thousands of people gathered for a Occupy Wall Street Student Rally on November 17, 2011.

Addressing the crowd from the Pavilion - November 17, 2011 (Photo: Andy Kuhn)

The Union Square Community Coalition, one of the City's oldest park advocacy organizations, has vowed to go back to court to prevent the City and the BID from taking way potential play space from children.

For more than seven years a broad based coalition has fought to restore the historic pavilion for children and community uses year round.

In 2004, Save Union Square Park, a grass roots, community - based campaign was organized by NYC Park Advocates to advocate for the needs of the community. With the help and support of 57 community organizations, elected officials and a broad-based labor coalition, the campaign succeeded in defeating an irresponsible plan to create a year-round restaurant and greatly increased the amount of playground space, much of it recaptured from play areas lost to the previous seasonal cafe. The new playground doubled the amount of playground space in the park. The original Union Square Partnership playground plan provided an increase of just 15%.

The bar/restaurant would be inches away from a heavily utilized playground.

The area around Union Square Park has the lowest amount of playground space and the Highest concentration of restaurants in the entire city. Compounding the problem, the Parks Commissioner recently eliminated a popular sand playground located on the West side of the

park without any community consultation.

Winter Wonderland? Under the city's plan children are expected to play in the open air pavilion under heating lamps located in the ceiling for the remaining six months of the year. Instead of utilizing renovated and newly created indoor space for children and the community they built a kitchen instead. Programming will be severely limited due to space the weather restrictions.

A new stand-alone food kiosk on 17th Street, west of the pavilion and playground is also part of the deal. It will replace a newsstand which was formerly at that location and will offer food and beverages year-round. (Photos: © Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)

Legal Background:

After years of failing to address the community's wishes, Union Square Community Coalitionunfortunately was forced to seek relief though the legal system. On April 19, 2008, the Union Square Community Coalition filed a lawsuit (USCC v. NYC Parks, Index No. 08/105578)

challenging the Parks Department and Union Square Partnership's (BID) plans to install a restaurant in the historic pavilion.

On April 22, 2008, New York State Supreme Court Justice E. H. Stackhouse issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the City/BID thus halting the project in all respects except those necessary to make site safe for the public. On May 7, 2008, State Superior Court Justice Jane S. Solomon allowed construction to proceed on the renovation of the North end of the park but extended the injunction which prevented the operation of a restaurant, or the installation of fixtures for a restaurant, pending further order of the Court. In so doing, the court found that USCC is likely to prevail on its central claim that without state legislative approval, the restaurant would be an unlawful alienation of parkland once that claim is ripe.

The City moved to dismiss the case, claiming it is both unripe (because, allegedly, several steps remain in the process before a restaurant concession could be offered) and non-meritorious.

On March 30, 2009 Justice Solomon dismissed the lawsuit ruling the suit is too early to file and is not ready (ripe) until the City is further along with the restaurant. The main issue, whether or not the restaurant needs to go through the state legislation was not decided.

In dismissing the lawsuit Justice Solomon also reaffirmed a legal position that not all restaurants in all parks are universally acceptable.

Read More:

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DNAinfo - March 14, 2012 By Mary Johnson

Operator chosen for controversial Union Sq. eatery

Crain's New York Business - March 14, 2012 - By Daniel Massey

Union Square gets a warm-weather cafe

Metro NY - March 14, 2012 - Alison Bowen

5 Napkin Guys To Run Union Square North Restaurant

gothamist - March 14, 2012 - By Garth Johnston

Chef Driven Market is picked for Union Sq. pavilion eatery

The Villager - March 15, 2012 - By Albert Amateau

Controversial Union Sq. Restaurant Deal Collapses

A Walk In The Park - September 7, 2011

Union Square Park Pavilion Concessionaire Announced - Lawsuit Being Prepared

A Walk In The Park - May 17, 2011

City Negotiating To Buy Private School Yard To Expand Travers Park

Queens

A long-anticipated deal to acquire new park land in Jackson Heights is imminent, officials close to the talks told the Daily News.

The city has been negotiating with the Garden School for more than a year to buy the private school’s roughly 29,000-square-foot yard to expand Travers Park.

The park is one of the few open spaces in the congested area.

“I remain optimistic that we can come to a conclusion soon — one that will benefit the community and the Garden School,” said City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights). “Everything is looking positive.”

The cash-strapped private school threatened to sell the rare parcel of open space in the congested neighborhood to a developer if the city didn’t cough up millions quickly.

That prompted community residents to offer to loan the nursery-through-12th-grade institution more than $250,000 until the city’s check cleared.

Parents had threatened to pull their kids out of the school if a deal with the city wasn’t reached.

Arthur Gruen, president of the school’s Board of Trustees, said negotiations are going well and that the school and the city are working out the details.

“We’re very close to a deal,” he said. “The deal has been agreed upon in principle a long time ago, but working out the language is a taking a long time.”

Joshua Laird, an assistant commissioner at the city Parks Department, said this has been a complicated multi-million dollar agreement to reach.

It involves a provision to allow Garden to use the yard exclusively during school hours, he said.

The land would be open to the public after 4 p.m. on weekdays, on weekends and in the summer.

It also involves a non-city loan to tide the school over until the city hands over a check, he said.

Before money changes hands, the property must first undergo a land-use review, which is expected to take about a year.

Residents hope to connect the yard to Travers Park by turning 78th St. into a permanent pedestrian plaza joining the properties. The street is closed to traffic during several summer months.

Local activist Will Sweeney said the neighborhood needs more park land because it is undergoing a baby boom and an influx of new immigrants.

“Jackson Heights has one of the worst ratios of persons to open space acreage in the city,” Sweeney said. And this is “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to expand open space.”

Read More:

Deal for more park land in Jackson Heights is close, officials say

City negotiating to buy Garden School yard to expand Travers Park

New York Daily News - March 13, 2012 - By Clare Trapasso

Jackson Heights Play Street Forced To Close Early By Private School

A Walk In The Park - Setember 15, 2011

Jackson Heights Community Hopes To Extend Travers Park

A Walk In The Park - November 28, 2010

Concrete Coney Island Boardwalk Plan Approved Over Strong Community Objections In "Sham" Hearing

There is nothing more frusterating than watching a process that is outside of your control.

It was standing room only at the Public Design Commission hearing on the reconstruction of the Coney Island boardwalk. Critics of the controversial plan said they wanted to be heard as well as listened to but that was not to be. The Mayoral appointed commission as expected voted unanimously to approve the Parks Department's plan to use concrete on the historic boardwalk instead of wood. Forty-five members of the public testified against the Parks Department plan and vs. three in favor. At one point it appeared one of the commissioners - Byron Kim - was making some headway, but in the end he too was ignored.

(Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)

Brooklyn

By Geoffrey Croft

In a nearly four- hour, and at times contensious meeting, the City's Public Design Commission unanimously approved the Parks Department's controversial plan to use concrete on the historic boardwalk in Coney Island. The plan was approved over the objections of the near unanimous members of the public who attended the proceedings.

Due to the city's refusal to allocate adequate funding to maintain the iconic Coney Island boardwalk the city is proposed installing a 12 foot wide concrete sidewalk down the middle flanked on each side by plastic composite planks. The test area will run from Coney Island Avenue to Brighton 15th Street.

The issue has received a considerable amount of attention.

Critics including Brooklyn residents, environmentalists, and preservation advocates filled the room to capacity.

To divert attention away from the lack of maintenance funding issue the Parks Department is contending the reason for the switch to plastic is to accommodate emergency vehicles, a use, critics point out the wooden boardwalk has accommodated for close to a century.

Landscape architect Alex Hart, assistant deputy chief of design for the NYC Parks Dept., presented the proposal to six commissioners while dozens of Brooklyn residents, environmentalists, preservations, and advocates looked on, filling the room to capasity.

He and other Park officials stated they have had trouble finding a reliable supply and acceptable quality of more environmentally friendly hardwood.

Alex Hart, assistant deputy chief of design for the Parks Dept., presents the agency's controversial proposal to the Public Design Commission on reconstruction of Coney Island's boardwalk.

"We would greatly prefer to use wood on this surface but there is nothing out there right now that will work for us," said Hart.

The city also claims that concrete is the most cost-effective solution.

Operating under the Parks Department's standard 'we have the capital funds but we have to spend it immediately before we lose it' policy the agency lobbies local elected officials, community boards and agencies for support in order to receive the necessary approvals.

City Councilman Domenic M. Recchia Jr. Chair of the City Council Finance Committee did his part. He testified in favor of the plan repeatedly saying it "has to move forward."

"It doesn't make people happy," he said of his support to loud hisses and boos from the crowd.

He acknowledged the condition of the boardwalk was due to not having adequate expense funding. The expense money, "couldn't be there, " he said. Mr. Recha, who represents the Coney Island district did not say why the money could not be there or mention how much money he allocates annually for boardwalk maintenance. He did state however he'd rather see funds be spent on other services.

He testified (erroneously) that if the boardwalk was wood it would cost one million dollars a year to maintain. (A figure he also cited to the NY Times a few week earlier.) After his testimony he was informed that the million dollar figure he cited was actually the amount in funding the parks department receives for boardwalks at three locations not just Coney Island. When asked for a comment on the misstated figure afterwards he said to shut off the tape recorder and he ran away.

After the nearly hour long presentation critics got their turn. Loud boos rang out when it was announced the public would only get two minutes to speak.

At one point Jackie Snyder, Executive Director of the Commission told a staff member to call DCAS security. A uniformed officer stayed throughout the remainder of the hearing keeping an eye on the crowd. (When the meeting was over the officer aggressively cleared out the hallway where community members were doing interviews.)

Speaker after speaker testified against the plan, pleading with the commission to reject it. They also implored the Parks Department to perform due diligence and explore alternatives.

The numerous contradictions were also noteworthy:

Critics repeatedly poked holes in the agency's claims. They pointed out the hundreds of cracks already found in the newly installed concrete, and that concrete collects sand and water and ices up during the Winter which creates unsafe conditions. They also testified that the concrete is blinding and boiling hot in the Summer. The public also questioned the financial sense of the Parks Department continuing to build projects through trial and error at the taxpayers expense and using capital funds - borrowed money - instead of simply maintaining the wooden boards.

"City officials have insisted on the need for a concrete section because they say the recycled-plastic lumber could become too slippery when wet to accommodate emergency vehicles. But throughout the hearing, speakers from the public castigated concrete, some holding up pictures that showed experimental concrete sections of the Coney Island Boardwalk that were cracked, chipped or covered in ice," wrote the New York Times.

Friends of the Boardwalk's Todd Dobrin displayed a ten foot wide panel with numerous photographs showing the boardwalk in various states of decay including the Parks Department's previous work on their Coney Island/Brighten Beach "pilot" construction projects recently which were approved by the Commission.

"It creates an esthetic and maintenance nightmare, " said Rob Burstein, president of the Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance of the proposed Parks plan.

Tim Keating, of Rainforest Relief has been trying to get the city to stop using rainforest wood for fifteen years and discounted much of what Park officials stated. He suggested using black locust wood for the boardwalk slabs over recycled plastic supports.

"This could be used to maintain an open air boardwalk without concrete slabs that would allow sand and rain and snow to fall through," he testified.

"The concrete is blinding in summer. And hot," said Coney Island/Brighten Beach resident Arlene Brenner.

"Concrete in place of wooden planks does not make a boardwalk it make a sidewalk which is a very different new York environment," a woman testified. A sentiment shared by many.

All told 45 members of the public testified against the Parks Department plan, including representatives from many groups.

Three testified in favor of the plan: the chair of CB 13 - Eddie Mark, the administration's go-to-guy when they need public support for issues the community is against, (The CB overwhelming voted against the plan (21- 7). Fresh Meadows Queens resident Gene Ridder, and Parks Department partner New Yorkers For Parks. The group, now headed by a former HUD official, was repeatedly singled out and criticized by various members of the public during the hearing.

After hours of public testimony the Commission then began asking questions of the parks department.

In what some thought was a ray of hope a few members began questioning aspects of the plan, but that hope quickly dissipated. They suggested that Parks remove two feet of concrete - from 12 feet to 10. And in another misguided thread commissioners challenged the Parks Department to relocate the concrete swath now set to run through the middle of the boardwalk away from the beach closer to the land.

Commission member James Polshek called the design “silly, ” adding that it reduces the beauty of the boardwalk by cutting a cement path through its center. He proposed moving the cement section to the edge of the boardwalk along street side so the area “continues to resemble a boardwalk.”

But it was commissioner Byron Kim who raised the only real points that addressed the public's concerns. He repeatedly challenged the validity of the Parks Department's claims that they could find no other alternative woods that meet the quantity or quality they agency requires.

Two separate suppliers gave testimony they could supply sustainable wood,

one coming all the way from West Virginia.

The Parks Department could provide no specific information on the depth of its research into this area or for many of its other claims, nor did commissioners ask them to.

Mr. Kim also suggested that since this was a pilot program why doesn't the Parks Department test different woods.

In a back and forth between commissioner Kim and the Parks Department the agency admitted that the concrete recently installed had created public safety issues including icing up during the Winter.

In a somewhat surreal moment, Signe Nelsen, the acting president of the Commission said in the future the Parks Department should consider planting their own trees grow their lumber.

Ms. Nelsen also praised the Parks Department for what she described as a quick response in addressing the agency discontinuing using rain forest wood. A comment Tim Keating of Rainforest Relief took particular offense at.

"It took the Parks Department fifteen years after we first notified them to finally decide to renovate the boardwalk without using tropical wood," he said.

In the end, as expected the Mayoral appointed commission ignored the nearly unanimous public testimony against the plan. They also ignored the lone commissioner who suggested testing alternative woods.

Instead of tabling the plan and requiring the Parks Department to perform due diligence, the commission fell in line with the administration and approved it with several non-binding stipulations. They asked the Parks Department to look into the feasibility of moving the concrete section to the land side of the boardwalk, removing two feet of concrete, and exploring alternative wood.

The not binding recommendations means that the Parks Department can proceed without incorporating any of the suggestions.

Critics were not pleased.

“They changed their story every time, ” Todd Dobrin said of the Park Department.

“First they said it was for the emergency vehicle, and we showed they could go on the wood. Then it was about slippage, and we said, ‘What about the snow and ice, which can’t drain off the concrete?’ Then they come up with cost. We said, ‘What about paying to remove all the ice and snow and to maintain the concrete?’ Then they said they couldn’t find the supplies, so we brought in three different suppliers.”

"It's disheartening to be subjected to the whims and decisions of the Parks Department and the Design Commission, " Rob Burstein, president of the Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance said after the vote. "There is no serious exploration of the material provided."

"What good is the Design Commission when a nearly unanimous public testified against the plan and they approve it anyways," said Natural Resources Protective Association Chairperson and Brighten Beach resident Ida Sanoff. "It's a disgrace."

"It was a sham," said Tim Keating of Rainforest Relief of the meeting. "It was predetermined and in places seemed rehearsed. There was nothing that was said that could have prevented the outcome.

The saddest part for me is how poorly the boardwalk is being engineered. New York City missed a golden opportunity to create a truly sustainable boardwalk and a model that could be emulated in towns and cities across the country. In no way have they accomplished that."

Read/View More:

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Controversial Coney Is. concrete boardwalk plan approved

New York Post - March 12, 2012 - By Rich Calder

Coney Island Boardwalk getting makeover in concrete and fake wood

Boardwalk lovers angry over vote

New York Daily News - March 12, 2012 - By Erin Durkin

Plastic Wood OK'd for Part of Coney Island Boardwalk

WNYC - March 12, 2012 - By Denise Blostein

Pave Paradise and Put Up a Sidewalk: City Approves Concrete Coney Island Boardwalk

New York Observer - March 12, 2012 - By Matt Chaban

NYC to vote on Coney Island boardwalk makeover

WABC News - March 12, 2012- By Tim Fliesher

Coney Island Boardwalk Makeover Plan Gets Approved

1010 WINS - March 12, 2012 - Sonia Rincon

City: Concrete, plastic to replace Boardwalk’s wood

Brooklyn Daily - March 12, 2012 - By Daniel Bush

Coney Island boardwalk getting concrete-and-plastic makeover

USA Today - March 12, 2012

Controversial Coney cement boardwalk plan facing vote today

The Brooklyn Blog - March 12, 2012 - By Rich Calder

Coney Island Boardwalk Faces a Vote

The Wall Street Journal - March 12, 2012 - By Luara Kusisto

Design Commission Refuses To Approve Coney Island Boardwalk Concrete Plan

A Walk In The Park - October 24, 2011

New Coney Island Concrete "Boardwalk" Falling Apart

A Walk In The Park - October 4, 2011

Coney/Brighton Beach Concrete "Boardwalk" Uproar Continues

A Walk In The Park - July 2, 2011

Brighton Beach's New Concrete “Boardwalk” Already Cracking

A Walk In The Park - June 14, 2011

CB 13 Rejects Coney Island/Brighton Beach Concrete Board Walk

A Walk In The Park - March 24, 2011

Hazardous Conditions In Playgrounds Not Corrected In A Timely Manner - Comptroller Audit

"Parents shouldn’t have to worry about their children playing on broken equipment or near rat holes – especially after Parks’ own inspectors have already reported the hazards,” - Comptroller John Liu

A one year-old child plays on a broken slide in Van Cortland Park Playground - March 2012. The remnants of caution tape lays on the ground. (Photos: NYC Park Advocates)

Missing Swings, Corona Park - Bronx. April 15, 2012. For years this playground's dangerous and filthy safety surfacing, along with many other issues, have not been addressed.

A City Comptroller audit released found many instances where the Parks Department did not correct hazardous conditions found in playground in a timely manner that were reported by the agency's Park Inspection Program (PIP) inspectors. According to the report released today auditors inspected 107 playgrounds in all five boroughs in July 2011. At many locations, they found problems were still present months after Parks’ own inspections had brought them to light.

The City's lack of attention in fixing dangerous conditions found in playgrounds has long been a serious concern. Many issues can go years without being addressed. - Geoffrey Croft

City-Wide

City Comptroller John C. Liu today announced that a series of borough-specific audits found the Parks Department was slow to fix hazardous conditions in some playgrounds and may have missed others in its regular inspections. Although Parks generally inspected playgrounds as required, in many instances the agency didn’t fix problems, including rusted and broken equipment, even after they were flagged for repair.

Over the course of four months Liu’s office found these safety mats in East River Playground at 106th Street in disrepair, but the Parks Department disagrees over the length of time they were unacceptable. NYC Park Advocates however has been monitoring the conditions at this playground and has found the safety surfacing has been in serious disrepair for years. (Photo: Courtesy Comptroller's office)

“Parents shouldn’t have to worry about their children playing on broken equipment or near rat holes – especially after Parks’ own inspectors have already reported the hazards,” Comptroller Liu said. “In some cases, the Parks Department is inexplicably slow to give its full attention to poor playground conditions and needs to better meet its own guidelines for making badly needed repairs.”

The Parks Department randomly inspects 205 playgrounds every two weeks – and each site in the City is usually inspected twice a year. Inspection reports are forwarded to Parks staff for review and correction of unacceptable conditions. Hazardous conditions such as protruding bolts, broken or damaged equipment or benches, etc., are supposed to be repaired within two to four weeks. Parks inspectors then revisit those playgrounds to verify whether the problems have been corrected.

Auditors inspected 107 playgrounds in all five boroughs in July 2011. At many locations, they found problems were still present months after Parks’ own inspections had brought them to light. In other cases, the auditors found hazards that had not been included on the most recent Parks inspection report.

Rats frolic in Tompkins Square Park - Manhattan. (Photos: Courtesy Comptroller's office)

Trip Hazzard. Protruding metal at Hammel Playground - In Far Rockaway, Queens.

Manhattan

Auditors inspected 22 Manhattan playgrounds in July 2011.

Dry Dock Playground, East 10th Street and Avenue D:

• Parks inspectors reported that protruding cobblestones caused safety mats to be lifted and created a tripping hazard on December 2, 2010. When auditors visited 207 days later, in July 2011, they saw that the problem hadn’t been fixed and had grown worse.
  

East River Playground, FDR Drive and East 106th Street:

• On February 8, 2011, Parks inspectors noted 10% of safety mats were broken or deteriorated. When auditors visited 139 days later, they found the problem had expanded to 25% of the mats, a portion of which were now barricaded.
• Auditors found that bolts were missing from a wooden slat in a ramp used by children, a hazard not mentioned in Parks inspectors’ February report.
  

Tompkins Square Park:

• Auditors found a rat infestation adjacent to the playground in July that was not mentioned in Parks Department inspectors’ reports filed in April and May 2011.
  

Brooklyn
Auditors inspected 30 playgrounds in Brooklyn in July 2011.

Fox Playground, Avenue H and Avenue I at East 54th and East 55th streets:

• Auditors found badly damaged benches with missing slats and peeling paint on July 14, 2011, but there was no mention of them in the Parks inspection report filed one day earlier.
  

Hickman Playground, Veterans Avenue between East 66th and East 68th streets:

• A Parks inspection reported on April 1, 2011, that safety mats were no longer attached and uplifting, but auditors found the problem persisted 104 days later.
  

Homecrest Playground, Shore Parkway and Williams Court:

• A Parks inspection report in December 2010 noted safety mats were no longer attached and uplifting. In July 2011, 279 days later, auditors found the problem had yet to be fixed.
  

Queens

Auditors inspected 33 playgrounds in Queens in July 2011.

Hammel Playground, Rockaway Beach Boulevard, between Beach 84th and Beach 81st streets:

• The auditors’ inspection in July 2011 found a dangerously protruding metal bracket at the entrance that was not mentioned in the Parks inspection two months earlier.
  

Highland Park, Lower Highland Playground, Jamaica Avenue and Elton Street:

• The Parks inspection report on March 21, 2011, reported that a section of the safety surface was missing. When auditors visited 113 days later, the safety mats were scattered, overturned, and missing.
  

Bronx

Auditors inspected 17 playgrounds in the Bronx in July 2011.

Soundview Playground, Bronx River at Lafayette Avenue:

• Parks inspectors reported rotted and splintered playground equipment on March 28, 2011. Auditors inspected the playground 106 days later and found conditions unchanged.
  

Noble Playground, Noble Avenue between Bronx River Avenue and East 177th Street:

• Parks inspectors reported 15% of the safety mats were deteriorated on May 6, 2011. Auditors found the condition of the mats unchanged two months later.
  

Staten Island

Auditors inspected five playgrounds in Staten Island.

• The auditors’ inspections determined that the condition of the playgrounds matched the reports filed by Parks inspectors and that problems were addressed in a timely manner.
  

Response
The Parks Department, in its response, said it would “prioritize repairs depending on the severity of these conditions” and will make “the best effort to address outstanding items, which is dependent on existing resources and materials as well as the availability of manpower.” However, it disagreed over whether certain hazards were not corrected in a timely manner.

Scope
The audit inspected 107 playgrounds. Each inspection occurred at a specific time and, as a result, each inspection was unique to each playground and cannot be projected to others that are not part of the audit. The audit inspected playgrounds in July 2011 and compared the findings to the most recent Parks Department reports. The scope of the audits was July 2011 to November 2011.

Comptroller Liu credited Deputy Comptroller for Audit Tina Kim and the Audit Bureau for presenting the findings. The latest audit reports are available at: http://comptroller.nyc.gov/audits <http://comptroller.nyc.gov/audits> .

Read More:

LIU: PARKS SLOW TO FIX PROBLEM PLAYGROUNDS Audits Find Rats and Busted Equipment; Hazards Remain Long After Parks Department’s Own Inspectors Report Them

City Comptroller John C. Liu Audit - March 8, 2012

Audit says playground hazards slow to be fixed

New York Daily News - March 8, 2012 - By Lisa L. Colangelo

Just How Safe is Your Child's Park

WPIX - March 8, 2012 - By Monica Morales

Play nice: Report says NYC playgrounds damaged, deserted

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Police Investigating Drug Sales In Marie Curie Park

Marie Curie Park in Bayside, where police say they are conducting an investigation into reports of drug sales. (Photo by Rich Bockmann)

Queens

Police from the 111th Precinct said they were aware of reports from residents that a number of dealers were selling drugs in Bayside’s Marie Curie Park and narcotics detectives have been conducting an investigation, according to the Times Ledger.

The park, on 211th Street between 46th Road and 46th Avenue, is situated behind the Marie Curie Middle School and one block away from the Bayside School. It is filled with young children, particularly on fair-weather afternoons.

A Bayside resident of 11 years who wished to remain anonymous contacted the TimesLedger Newspapers last week and described a group of four to five black men in their early-to-mid-20s who smoke marijuana and sell drugs to adults and children in the park.

“They’re just grown men who sit in front of the bathroom in the center of the park. They don’t belong there and they don’t have kids,” the resident said, adding that the suspects congregate at the handball courts near the southeastern section of the park as well. “There are people who come up to them every 30 minutes.”

The police said they were looking at a nearby house in connection with the alleged drug sales, but would not comment further on the specifics of the investigation.

Community Board 11 Chairman Jerry Iannece said no one had come to him directly about the current reports, but added that drug dealing has been a problem in the park, on and off, for decades.

He said police used to routinely patrol the area and make arrests.

“It’s a fact of life that there’s just not enough police to go around,” he said, and vowed to take a proactive approach to work with the police.

Bayside activist Mandingo Tshaka said the park has been a hot spot for illicit activities going back to the days when crack cocaine was sold in the 1980s and that he has been working on remedies to the problem to no avail.

Tshaka has attempted to have the park renamed from Marie Curie Park to Marie Curie Playground, reasoning that this would formally prohibit visitors from entering it without children.

CB 11 District Manager Susan Seinfeld said the city Parks Department told her that regardless of the name, the rules posted near the park’s entrance govern who can and cannot enter.

In addition to banning the use of illegal drugs, the posted rules do not allow adults in the play equipment area except when in the company of children, although Tshaka argues that the delineation between the play equipment area is not clear.

He also said he would like to see more “Drug Free School Zone” signs posted around the Marie Curie and Bayside schools.

Seinfeld said she was told the city was not producing the signs anymore.

“The police say they don’t need a sign. Drugs are illegal; it doesn’t matter if there’s a sign. Anywhere they’re doing drugs they can be arrested,” she said.

Read More:

Bayside park battling drug habit

Times Ledger - March 1, 2012 - By By Rich Bockmann