Showing posts with label Adrian Benepe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adrian Benepe. Show all posts

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Fashion Week Ordered To Leave Lincoln Center - Park To Be Restored In Lawsuit Settlement






























Damrosch Park Convention Center.  For years the Bloomberg administration allowed Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) to rent out the entire 2.4 acre Damrosch Park to various private clients including Fashion Week (above) which they did for up ten months of the year.   These actions constitute an illegal alienation of Damrosch Park in violation of the New York State Public Trust Doctrine and other laws.     (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)  Click on images to enlarge)

 Fashion Week, and other events like this are now prohibited from returning to Damrosch Park under a court ordered setlement.  The park, much of it destroyed to make way for private events, must also be restored. 


“Parks is thrilled to welcome Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week to its new, larger, home in Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center,”  - Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe 2010.

Thankfully the new administration does not share the same irresponsible view.

Manhattan

Fashion Week will have to find a new home after February.

Private events in Damrosch Park will now be the exception not the rule according to the far-reaching agreement negotiated between plaintiffs, Lincoln Center and the City over the illegal use of Damrosch Park for non-park purposes.   

The settlement prohibits any possibility of Fashion Week renewing its contract with Lincoln Center, as contemplated in the original 2010 agreement.  A five-year renewal would have allowed the fashion show to stay until 2020.  Fashion Week's permanent home in Hudson Yard's Culture Shed is still years away.   

Now Fashion Week will have to find an interim home, away from city parkland,  until thier new home is completed. 

"IMG Fashion Week shall vacate the premises and remove all tents and other Fashion Week equipment from the park," according to the settlement, which was ordered by Supreme Court Justice Margaret Chan.

Where's The Park. Damrosch Park's Northeast Entrance/Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week's Main Entrance.  This event like others have been allowed to completely take over the 2.4 acre park. "I was horrified to learn about the demise of Damrosch Park. It is ironic that a family of German immigrants, who brought so much to the musical life of this city and this country have been pushed aside by a German manufacturer of flashy cars." - Sidney Urquhart, granddaughter of Walter Damrosch.

The settlement includes language to prevent commercial, non-park purpose uses in the future.

"....the City and LCPA (Lincoln Center Performing Arts) intend to further expand public access to the Park by not entering into agreements for commercial events substantially similar in natures, size and duration to Fashion Week and for which access is not generally available to the public," the settlement states.

Under the Bloomberg administration the City allowed Lincoln Center free rein over Damrosch Park with no limitations on the number of private events it could hold in the public park. 

In May 2013 the plaintiffs, including NYC Park Advocates, Committee for Environmentally Sound Development, the founder of Friends of Damrosch Park and other individual neighborhood park users were forced to sue in an effort to restore the park and return it back to the community.


The park had been taken over for up to ten months of the year by private revenue generating non-park use events according to the suit.

As a deterrent to any future events like Fashion Week the settlement contains language that allows the presiding judge, Supreme Court Justice Margaret Chan to issue a Temporary Restraining Order in the event Lincoln Center attempts to use the park for something like that again.   

Under the terms of the settlement Lincoln Center will also be required to produce the secret agreement "sublicense" between Fashion Week and Lincoln Center which lays out the financial arrangements  Lincoln Center received a $ 17.2 million dollar payday over five years which was diverted from the City General Fund.  

The public including the City's Comptroller were not privy to the agreement on the public park.  All future sublicense agreements for special events must also be produced.   



Access Denied.  A private security guard prevents the general public from entering a private event held in Damrosch Park on May 9, 2013, one of dozens of events held annually inside the public park.  Additionally, the Bloomberg administration also allowed Lincoln Center to divert all the consession revenue from the City's General Fund. The revenue from the city's July 2010 license agreement with LCPA collected totaled more than $32 million dollars over a four year period alone. 

The park's planting beds with magnificent azaleas were all destroyed for private events. Plantings are required to be restored under the settlement. 
Not Open To The Public - Entrance By Invitation Only. Never again are events like this allowed to seize this public park.

The Mercedes-Benz Star Lounge inside what is supposed to be a public park.
Public Park? The convention center-like atmosphere inside Damrosch Park for Fashion Week.

The City and Lincoln Center are required to restore much of the park including replanting trees and flora destroyed to make way for Fashion Week.  The City famously allowed Lincoln Center to illegally destroy 57 trees to make way for the semi-annual fashion event.    

The settlement also requires the installation of an additional Parks Department sign near the northeastern entrance of the park for the first time.  Defendants even went so far as to remove the only sign indicating it was a public park. City rules must also be posted in the park for the first time.


"Damrosch Park belongs to the City of New York not Lincoln Center," said Geoffrey Croft, of NYC Park Advocates, a plaintiff in the suit.

"The days of the Bloomberg administration's irresponsible policy of handing over public parks as cash cows for private groups and businesses are hopefully numbered.  We hope this settlement signifies a dramatic shift in policy and that parks across the city will finally be protected."

"It was outrageous and illegal," said Olive Freud president of the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development, a plaintiff in the case.

"It is environmentally unsound and harmful to the quality of life to allow a private for-profit organization to usurp a public amenity.  In our densely populated City of concrete and tall buildings the most important thing is to protect and cherish our public parks and open spaces. They are precious. 
Communities should not be afraid to fight.  This should be an example for the rest of the city. 

What Lincoln Center did was illegal and they should have been required to pay our legal fees, they made millions from this," she added.  


The Bosque. Since the park's opening in 1969, the granite benches - part of noted landscape architect Dan Kiley's (1912 - 2004)  original garden design -  have been an integral part of the park. They were removed for Fashion Week and area residents want them returned.  (Photo: Darial Sneed)
The granite benches were permanently removed and replaced by couches for an outdoor smoking and drinking area during Fashion Week.


"Almost 5 years ago I woke up to the sound of power saws and watched helplessly as our beautiful neighborhood Park was destroyed by the monstrous Fashion Week," said plaintiff Cleo Dana, Chair of Friends of Damrosch Park.

"We were devastated.  It was a gross injustice perpetrated on us by a misguided administration that valued mega-corporations’ profits over the public’s right to its own parks.   We are thrilled at the current settlement and that the Park will be rebuilt. It can never be the same but it will be wonderful to have the community sharing space together again."

 The Parks Department and LCPA are also required to create a plaque - to replace the one mysteriously lost - to honor the contributions of Walter Damrosch and other members of the family to the city's musical life. 

"I was horrified to learn about the demise of Damrosch Park," said Sidney Urquhart, a granddaughter of Walter Damrosch, who attended the park's dedication on May 22, 1969 with several other members of her family.

 "It is ironic that a family of German immigrants, who brought so much to the musical life of this city and this country have been pushed aside by a German manufacturer of flashy cars. (Fashion Week is sponsored by Mercedes Benz)

 "As a fourth-generation member of the Damrosch family, I am so gratified that this beautiful little park that was created to honor their achievements and then woefully neglected and misused, will now be restored to its former glory."

Lincoln Center has denied the existence of the memorial flagpole with its bronze plaque honoring five members of the Damrosch family.



March 2010 months before 56 trees,  including all of the ones shown above,  were  destroyed in order to accommodate Fashion Week. The Parks Department then later tried to cover up the reason for the removel of the trees. Below a plywood platform replaced the trees which enabled event tents to be erected. 
The planting beds were replaced by a plywood platform. The NYCHA Amsterdam Houses can be seen directly behind the bandshell. 


Plaintiff Harold Smith has lived in the NYCHA Amsterdam Houses directly across the street for more than sixty-five years. He remembers the tenements and the 5 and 10 cent store on Amsterdam Avenue long before Lincoln Center and the park were built.  From his apartment as a teen he watched the city raze the buildings "brick by brick" they took to build the sprawling cultural campus.  

"I feel really good, this is a victory and we don't get many of those," Mr. Smith said of the settlement.   

"The park used to be so beautiful, the trees were so full. We got pushed aside for money-making purposes.  Since Fashion Week we haven't been able to go over there."

Mr. Smith, a musician who turned professional at age 14, said he feels most concerned for the seniors, the kids and a neighbor in particular in a wheelchair who have been shut out of their own park over the years.

"The older people are going to head back in there. They are so hurt,  they have such negative feelings towards Lincoln Center,  they feel trotted on. The people around here feel very disrespected like they don't matter.  They'll believe the park is open when they see it. They don't trust them."  
Two Outstanding issues

 Since Fashion Week the Big Apple Circus has also been allowed to take up the park's entire 2.4 acres for more than four months annually including the fall, one of the most desirable seasons.  Area residents want at the very least part  of the park to be re-opened during the circus. 
     
City Charter - Section 109 

Another outstanding issue not resolved in the suit is the city's policy of allowing the money generated from Damrosch Park to be diverted to Lincoln Center.  

City Charter section 109 requires that all revenue of the city be paid into the general fund. The city's policy of allowing certain groups to divert these revenues creates enormous disparities that needs to be addressed.   These types of arrangements also exist in Bryant Park and the High Line, among others.
  
The License Agreement between the City and LCPA for instance provides absolutely no compensation to the City and instead allows all of the revenue generated from Damrosch Park to go to LPCA in order to “provide a substantial revenue stream”  for them.
From 2006-2010 alone, LCPA’s Revenues and Expenses Reports show  that revenues from LCPA’s “Special Events” and “Concessions” totaled more than $29 million dollars - the garage located under Damrosch Park,  which is owned by the Parks Department,  alone grossed more than $26.7 million,  all of which was paid to LCPA and none to the City. 



The Bloomber-era Licence Agreement goes even further to protect the fiscal interests of LCPA at the expense of the City: “[The Parks Department] agrees that it shall not impose any fee, charge, or other imposition on either LCPA or Special Event Promoters engaged by LCPA in connection with Special Events held in the Public Areas.”



In addition to these amounts under a separate agreement, Fashion Week’s sponsor IMG Worldwide, is paying up to $17.2 million to LCPA to use the city park twice a year. This money is also being diverted from the city's general fund. The agreement between LCPA and IMG Worldwide, did not go through the City Comptroller’s Office.  

Plaintiffs were represented by the Super Law Group, LLC. 


A private security guard attempts to prevent the park from being photographed from Amsterdam Avenue during the setup of Fashion Week.  (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)  Click on images to enlarge)


Read/View More:


WABC - December 18, 2014 - By Tim Fleischer 

New York Daily News - December 18, 2014 -  By Barbara Ross 

New York Post - December 18, 2014 - By Natalie O'Neill and Julia Marsh 

New York Times - December 18, 2014 - By Robin Pogrebin   

Associated Press - December 18, 2014 -  By Leanne Italie  

Crain's New York Busness - December 18, 2014 - By Adrianne Pasquarelli 


AM New York - December 18, 2014 - By Ivan Pereira 

Metro NY - December 18, 2014

CNBC -  December 18, 2014 - By Krystina Gustafson

 New York Magazine -  December 18, 2014 - By Véronique Hyland 

gothamist - December 18, 2014 - Rebecca Fishbein  

 The Hollywood Reporter - December 18, 2014 - By Stephanie Chan

 WNBC - December 18, 2014


A Walk In The Park -  May 22, 2013 - By Geoffrey Croft 

A Walk In The Park - February 15, 2012 - By Geoffrey Croft

A Walk In The Park - February 6, 2012
A Walk In The Park - September 10, 2010 - By Geoffrey Croft



A Walk In The Park - September 11, 2010 - By Geoffrey Croft


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Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Threats Escalate In Central Park's Long-Simmering Illegal Bike Rental Trade In Columbus Circle


Bike and Roll - a Parks Department licensed concession has three locations in Central Park including two in Columbus Circle where the company has been forced to hire security.  They pay a minimum of $17,000 per year, vs. up to 15 percent of its revenue to rent bikes there. They are in their 5th year of a seven-year deal with the city Parks Department to provide rental bikes on parkland. (Photos:  Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) click on images to enlarge.


For years swarms of unlicensed vendors have operated openly in and around Columbus Circle trying to lure the public to rent thier bikes with little intervention from the authorities.  

Bike and Roll - a concession licensed by the Parks Department with three locations in Central Park and 11 city-wide - have tried to get the City to step up enforcement but their complaints have for the most part fallen on deaf ears.

A company employee says they can lose between 40-60% to illegal vendors who brazenly attempt to pick off unsuspecting tourists and New Yorkers alike. 

This issue has played out in the media in years past however It appears the threats and intimidation on concession employees have stepped up recently. 


"We effectively pushed them away from the perimeter of the park," Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said in 2012 in yet another laughable interview.  "You know, if somebody wants to rent a bicycle on a street corner, I guess it's their option."


That's not accurate either when the street corner in question is under Parks jurisdiction as is the case here.    

  - Geoffrey Croft
      

Manhattan


Bike and Roll New York City, the only contractor sanctioned by the city to rent out bikes in Central Park, told the Post that the illegal hawkers are so vicious that they have threatened to decapitate their employees.

“They’ve made threats to follow our staff home, to cut them, to cut their heads off. To hurt them,” said marketing manager Nicole Mylonas. In the past month, staff members have had to call the police at least  20 times on the unruly bike hucksters.
Bike and Roll's two locations in Columbus Circle are located on either side of the park's  entrance at Merchants Gate.

Bike and Roll has even had to put up one worker in a hotel — where he’s been staying for more than a week — after vendors threatened to kill him and then showed up in his neighborhood.
The illegal vendors also circulated his photo around to the other shady bike renters. Since then, the worker has been too terrified to return home.
The harassment has gotten so bad that Bike and Roll has spent $100,000 on security guards to protect their staff.
“They show pictures of knives, or show pictures of them on a shooting range and say, ‘this is what’s going to happen to you’,” said Chris Wogas, the company’s president.
On a warm day, there can be as many as 50 illegal vendors menacing workers and tourists, employees said.
Sometimes they even steal bikes from Bike and Roll and try to rent those illegally, Wogas added.
Last year, the Parks Department did an informal survey on how much business Bike and Roll is losing to the illegal vendors — and it estimated they lost $500,000 a year, according to Wogas.
Virtually every person who goes through the area is asked to rent a bike by a mob of illegal vendors. The vendors harass — whether they work for Bike and Roll, are dressed in a suit, or even have their own bike.
The illegal sellers often create disorder in Columbus Circle by fighting and cursing among each other for business.
“It’s awkward and uncomfortable,” said Yvonne Norton, 51, a tourist from Canada who didn’t want to rent a bike from the group. “I understand people have to make a living, but no should mean no.”
One man trying to rent out a bike told a Post reporter that money for bike rentals will be used to help people in West Africa.
“My company is to help the poor,” he said, flashing a laminated card with a picture of a horse carriage, pedicab and bicycle.
Tourists told the Post the aggressive vendors take away from the city’s friendly vibe.
“You’re taking away from what makes the city great, the camaraderie,” said Cathie Smythe, 50, also of Canada.

Read More:

New York Post - July 21, 2014  - By Larry Celona, Kevin Fasick and Rebecca Harshbarger

WPIX - July 22, 2014 - By Narmeen Choudhury

Bike War Brewing In Columbus Circle
WCBS - July 21,  2014


Wall Street Journal - July 4,  2012 - By Ted Mann 

New York Times - September 29, 2009 - By J. David Goodman   






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Saturday, March 29, 2014

Park Disparity Funding Solution According To Daniel Squadron - Have Central Park Foot the Bill





Heckscher Ballfields - Central Park.  Do Your Fields Look Like This? Central Park is meticulously maintained by the Conservancy. Unlike in municipally maintained parks the playing fields are lush and well cared for. Dedicated personnel are assigned to maintain the park's 28 ballfields.  Central Park's annual operating budget is now up to $ 58 million dollars.  However unlike the city they protect the money they invest into the park. (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)

City-Wide

By Geoffrey Croft

Legislation introduced last year by New York State Senator Daniel Squadron and supported by Mayor Bill de blasio would have the government deciding where your private donations to parks can be spent. 

As most people are acutely aware our park system is enormously underfunded.  The policy of allowing public parks in wealthy areas to be paid for by private donations while most languish due to a lack of public funds has further compounded the problem, it has created a wildly disparate, separate and decidedly unequal park system.

And although these are city-wide problems that affect virtually every segment of the population, it is no secret that a disproportionate amount of the most severe issues exist in poor neighborhoods, among the city’s underserved communities—namely, the working class, the poor and the disenfranchised, and in areas populated by people predominantly of color. The City’s increasing reliance on public/private partnerships has resulted in a vastly inequitable distribution of services. It has become “a tale of two cities.”




Outfield Burnt Grass.  Fr. Macris Park - Staten Island. The city does not have a single dedicated ball field maintenance crew for more than 600 natural turf fields.  



The further fostering of what is already an ad hoc system premised on noblesse oblige, with all the neglect to the working class and poor that implies and has wrought, should be challenged, and not embraced as Sen. Squadron suggests.


The fact that Central Park receives large private donations while 99.9% parks do not is not the problem.  The Central Park Conservancy exists solely because of a failed city policy i.e. our elected officials refusal to take care of all of our parks so the wealthiest people per capita in the world took matters into their own hands.  This is hardy a sustainable model, nor should it be.

Each year our elected officials allocate approximately one-third of the desperately needed  funds required to properly operate our public parks. This year is no different.  The Mayor's preliminary budget allocates just $301.2 million in city-funds - just .52 % of the overall city budget in city funds for an agency responsible for 14 % of the city's land.  Up until the 1960's parks received up to 1.4 % of the city budget or greater. An astonishing decrease.  

For decades the public has been told the expense funding needed to hire the employees that are so desperately needed are not available.  Increasingly these basic services are being paid for privately in wealthy neighborhoods.


Central Park.


What this means in practical terms is that those chosen few have dedicated staff assigned to individual parks while the vast majority of the rest have to make due with the deplorable and unequal conditions found throughout the city.

Senator Squadron introduced the controversial legislation as a means he says to help address the inequity.

Squadron's  "Neighborhood Parks Alliance," would form partnerships between a "well-financed" conservancy and less fortunate parks. 

Under the plan a poor park would perform tasks like gathering signatures from local residents, establishing their own conservancy group, and receiving a city commitment, from the Parks Department and local council members, to maintain current government financing levels.

The issue of seizing money from organizations is a non starter for a number of reasons the first one being the legality of such a ridiculous proposal. 

A clue to the fundamental flaw in Sen. Squadron’s well-intentioned but deeply misguided law is the lack of the government’s role and responsibility in addressing  and preventing these issues.


In a May 24th Op-ED published in the New York Times announcing his proposal Senator Squadron asked, "Can A Tree Grow In The Bronx"  when a park like Central receives large private donations while most parks do not. 

Mr. Squadron spent just 32 words out 746 acknowledging the responsibility of the government.

"One solution," he writes,  "is to provide more financing for parks in the annual city and state budgets." 

No, that is THE solution.

And while he does admit his plan "is not a comprehensive solution" to the problem of open-space equity, his idea is fundamentally flawed non-the-less and sends the wrong priority.

Sen. Squadron says John A. Paulson's $ 100 million donation to the well-heeled Central Park Conservancy, "invites a question: where is the political will, and the money, for the millions of New Yorkers who depend on the 1,700 other parks, playgrounds and recreational facilities managed by the city?” 



The political will to do what? To get the people who live around Central Park to donate to other less fortunate parks? He is asking the wrong question.  



Instead of addressing the issues and attacking the very system that allows and encourages this enormous disparity and discrimination in the first place, he is inviting more.  The political will necessary to provide funding for safe, well-maintained parks, and public recreation programs that every neighborhood deserves, simply does not exist. It is not a priority. 



All New Yorkers deserve this, not just those who can to afford to pay "extra."  This is a basic quality-of-life issue.

“A Neighborhood Parks Alliance is one simple way for more New Yorkers to have decent open space,  so that more families,  in more communities,  can make a life in the city," he wrote. 

 "Like good schools and safe streets,  decent parks must not be reserved for those who can most afford them.”  



His plan unfortunately accomplishes exactly that. 



Creating this Alliance is simply another way to further discriminate against the haves and the have nots while continuing to allow the city, state and feds off the hook.



"But the conservancies would still be the best way for donors to support their park of choice," he writes.  

Encouraging the public to discriminate against who is worthy of receive funding and who is not is certainly not the solution. 

As history has proved time and time again leaving the decision of  "who gets saved"  in the hands of the wealthy and influential is not good policy to say the least.

It is the government's legal responsibility to properly fund our public parks,  not private citizens or businesses.  Elected officials constantly say how important parks are but they refuse to fund them. It is not a priority. 

And to be sure Mr. Squadron is not alone his misguided solution.  

Over the last 40 years no other city agency has lost a greater percentage of its workforce than the Parks Department.  This happens year after because the public does NOT demand accountability.

Legislating Public Donations?

A few weeks after his May Op-Ed Mr. Squadron introduced the pass-the-buck legislation.

When asked if the 20 percent under his proposal would be voluntary or mandated by law  Squadron replied, " Our hope is that….. folks would step up and be interested in being a part of this voluntarily but my legislation would require it. "



And while Mr. Squadron admits that city and state have cut funding for parks "in ways that are unacceptable"  I could find no evidence of him truly fighting to correct this cronic budget shortfall including authoring legislation to address this pressing issue.



In the same interview he also bizarrely claimed that, "for large parts of the city they don't see the effects of those cuts if you live near Central Park or if you live near Prospect Park whatever your lifestyle is you don't experience the injustice of these parks cuts. "

That is simply not true. 

The interview got off to a bad start Squadron cited statistics that left out almost half of our parkland - State and Federal facilities - that reside in our city. (He's a NY State Senator)


Queens City Council Member Peter Vallone -  who was  then running for Queens Borough President  followed suit.  

He sent out a press release entitled, GRASS SHOULDN'T BE GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTY FENCE!” announcing he would be introducing legislation mandating that all park conservancies with more than $5 million in the bank would be legally required to donate 20 percent of their funds to maintain parks that have received a grade of unsatisfactory for two consecutive years. 

At a City Council hearing last May Mr. Vallone said he had lunch with Senator Squadron and discussed the idea.

This  well-intentioned but deeply misguided law  shows clear lack of understanding of the enormous problems facing our vast but severely under-resourced park system.  Relying on what in reality are a few conservancies to deliver the tens of billions of dollars in capital needs and another three quarter of a billion dollars annually for maintenance and operation is deeply misguided. 

On Thursday at a City Council hearing Mr. Squadron testified that he thought his proposal could generate approximately $ 15 million dollars annually -  in other words enough to build a few bathrooms.  Another unfortunate consequence of this conversation is that it is detracting from the real issue - that our elect officials refuse to fund parks as an essential city service.

The city itself has already created a number of non-profits with the expressed mission to encourage donors to contribute to less fortunate parks city-wide. They have had to put it mildly an extremely limited impact city-wide on the deplorable and unequal conditions found throughout the city.

The solution to the inequality issue is not a secret:  The administration needs to take responsibility by dramatically increasing the parks budget and ensure they are distributed based on need and not on politics or private interests, while also demanding accountability from an agency that is in desperate need of reform. 

But first a detailed and honest assessment of our park system's is required,  something multiple administrations have refused to do. 

Unfortunately the political will necessary to provide funding for safe, well-maintained parks, and public recreation programs that every neighborhood deserves, simply does not exist. It is not a priority. 

Experience with public/private partnerships over the last 30 years has proven that the private subsidization of individual parks, however well intentioned, has created an enormous gap between the haves and the have-nots, while ignoring the real problem—that our parks are not funded as an essential government service. 

All New Yorkers deserve this, not just those who can to afford to pay "extra."  This is a basic quality-of-life issue.

Early last summer then mayoral candidate Bill de blasio announced his support for Squadron's initiative as well as the irresponsible Flushing Meadow Park Alliance being created by Council Member Julissa Ferreras and a Parks Department partner group New Yorkers For Parks.   

We do not need another Alliance,  a funding model dependent on businesses exploiting and  destroying our parklands - we need the government to do its job and adequately fund our public parks.

We sincerely hoped Mr. de blasio's support for these irresponsible ideas were simply early mis-steps.  

Compounding the problem are the remarks of consecutive Parks Commissioners. 

"We have a great operating budget,"  Veronica White embarrassingly testified at a City Council hearing,  a view consistently shared by Adrain Benepe who was fond of the calling the funding  "robust."

These are irresponsible and dangerous statements that harm communities and the city as a whole.

While working under Michael Bloomberg over the last decade Mr. Benepe had a tough time publicly admitting the poor conditions that plague the park system - and no amount of "surveys" from his current employer will be able to change that reality.  

Mr. Benepe called the disparity a "phony premise"  in one of many embarrassing moments caught during an interview on NY 1 in 2013.   

"I think they are nothing but positive,"  he said of the conservancy model in a typical Benepe see-no-evil defensive moment. 

"The beauty of that is that it allows the city to take its public dollars and allocate them to the vast majority of parks that don't get  any private support,"  he said in a claim that is clearly not supported by the city's continued lack of underfunding.

The City - including Mr. Benepe - claim that $ 165 million dollars is now being brought in annually from private funds to parks however less than half of that amount is accounted for in a reporting mechanism created to monitor such funds. A 2008 law specifically meant to expose city parks'  inequalities by tracking private allocations is not being adequately enforced.   A staple of the Bloomberg administration - the lack of accountability. 

We are happy this administration, and others have finally begun to embrace our decade-old park Tale of Two Cities inequity campaign, a disparity it is important to note that the Bloomberg administration including the Parks Department partner group New Yorkers For Parks absurdly pretended did not exist. 

We expect the city's new leadership who were elected on a  "progressive" agenda to tackle the policies that have resulted in our Tale Of Two Cities park system have clearly existed for far too long.

We need to attack the very system that allows and encourages this enormous disparity and discrimination in the first place, not invite more.   

Until these things happen nothing will change. 

Geoffrey Croft - is the founder and president of NYC Park Advocates, a city-wide watchdog group.

An excerpt of this post will appear in Sunday's Daily News.

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Monday, December 9, 2013

Washington Sq. Park Vendors Demand City Keep Privatization Out Of Park - Further Conservancy Influence Revealed

"The claim that they (the Conservancy) have no influence is ridiculous.  Elizabeth (Ely) was instrumental in making that decision."  -  city source. 


Mohammed Mastafa and Golam Rabbani, brothers originally from Banledesh,  display their Parks Department  permit in front of one of their two food carts currently licensed to vend in Washington Sq. Park.  They have been selling food in the Park for five years,  but not for long.  The City is removing hot dogs and replacing the vendors with high end - sellers.  To add insult to injury for years the Parks Department has refused to refund more than twenty-thousand dollars owed to them as part of their deposit.  The revenue division is overseen by Bloomberg family friend Betsy Smith.  (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on imaes to enlarge.

The group's influence however goes way beyond food vendors, and much further back than previously disclosed NYC Park Advocates has learned.   Conservancy founder Elizabeth Ely was on the interview panel to decide which city employee was going to be hired as the park's new administrator.   


Manhattan

By Geoffrey Croft

First it was the Bloomberg administration illegally  cracking down on musicians playing in one of the City's oldest parks,  this time its hot dogs.

On sunday food vendors, community residents and park advocates gathered in Washington Square Park to denounce the Bloomberg administration's plan to kick out hot dog vendors and replace them with high-end sellers.  A newly formed conservancy made up of wealthy neighbors is being accused of using its influence to make it happen.

The press conference was held to raise awareness in support of immigrant vendors who organizers say have provided inexpensive food options to the area for many years but are on the verge of being evicted after December 31st.  

The group called on Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio to prevent private, corporate and real estate interests from privatizing public spaces like Washington Square Park, and to ensure that  inexpensive food vendors can continue to serve the area.  

Critics held hand lettered signs in several languages - some read Mayor Elect De Blassio Reverse Bloomberg's Privatization of our Public Spaces,  and Hot dog Cart In, Private Influence OUT of Washington Square Park and  Hot dog in Socialites Out on a frigid day.    

Critics wary of yet another public-private park group forming and exerting influence over public park policy say their fears have already come to fruition in Washington Square Park.   

The Washington Square Park Conservancy's high profile board called for the removal of hot dog vendors deeming them “unsightly” according to emails recently uncovered.  

Park watchers and neighborhood residents were already suspicious of the groups' intentions and point to the recent email revelations as further evidence of a lack of transparency and accountability from both the Parks Department and the newly formed conservancy. 

One by one vendors got up and spoke in front of the park's large foundation about the need to have jobs and support families.  


On sunday critics held signs saying,  Mayor Elect De Blassio Reverse Bloomberg's Privatization of our Public Spaces,  and Hot dog Cart In, Private Influence OUT of Washington Square Park and  Hot dog in Socialites Out in several languages in the park. 


Mohammed Mastafa and Golam Rabbani are brothers from Bangladesh and have five children between them.  They moved to New York  24 and 15-years ago respectively and own seven pushcarts including two that have been selling hot dogs and peanuts in the park for five years. 

On Sunday they brought a copy of their Parks Department permit which expires  on Dec. 31st. They say they were given no warning of the agency's recent decision not to renew the permit nor were they given an opportunity to add new items the City is now claiming they want sold.   

To add insult to injury the siblings say for years they have been demanding the return of  more than $ 20,000 dollars owed as part of their deposit but the Parks Department's revenue division has kept it despite repeated requests.  

According to terms of the agreement they were required to pay the city $ 130,000 annually to operate four pushcarts in the park.    A September 18, 2009 notice from the Parks Department however reduced the number of pushcarts to two. 

"The security deposit in the amount of forty thousand five-hundred dollars ($ 40,500) is reduced by fifty percent (50%) accordingly. The balance of twenty-thousand five hundred and fifty dollars ($ 20,250)  may be refunded to the Permittee at the Permittee's written request," the letter states.

"May be refunded, May be refunded,  What is that," asked an angry Rabbani,  a father of two. "This is my money. They are keeping it.  They are not even giving me interest."

Conservancy Influence 

The city is increasingly coming under fire for deals that hand over enormous power and decision making authority to public/private park groups with little transparency and accountability on what is supposed to be public land.   An issue the city pretends does not exist. 

The City and people associated with the Washington Square Park Conservancy have repeatedly tried to claim the group has no influence in the City's hot dog vendor decision but critics say the emails prove otherwise.   

NYC Park Advocates has learned however that the group's influence goes way beyond food venders and reaches as far back to at least the summer of 2012,  a time when the group was privately in discussions with the Manhattan Parks Borough Commissioner Bill Castro to officially form a conservancy.



On The Hot Seat.  Founding Washington Square Park Conservancy board members (from left) Justine Leguizamo, Gwen Evans, Veronica Bulgari and Elizabeth Ely.  The fledgling group had already succeeded in influencing public park policy even on which city emplyee to hire before the group even presented themselves to the public for the first time on June 5, 2013.  (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates.) 


A year before the group publicly announced its formation plans,  Conservancy founder Elizabeth Ely was on the interview committee to decide the Park Administrator and was instrumental in picking the city employee for the job according to a city source.   

The Washington Square Park Administrator job was posted in July 2012, and interviews were conducted over the next few months.


"The claim that they (the Conservancy) have no influence is ridiculous.  Elizabeth was instrumental in making that decision (on who to hire) ,"  said a city source involved with the interview process.  

"They all seemed to defer to her. I was thinking why is this person even here. Elizabeth was asking all the tough questions. It was clear she would be the person working with who ever was hired."  

The job went to Sarah Neilson,   a Parks Department employee who now serves in a dual role as the conservancy’s executive director.  Sarah was the former chief of staff for Jonna Carmona-Graf,  Chief of Capital program management.

"A lot of qualified people interviewed for the job. Sarah was a clerk in the office. She had no park experience, zero, " said a source,   sentiments that were echoed by several park employees.

"She was a pet in the front office. "

The duel role of city employees simultaneously holding a Park Administrator job while serving as the non-profit's Executive Director has repeatedly raised conflict of interest issues but the city under Mayor Bloomberg and then Parks Commissioner Adrain Benepe have merely blown the concerns off.   

In public, a year after the Park Administrator interviews,   Elizabeth Ely conveyed the party line. 

"We have no plans to run Washington Square Park. The city runs the park,”  Elizabeth Ely said at a Community Board 2 meeting formally announcing the group's creation.

Those gathered in the park on Sunday were not buying it.  
  
"They say its just to raise money to keep things looking beautiful, but their definition of beauty does not include these vendors,"  Sean Basinski of the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center  said of the Washington Square Park Conservancy.

The vendor group organized sunday's event along with Washington Square Blog creator Cathryn Swan.

“The park is a public space. It’s not their private backyard, and so they don’t get to control who’s here. The city does, and we think it’s a city of immigrants, and workers, and regular folks like these hot dog vendors who have been here for a long time.” 

Despite repeated requests the Parks Department refused to answer any questions including commenting on the deposit money owed; why the brothers were not  asked to submit a proposal with a "diverse selection of food choices" as the city is now claiming one of the reasons for the switch;  if hot vendors  are being displaced for ice cream sandwich concessions in other park locations;  Whether or not  the new ice cream concession Melt was chosen through an RFP and how much they are paying;   

The City however may already be backing down -  based not on sound decisions being made before the issue was revealed publicly -  but instead as usual on negative media attention.

“We will be assessing the public’s desires for what foods they would like to see . . . as we determine what mobile foods — including hot dogs — may be offered, and where in the park they will be located,” a Parks spokesman said.


Actor John Leguizamo spoke in favor of his wife's project at a Community Board 2 meeting on June 5th, 2013. (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates.) Click on image to enlarge

Meanwhile actor John Leguizamo and his wife Justine have taken to Twitter to defend the newly formed non-profit and deny claims of the group's power and infleunce in the city's desion.

  2. 1 Dec
    FOR DOG'S SAKE! Nothing better to do with your life? Let Moon Mohammad stay in Washington Square!
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    7:49 PM - 1 Dec 13 · Details
  3. 2 Dec
    the conservancy has no power over policy in the park. If you want something done, go to manhattan parks dept. come volunteer!
     Hide conversation
    2:55 PM - 2 Dec 13 · Details
  4. 3 Dec
    Your private group's 'call' removed vendors, misrepped role at WSP to CB2
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  6. 3 Dec
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  8. 3 Dec
    I 'volunteer' in a way via blog, becomes important when misleading info presented to public. Hope for more future transparency.
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  2. 3 Dec
    Email obtained says otherwise. These decisions were not made until private conservancy gained influence at WSP.
     Retweeted by 
     View conversation
  3. 2 Dec
    “: as a real New Yorker you should be ashamed of this. ”I'm ashamed you believe that hooey
     View conversation
  4. 2 Dec
    “: can you have a chat with to let Moon Dogs stay in the park?”we love cart food
     View conversation
  5. 2 Dec
    “: can you have a chat with conservancy has no power to ban anyone!! Talk to manhattan parks dept
     View conversation
  6. 2 Dec
    “: so what did happen?" The parks department did it. We have no power but to raise money for improvements
     View conversation
  7. 2 Dec
    “: so what did happen?”we had nothing to do with it. The park did it on their own and we became the scapegoat
     View conversation
  8. 1 Dec
    “: you can take john out of the ghetto and you "CAN" take the ghetto outta john.”I wanna keep the hot dog guy
     View conversation
  9. 1 Dec
    “: Great reporting by Wash Sq Pk blog on how rich Conservancy people kicked hot dog vendors out of park"but it never happened
     View conversation
  10. 1 Dec
    “: you can take john out of the ghetto and you "CAN" take the ghetto outta john. #KeepTheHotDogGuyBro#Shady”not true
     View conversation
    1. 1 Dec
      you can take john out of the ghetto and you "CAN" take the ghetto outta john. #KeepTheHotDogGuyBro#Shady
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1 Dec
“: you can take john out of the ghetto and you "CAN" #KeepTheHotDogGuyBro#Shady”its a big slanderous lie!
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One of two push carts  in Washington Square Park slated to be removed by January 1st.

Some of the attendees and organizers at sunday's event. 


Read More

A Walk In The Park - December 8, 2013 - By Geoffrey Croft


WNBC - December 8, 2013 By  Sheldon Dutes

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