19 Electric Zoo Attendees Stricken At Randall’s Island Rave - $600,000 Paid To Randall's Island Park Alliance

More than 100,000 people attended Electric Zoo before drug overdoses, a rape, and 31 arrests forced organizers to cancel the remainder of the event.  A 28-year-old attendee from Elmont, LI, is on life support with kidney failure at Lincoln Hospital in The Bronx. (Photo: Brian Killian/WireImage)

Nineteen attendees were stricken at the rave.  Electric Zoo’s Long Island City-based organizer, Made Event, hired its own doctor and ambulances so “they wouldn’t have to call 911, which would bring the cops,’’ a source said.

Déjà Vu?   Electric Zoo co-founder Mike Bindra, 44, the former manager the drug-plagued Twilo club in Chelsea,  also employed a private ambulance outside the club.   The club was shut down by the city in 2001 after unconscious patrons were found hidden by employees and several fatal ODs.  City officials charged that Twilo used its own private ambulances for overdoses to remain off the NYPD radar. A lawsuit alleged that management hid dozens of sick patrons rather than calling for help.  

Randall's Island

A total of 19 hard-partying Electric Zoo attendees were stricken at the Randall’s Island rave — a fact organizers hid from the NYPD by concealing them in private ambulances and “MASH”-style tents, law-enforcement sources told The Post.

A 28-year-old attendee from Elmont, LI, is on life support with kidney failure at Lincoln Hospital in The Bronx, a source said. Two other partiers died after popping ecstasy pills called Mollys at last weekend’s festival that drew 100,000, sources said.

Electric Zoo’s Long Island City-based organizer, Made Event, hired its own doctor and ambulances so “they wouldn’t have to call 911, which would bring the cops,’’ a source said.

“It was just another way to keep the cops from finding” out what was going on, the source said. “[The organizers] had tents set up all over. It was like a MASH unit.

“This is the same thing that was done in the clubs in the ’90s in the city.’’

Electric Zoo founder Mike Bindra, 44, is the former manager of one of those clubs — the drug-plagued Twilo in Chelsea.

It was closed down in 2001 following two fatal overdoses of MDMA — also known as ecstasy or “X” — there by college students. At the time, some club workers said they were ordered to put unconscious partiers in back rooms and just splash them with cold water to try to revive them.

Linda Wiest — the mom of Johns Hopkins junior James Wiest, who died after overdosing at the club in 2000 — told The Post yesterday, “For [Bindra] to be able to continue and make money and profit, I think it’s atrocious.

“I really thought that he had been shut down when the nightclub closed. I didn’t realize that he was still profiting from events where drugs were being so freely distributed,” she said.

The 65-year-old mom sued the club and eventually settled.

 (from l) Mike Bindra,  Aimee Boden - President & Park Administrator of the Randall's Island Park Alliance RIPA -  Bindra's wife - Laura Tigz De Palma, and Anne Wilson,  Director of Planning & Public Funding for RIPA.  Bindra and his wife Laura are the founders of the Electric Zoo.  RIPA reportedly received a $600,000 fee from event organizers.  (Image: NY Daily News)

The annual Electric Zoo festival appears to be on track to return to Randall’s Island next year.

“We’ve been working with this promoter for the last five years and they have a stellar record,’’ Mayor Bloomberg told reporters yesterday.

“They . . . put in as good of procedures as we could think of and have been nothing but cooperative, and I have nothing but good things to say.”

Bindra’s spokesman, Stefan Friedman, fought back against the allegations.

“For anonymous sources to suggest we have doctors and ambulances on site for anything but to treat people in as efficient a way as possible is obscene,” he said. “We are devastated by the tragedies of last weekend and are working hand in hand  with the NYPD and all other city agencies — as we have for the past five years — to get to the bottom of what occurred.”

As for his boss’s role in Twilo, “He booked the acts, and he was in charge of various elements of the club,” Friedman said. “But he never oversaw security. That wasn’t what he did.”

Police said they are still trying to figure out where the dead pair — 20-year-old Olivia Rotondo of Rhode Island and 23-year-old Jeffrey Russ of Rochester — and other Zoo attendees got their drugs.

NYPD homicide cops are assisting in the investigation.

Additional reporting by Beth DeFalco

Electric Zoo co-founder Mike Bindra's golf cart sat idle on Sunday after the event was cancelled. (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) 

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New York Post - September 4, 2013 - By Larry Celona, Julia Marsh and Kate Sheehy 

Clueless Bloomberg Defends Electric Zoo Founder After Deaths, Rape and 31 Arrests at Event
A Walk In The Park - September 4, 2013  

Electric Zoo Founder Mike Bindra Once Ran Drug Club Shut By City After Fatal ODs
A Walk In The Park -  September 3, 2013

City Probing Randall's Island Electric Zoo Drug Deaths - NYPD Assisting
A Walk In The Park -  September 3, 2013

Electric Zoo Debacle - Teen Sexually Assaulted - 2 Deaths, 31 Arrests
At Randall's Island Music Festival
A Walk In The Park -  September 1, 2013 - By Geoffrey Croft 

Clueless Bloomberg Defends Electric Zoo Founder After Deaths, Rape and 31 Arrests at Event

Mayor Mike Bloomberg, a long-time Randall's Island Sports Foundation board member and benefactor  - (nka Randall's Island Park Alliance - RIPA) defended Electric Zoo co-founder on Tuesday. RIPA reportedly received a $600,000 fee from event organizers.   

In total two people died, a 16-year-old girl was raped,  at least four people were hospitalized in critical condition after apparent drug overdoses,  19 attendees were stricken, and police made thirty-one arrests    (Image: DNAinfo)  

Randall's Island

Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the Electric Zoofounder who formerly managed a Chelsea megaclub shuttered in the wake of deadly drug overdoses — saying the promoter has a "stellar record," according to DNAinfo. 

"There's something that he was involved with about a dozen years ago, but we've been working with this promoter, organizer, for the past five years and they have a stellar record," Bloomberg said of Mike Bindra, who founded the dance music fest where two attendees died of drug-related causes over the weekend. 

As DNAinfo New York first reported, Bindra formerly ran West 27th Street nightclub Twilo, which was closed by the city in 2001 amid accusations it played a role in two fatal overdoses and hid unconscious patrons in a secret room without medical care.  

Bloomberg told reporters Tuesday that Bindra followed best practices in organizing the Electric Zoo festival, which was held on city-owned parkland on Randall's Island.

(from l) Mike Bindra,  Aimee Boden - President & Park Administrator of the Randall's Island Park Alliance RIPA -  Bindra's wife - Laura Tigz De Palma, and Anne Wilson,  Director of Planning & Public Funding for RIPA.   Bindra was the general manager of Twilo.  Bindra and his wife Laura are the founders of the Electric Zoo music festival. RIPA reportedly received a $600,000 fee from event organizers.    (Image: Daily News)

"I can tell you that when we brought it to their attention, we didn't need to — they knew they had to put in as good procedures as we could think of and have been nothing but cooperative, and I have nothing but good things to say about them," the mayor said.

Twilo became a target of law enforcement officials during Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's administration after two clubgoers died from apparent Ecstasy overdoses over a two-year period.

The club, which shuttered in 2001 after long battling the city in court, was also accused of keeping sick patrons in a back room and taking them by private ambulance to hospitals — including one of the reported fatal overdose victims.

Bloomberg blamed the weekend's Electric Zoo overdoses on the festival-goers who used drugs. 

"The bottom line here is that you see people here who are doing drugs that shouldn't be doing drugs and you see the fatal consequences," Bloomberg said.

He added that the city would analyze security procedures to see whether more can be done to prevent drug-related deaths.

"The city will have to take a look at every concert to see if the concert can be run safely," he said.

Read More:

Mayor Defends Electric Zoo Founder After Deaths at Music Fest

DNAinfo - September 3, 2013 - By Colby Hamilton and Victoria Bekiempis 

Electric Zoo Founder Mike Bindra Once Ran Drug Club Shut By City After Fatal ODs
A Walk In The Park -  September 5, 2013

City Probing Randall's Island Electric Zoo Drug Deaths - NYPD Assisting
A Walk In The Park -  September 3, 2013

Electric Zoo Debacle - Teen Sexually Assaulted - 2 Deaths, 31 Arrests
At Randall's Island Music Festival
A Walk In The Park -  September 1, 2013 - By Geoffrey Croft 

Electric Zoo Founder Mike Bindra Once Ran Drug Club Shut By City After Fatal ODs

"People are overdosing and the fact they put an ambulance outside a nightclub should be enough to establish that nightclub should be closed."  - Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington  April 2001

(from l) Mike Bindra,  Aimee Boden - President & Park Administrator of the Randall's Island Park Alliance RIPA -  Bindra's wife - Laura Tigz De Palma, and Anne Wilson,  Director of Planning & Public Funding for RIPA.   Bindra was the general manager of Twilo.    Bindra and his wife Laura are the founders of the Electric Zoo music festival.  RIPA  receives a large fee from Electric Zoo for the event. (Image: NY Daily News)

 In total two people died, a 16-year-old girl was raped,  at least four people were hospitalized in critical condition after apparent drug overdoses, and police made thirty-one arrests as a result of the Electric Zoo event.   

Randall's Island

The founder of the music festival where two people died of apparent drug-related causes on Saturday once ran a Chelsea nightclub that the city closed after accusations it acted like an Ecstasy emporium, played a role in two fatal overdoses and hid scores of unconscious patrons in a secret room without medical care, according to DNAinfo.  

In 2009 Miami promoter Mike Bindra, 44, and his wife, Laura De Palma, created Electric Zoo, the annual Labor Day weekend extravaganza at city-owned Randall's Island. Their company, Made Event, canceled the festival's remaining shows on Sunday after the two deaths and 31 arrests on charges varying from the sale and possession of drugs to disorderly conduct.

Bindra was once the general manager of Twilo, one of city's most popular dance clubs, which became a target of law enforcement agencies during Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's administration.

The West 27th Street hot spot — owned by impresarios Steve Dash and Phil Smith — drew the unwanted attention after two fatal overdoses inside of two years. The first occurred in 1998 when NYU student Bridgette Murray overdosed on the Ecstasy she took there.

After the co-ed's death, the city filed a public nuisance lawsuit in Manhattan Civil Supreme Court to shutter Twilo, accusing it of operating as drug den and being the scene of multiple arrests.

But the city lost the case, and techno music and drugs apparently kept flowing. 

In July 2000, Johns Hopkins University student James Wiest collapsed on the club's dance floor after taking Ecstasy and later died at St. Vincent's Hospital.


Twilo, a w. 27th Street club in Chelsea that the city identified as a designer drug den, was closed in 2001 after unconscious patrons were found hidden by employees.   (Photo: Kristen Artz)   

Wiest's mother later settled with Twilo and its associates for $250,000 after claiming in a lawsuit that club security dragged her unconscious son into a back room, where they left him without care for as long as three hours. The lawsuit also claimed that club officials later called a private ambulance.

City officials said the club used private ambulances to avoid police involvement.

"It is ludicrous," the city's then Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington told the New York Times in an April 2001 interview. "People are overdosing and the fact they put an ambulance outside a nightclub should be enough to establish that nightclub should be closed."

In October 2000, Twilo security guard Joseph Murray was arrested for hiding three unconscious patrons in a dark room while paramedics searched for them in the club. Bouncers had stymied the emergency responders by twice telling them no one needed medical attention, according to court records.

Murray told investigators that he had put two of the patrons in the room because his superiors instructed him “to hide those people,” court records show. He eventually pleaded guilty to obtructing government administration.

In fall 2000 the city again tried to close Twilo by refusing to renew the club's cabaret license. The move led to another court battle, but in May 2001 an appellate court ruled in the city's favor, shuttering the club after six years of operation.

During the legal battle, Joseph Murray filed an affidavit supporting the city's case, claiming he saw scores of patrons dragged into a back room and later taken by private ambulance to hospitals.

"During the three years that I have worked on security inside Twilo, I have seen at least 100 instances in which unconscious or semiconscious patrons have been placed in the safe area by security and left there," he said in his affidavit.



Electric Zoo co-founder Mike Bindra's event golf cart sits idle on Sunday. (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) 

Bindra was never charged with any wrongdoing in his role as Twilo's manager.

Stefan Friedman, a spokesman for Electric Zoo festival, said that Bindra did not oversee security at Twilo when the fatal overdoses occurred.

"Mike was only involved in booking talent and promoting, not operations," Friedman said.

He added that the head of security reported directly to two other general managers. 

However, during his days at Twilo, Bindra frequently discussed in news stories the security measures the club had taken to crack down on drug use.

"We're trying to make it difficult to sell or even do drugs on the premises," he told theNew York Times in a 1999 interview. "We want people to come here to dance, not to sprawl out on the floor and be a big mess. Sure, the security can be an inconvenience, but then again, so is living in Manhattan."

In an affidavit he submitted during the 2000 lawsuit against the city, Bindra also detailed the extensive lengths Twilo took to the combat the sale of drugs.

"I am also well informed of the extent to which this business has spent money and effort to successfully ensure that the allegations cannot be repeated," he said.

"We are the most professionally operated and safest caberet of its type in the city of New York among them, businesses with allegations of drug dealer employees, shootings and stabbings; yet we alone are faced with closure," he added.

Bindra has been organizing concerts and shows for the past two decade. He and another Miami entrepreneur, Henri Pferdmenges, also ran TriBeCa club Arc, which closed after two years in 2004.

Pferdmenges is currently suing Bindra in Manhattan Federal Court, claiming he was an early investor in the Electric Zoo festival and accusing his former business partner of cheating him out of his share of its profits. Bindra has denied the allegations. 

Jeffrey Russ, 23, and Olivia Rotondo, 21, were the two festival attendees who died Saturday, according to police. The cause of both deaths appear to be linked to MDMA consumption, also known as Molly or Ecstasy, officials said.

A spokeswoman for the city's medical examiner said further toxicology reports and tissue studies were pending to determine the exact cause of death.

Made Event leased the space for the Electronic Zoo festival through the Randall's Island Alliance, the nonprofit conservancy that maintains the city-owned grounds.

The city Parks Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


Bindra and his wife Laura Tigz De Palma are the founders of the Electric Zoo music festival.   (Image: Mike Bindra/Via FACEBOOK)  

Read More:

Electric Zoo Founder Once Ran Mega-Club Shut by City After Fatal ODs

DNAinfo -  September 3, 2013 -  By James Fanelli 

Electric Zoo deaths: Festival creator Mike Bindra ran reputed drug-fueled 
Chelsea club Twilo 
New York Daily News - September 3, 2013- By Barbara Ross, Tina Moore and Larry Mcshane     

Electric Zoo founder once GM’d infamous Chelsea hotspot known for ODs

New York Post -  September 3, 2013  - By David K. Li 

City Probing Randall's Island Electric Zoo Drug Deaths - NYPD Assisting
A Walk In The Park -  September 3, 2013

Electric Zoo Debacle - Teen Sexually Assaulted - 2 Deaths, 31 Arrests
At Randall's Island Music Festival
A Walk In The Park -  September 1, 2013 - By Geoffrey Croft 

Randall’s Island Tennis Expansion FCRC Hearing Abruptly Canceled

(from right) Ben Schlansky (slouching) from Sportime NY, and Randall's Island Sports Foundation's (RISF) Aimee Boden, Executive Director & Park Administrator, Deborah Maher, General Counsel, and David Salerno, Concessions & Events Manager, at the CB 11 meeting Monday night.

"Our children are not being protected in this discussion," said a community member. (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on photo to enlarge.

At the very end of the meeting it was revealed that Sportime NY and RISF were going before the FCRC on Wednesday to begin negotiating an amendment to the existing license agreement to allow the building of an additional nine tennis courts on the Island.

Manhattan

By Geoffrey Croft

A Franchise and Concession Review Committee (FCRC) hearing on the proposed Randall's Island tennis expansion hearing was abruptly cancelled an hour before the meeting after a number of elected officials were expected to oppose the expansion A Walk in the Park has learned. The Parks Department and Randall's Island Sports Foundation pulled out according to several city sources.

The Parks Department was seeking authorization and approval from the FCRC to negotiate an amendment to the existing License Agreement between Island Tennis, L.P. (AKA Sportime NY) - home of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy - and Randall’s Island Sports Foundation to allow the building of an additional nine (9) tennis courts, up from the current twenty (20).

Comptroller John Liu, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and East Harlem Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito all wanted the hearing by the Franchise Concession Review Committee to be postponed because the Randall's Island Sports Foundation has not released requested financial and usage information.

"My community has raised serious concerns regarding the existing $19 million concession and its proposed expansion," Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito wrote in a letter sent to the FCRC today.

"As the Council Member that represents this area, and the Chair of the Council’s Parks & Recreation Committee, I share many of these concerns and believe that further review and community discussion is needed before the Franchise Concession Review Committee (FCRC) considers this item.

Manhattan Community Board 11 has asked Sportime NY and the Randall's Island Sports Foundation to provide important information pertaining to the operating of the existing facility," she continued.

"The information requested includes usage and access data concerning the facilities benefit to the residents of the surrounding communities including East Harlem and the South Bronx, two areas that I represent, as well as Central Harlem. The Board has also asked for pertinent finical information. To date, they have not received this information."

“Comptroller Liu is grateful that the city withdrew the proposal and expects that the community will at last get some answers to their questions and concerns about the proposed expansion of the tennis center," spokesman Matthew Sweeney told DNAinfo.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's office said today they had informed Aimee Boden of his decision not to vote in favor of the proposal.

"The Borough President is concerned that the city....and Sporttime have not adequately consulted community stakeholders about this project and have also not been sufficiently transparent with information about the existing 20 tennis courts and the extent to which they can be made more accessible to the surrounding community and general public," said a Stringer spokesperson.

"Sportime requested that their item be postponed from today's FCRC agenda as it was not time sensitive and it will be rescheduled for a later date."

Parks Department spokesman Phillip Abramson said, Sportime requested that their item be postponed from today's FCRC agenda as it was not time sensitive and it will be rescheduled for a later date. The request was "for permission to negotiate an amendment to the current Sportime Licence Agreement". As Sportime will be entering into ULURP over the next 30 months - the have 1 1/2 years to revisit the amendment."

In 2009 Sportime NY built a 160,00 square foot, $ 19 million dollar tennis facility which avoided ULURP. Many people in the community contend they are not benefiting from the taking of public parkland.

Sportime Randall's Island charges between $72 to $105 per hour for indoor courts, on top of fees of $500-750 to join, in addition to monthly dues as high as $ 286 for a family. (They have more than 2,000 members) Tennis lessons run as high as $ 5,950 for one hour lessons for 34 weeks. One camp charges $ 500 a day for non-members (transportation and food is extra).

Prices charged by the John McEnroe tennis academy range from $3,600 to $4,800 for 34 weeks of two-hour lessons. McEnroe's brother Mark is the general manager of the $ 19 million dollar facility.

Last year the existing facility made $ 9 million dollars. And out of 120,450 total playing hours available last year, Sportime made just 370 hours available free to the "community, " according to Sportime. (That comes to just 0.31% of total hours) They have proposed this expansion without providing any breakdown of existing community use or any financial information including projected revenue.

At another very contentious CB 11 meeting on Monday night, Sportime and the Randall's Island Sports Foundation were repeatedly asked to provide projected revenue for the expanded facility. They claimed they did not have it. They expected the East Harlem community to believe that they are investing $ 6-7 million dollars to build this facility on public parkland yet they had no idea what to expect financially.

The plan was also criticized by numerous people as a privatization of public parkland. Sportime and RISF were also taken to task for not having information that had been asked for at the previous meeting.

"I have to intervene because this is something that really irks me," said a visably annoyed Melissa Mark-Viverito, the area's Councilwoman.

"This community is consistently disrespected. If this was the board of the Randall's Island Sports Foundation and you had a committee on transportation and a committee on land use meeting on separate weeks and the committee on land use was saying, 'oh we have all these questions' you bet you would come the next week prepared. Our community deserves no less."

15-Love, Tennis-Plan Foes

The city's Franchise and Concession Review Committee abruptly canceled its hearing yesterday on a Parks Department plan to add more private tennis courts on Randall's Island. “Clearly, the FCRC and the city are beginning to feel the pressure by community members and elected officials,” said Harlem Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, who had asked how many East Harlem and South Bronx residents use the $72-an-hour courts. The Parks Department and mayor's office did not return calls for comment. - Crain's New York Business - December 15, 2011

Read More:

Randall's Island Tennis Plan Delayed Over Fears it Priced Out Locals

DNAinfo - December 15, 2011 - By Jeff Mays

Randall’s Island Tennis Expansion Hearing Canceled

The Epoch Times - December 14, 2011 - By Ivan Pentchoukov

Sportime's Randall's Island Tennis Expansion Opposition Heat Up

A Walk In The Park - Decmber 9, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

Sportime's Randall's Island Tennis Expansion Opposition Heat Up

Public Parks Are Not For Private Clubs. Environmental justice activists and residents of East Harlem and the South Bronx were out in force on Monday night protesting SPORTIME's proposed private tennis club expansion on Randall's Island. Former tennis star McEnroe was being honored by The Nation magazine at a gala event held at the Metropolitan Pavilion hosted by Robert Redford and Barbara Streisand and many notable progressives. (Photo:Indymedia)

Approximately 30 opponents wore tennis gear and carried banners and signs and handed out flyers to guests. The $19 million, 160,000 square feet, 20 court SPORTIME Randall's Island facility built last year avoided going through ULURP whereby bypassing community planning and consoltation.

John McEnroe teamed up with Claude Okin, the managing partner of Sportive New York to create the John McEnroe tennis academy on Randall's Island. The academy prices range from $3,600 to $4,800 for 34 weeks of two-hour lessons. McEnroe's brother Mark is the general manager of the $ 19 million dollar facility.

Sportime Randall's Island charges between $72 to $105 per hour for indoor courts, on top of fees of $500-750 to join, in addition to monthly dues as high as $ 286 for a family. (They have more than 2,000 members) Tennis lessons run as high as $ 5,950 for one hour lessons for 34 weeks. One camp charges $ 500 a day for non-members (transportation and food is extra).

Ten courts are available for NYC Park Department tennis permit holders during the non-Winter months.

The tennis center generated $ 9 million dollars in revenue last year alone according to Sportime's Ben Schlansky.

Critics charge that not only was the public not consulted with in the building of the original facility but since then residents from East Harlem and South Bronx have not benefited enough from the massive commercial facility built on public parkland.

At a lively Community Board 11 Parks and Recreation Committee meeting last night on the proposed tennis center expansion, a Sportime NY spokesperson revealed that only 370 hours of free instructional time were given to kids in 2010 and 650 hours in 2011. (The facility is open 365 day a year, 16 hours a day) They could not break down how many of those hours were associated with Randall's Sport Foundation related programs. They also did not provide a breakdown of what neighborhoods those kids live.

The Sportime NY representative also said that just 20 scholarships were given out in 2010 and 30 in 2011. He did not provide any information on what communities those that recieved them lived. Another point of contention was that the scholarships were soley merit based - on already existing skill - instead of exposing youth to the game.

The $ 6 - 7 million, 75,000 Sq. Ft. proposed expansion includes the building of 9 new courts, three bubbles aprox. 45 - 52 feet high, in a parking lot across the street from the existing facility. Unlike the original $ 19 million project this would go through ULURP.

The project's architect Ricardo Zurita, presented along with Aimee Boden, Park Administrator and Randall's Island Sports Foundation Executive Director, and Ben Schlansky, of Sportstime NY.

The applicants hope to certify the project with City Planning and begin ULURP in spring - 2013.

The general consensus from the public at the meeting was that the proposed expansion project should be withdrawn and the existing issues regarding the built facility be resolved.

Community Board 11's City Properties & Land Use Committee will hear the proposal on Monday, December 12th.

7:00pm - 8:00pm

at the Bonifacio Senior Center, 7 East 116th Street

And:

CB 11 Full Board Monthly Meeting
December 20th- 6:30pm at the Museum of the City of New York, 1220 5th Ave (103rd St.)

- Geoffrey Croft

Prices for the John McEnroe tennis academy on Randall's Island range from $3,600 to $4,800 for 34 weeks of two-hour lessons. The famed tennis player (above) with a student, teamed with up Claude Okin, the managing partner of Sportime New York to create the tennis academy. (Photo: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)

Manhattan

Environmental activists from East Harlem, the Bronx and other parts of the city took to the streets to raise awareness about ongoing attempted land grabs and alienation of public parkland on Randall’s Island, according to Indymedia.

The Nation Magazine's favorite tennis champ, John McEnroe, has lent his name to Sportime Corporation, which in 2010 illegally (without land use review) acquired a large portion of public park land that had been used by East Harlem and South Bronx residents for over 50 years. McEnroe's Sportime Tennis Center now charges thousands of dollars to be a member of the private tennis club.

The Nation writer Eric Alterman speaks with Randall's Island Sports Foundation head Aimee Boden. (Photo:Indymedia)

McEnroe was honored by The Nation Magazine on Monday December 5th 2011 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan. Approximately 30 opponents of the land grab wore tennis gear and carried banners and signs in front of the gala affair, which was hosted by Robert Redford and Barbara Streisand and many notable progressives. They resisted efforts by off duty police officer security to remove them from the front of the gala affair, with tickets at a minimum of $500 per seat. Later, when the NY Police were called, they asked if those peacefully assembled had a “permit” and sought to shunt them away from the star studded guests arrival. Knowing their 1st Amendment rights, advocates maintained their position with loud chants. No one from The Nation came out to support their right to assemble or seek to reign in the security seeking to intimidate everyone out front.

Activists handed out flyers and engaged arriving guests such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, NYC Comptroller John Liu, NYC Public Advocate Bill deBlasio, State Senator Liz Krueger, former NYC Public Advocate Mark Green, and Nation writers Eric Alterman and Jeremy Scahill to inform them how John McEnroe steals park land from Bronx and East Harlem youth! They know now and we can monitor their position on the issue. Aimee Boide, Executive Director of Randall’s Island Sports Foundation, in addition to her six figure salary public position with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, was in attendance and well aware of the controversy and opposition to the project. Her attempts to stifle the advocates clear and coherent explanation of the issue to hundreds of attendees were met with laughter. When asked why they were honoring such a controversial figure, The Nation publisher emeritus Victor Navasky stated that he was unaware of this McEnroe scheme, which could be headed for Court. Will he assign a follow-up article by The Nation sportswriter Dave Zirin?

Sportime corporation served a $19 million PRIVATE sport's facility on Randall's Island. The local community, from South Bronx and East Harlem especially, got aced. The expansion proposal would seek to alienate more parkland with 9 tennis courts added to the 20 they already rent out and profit from. John McEnroe franchises his name to this unethical land grab and our progressive friends at The Nation invited him as an honored guest.

This alienation skipped any public process. McEnroe’s brother, Patrick, is a head of Sportime Corp. John sold his name on the 160,000 sq. ft., $19 million private tennis Club on Randall’s Island. It never went though the Alienation of Parkland legislative process, let alone the less onerous Uniform Land Use Review Procedure
(ULURP) required for local development. No one asked the community for ideas on how to use our land. Randall’s Island Sports Foundation (RISF) supported it and could get over $1 million a year or so to allow more. They keep changing plans every month depending on where they think they can make more money, rather than include the local stakeholders in a sincere and meaningful decision making process.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is handed a flyer as he enters the event on Monday night. Rev. Jesse Jackson, NYC Comptroller John Liu, State Senator Liz Krueger, former NYC Public Advocate Mark Green were also in attedence.

(Photo:Indymedia)

Neighborhood advocates highlighted the exorbitant costs to use the private facilities. $72 to $105 per hour for courts, on top of fees of $500-750 to join, in addition to monthly dues as high as $ 286 for a family. Tennis lessons run as high as $ 5,950 for one hour for 34 weeks. There are even "members only" locker rooms with steam baths & massage therapy. Nice perks, but is this a public park people pondered?

Read More:

Tennis pro John McEnroe Confronted for Privatizing Randall's Island

Indymedia - December 7, 2011 - By Jen Rivera

Controversial Randall's Island Tennis Concession Looking to Expand

A Walk In The Park - November 9, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

Randall's Island $ 120 Million Ballfield's Go Largely Unused - Private Sports Camp Scraped

Built at enormous taxpayer expense, as expected the fields go largely unused during the Summer when the public would normally be expected to use them the most. Critics of the Randall's Island Sports Field development plan have long pointed out the lack community based planning and consultation before investing these funds. (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge.

Manhattan

On April 27th, in a subject line, IMG Academies - Not Moving Forward this Summer, Randall's Island Sports Foundation head Aimee Boden sent an email out informing people that a pay-to-play private sports camp had been cancelled.

" I am sorry to announce that IMG Academies recently informed us that they have decide not to hold a summer sports camps ( IMG Academies) in New York this summer. It is our understanding that it was a business decision based on their low enrollment numbers and finances. "

The deal called for Florida-based IMG Academies to operate a private sports camp on Randall's Island after donating $200, 000 to the Randall's Island Sports Foundation. The camp was to be given exclusive access during the day to approximately twelve fields during the Summer for six weeks. Costing between $ 495 - $ 895 per week per child, IMG was to offer soccer, lacrosse, football and baseball. They projected a capacity of hosting 100 children per sport per week. But plans fell through in April, with IMG citing low enrollment.

In a January 13th, 2011 letter to Melissa Mark- Viverito Chair of the Parks and Recreation Committee, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe cited the low traffic to justify plans for a private sports camp.

"Fields on Randall's Island have gone largely unused during weekday daytime hours in July and August, and thus availability should not be an issue," he wrote.

The Parks Commissioner agreed to allow IMG to bypass getting a concession agreement for the "pilot program."

"With regard to how the arrangement shall work, there will be no concession agreement. Just like any other park user, IMG will apply to Parks for field permits."

The Parks Commissioner went to pains to avoid the appearance of a pay-to-play scheme.

"With regard to IMG donating to RISF, while we should all hope and expect that IMG will support the community and RISF by making a generous contribution toward park maintenance, there is no agreement that obligates them to make such a donation," the Commissioner wrote.

"That is not accurate," said a city source familiar with the agreement. "The deal was always contingent upon them (RISF) getting a "donation." – Geoffrey Croft

The City installed the largest concentration of artificial turf fields in the country in order to accommodate the private school pay-to-play scheme. (The deal was struck down by two judges) Heat and odor are just two reasons sited for the lack of use, poor planning to accommodate community needs, and a lack of access to the island, are among the others.

If you build it, they will come - but not to Randalls Island.

Dozens of new ballfields in the sprawling park beneath the RFK-Triborough Bridge went unused last summer by the kids who need them most, the city parks boss admits, according to the New York Daily News.

And with school almost out for summer, advocates are complaining the $120 million revamp of Randalls Island Park in early 2010 created a playground for the rich and took crucial dollars from neighborhood ballfields.

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe cited the low traffic earlier this year to justify plans for a private sports camp.

"Fields on Randalls Island have gone largely unused during weekday daytime hours in July and August, and thus availability should not be an issue," he wrote City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito in January.

The deal called for Florida-based IMG Academies to operate the camp on Randalls Island after donating $200,000 to the Randalls Island Sports Foundation. But plans for the $895-a-week camp fell through in April, with IMG citing low enrollment.

Mark-Viverito (D-East Harlem/Bronx) slammed the pricey park rehab, claiming thousands of trees were cut down to make way for the artificial turf fields.

"Why would you build so many fields and then have a problem in terms of utilization?" she asked. "It was shortsighted and now we're paying the price."

"From day one, we were concerned there was no need to build so many" new fields, said Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates. "Now that has come to fruition. The result is the fields are empty."

The park boasts fancy golf and tennis centers, but no basketball courts, he added.

During the rehab, the city took heat for a $2.2 million-per-year pay-to-play scheme involving Manhattan private schools. It was struck down in court after East Harlem and Bronx community groups sued.

"The fields were built mostly to accommodate the private schools," Croft said. And Marina Ortiz, of East Harlem Preservation, called the park "a private playground ... designed to bring in revenue."

There's a move afoot now to try and spread the word about what's in the park. Randalls Island fields go unused partly because they are isolated and more people need to be made aware of the space, said Frances Masrota of Manhattan Community Board 11.

Access Denied. 10-year-old children don't normally apply for permits, nor should they be required to. Ballfields used for pick-up play are the most utilized by the public yet the policy on Randall's Island prohibits such uses.

Read More:

Ballfields at $120 million Randalls Island largely unused, not attracting neighborhood kids

New York Daily News - June 14, 2011 - By Daniel Beekman