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)

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

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

Fashion Week to Leave Lincoln Center

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

New York Fashion Week Booted out of Lincoln Center

Associated Press - December 18, 2014 -  By Leanne Italie  

Fashion Week gets kicked out of Lincoln Center

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

Following Lawsuit, February's Fashion Week to be Last at Lincoln Center

NY1 - December 18, 2014

Fashion Week evicted from Lincoln Center, according to court settlement

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

Fashion Week no longer in style with Lincoln Center

Metro NY - December 18, 2014

New York Fashion Week kicked out of Lincoln Center

CNBC -  December 18, 2014 - By Krystina Gustafson

 This Will Be the Last Fashion Week at Lincoln Center

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

Fashion Week Kicked Out Of Public Park At Lincoln Center

gothamist - December 18, 2014 - Rebecca Fishbein  

 IT'S OFFICIAL: NEW YORK FASHION WEEK IS LEAVING LINCOLN CENTER

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

 New York Fashion Week to Leave Lincoln Center

 WNBC - December 18, 2014

City/Lincoln Center Sued Over Illegal Takeover Of Damrosch Park

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

Residents Demand Damrosch Park Back - Cease & Letter Sent To City & Lincoln Center

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

Lincoln Center Nightmare- Neighbors Crying Foul Over Takeover Of Damroach Park

A Walk In The Park - February 6, 2012

NYC Allows 56 trees To Be Destroyed For Fashion Week In Damroach Park

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Plan To Cut Into Historic Ridgewood Reservoir Has Activists Fuming - Fears This Will Lead To Development

Flood Hazzard?  The New York State DEC has classified the Ridgewood Reservoir's three basins as a "Class C" High Hazard Dam, critics disagree.  (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) click on images to enlarge


The decommissioned Ridgewood Reservoir in Highland Park is a natural oasis on the Queens-Brooklyn border. Local activists are worried that a state-mandated plan to dig out culverts in the reservoir will destroy the natural beauty of the area. Park and State officials say it is necessary to prevent flooding, activists disagree. 

For years the community fought against Mayor Bloomberg's $50 million PlaNYC proposal to clear out 20 acres of one of the basins for ballfields and develop the area for active recreation. 

Community residents instead wanted the unique area as let along as a natural oasis.

Mayor Bloomberg finally got the message and cut funding for the project.

Critics of the culvert plan say the $ 6 million dollars would be much better spent clearing out the invasive species and providing facilities for educational programing and for security personnel.

Community members and envirmentailists have long advocated for the repurposing two of the existing gate house buildings located on the basin's perimeter for use as an environmental center and a Parks Enforcement Patrol/Ranger facility.  

These funds could play a vital role in the future success of a newly reclaimed natural area! 

 - Geoffrey Croft

Invasive species strangle heathy trees and dramically reduce bio-divercity. 



Queens/Brooklyn

Local activists are fuming over a city plan to cut culverts into the historic Ridgewood Reservoir in order to stave off the threat of future flooding. They say the $6 million plan — currently awaiting state environmental approvals — is unnecessary and wasteful of money, according to the New York Daily News.  

“It would have to rain 24 hours a day for months to reach capacity,” said Geoffrey Croft of New York City Park Advocates. 

Critics also worry the project will disturb the ecosystems in the defunct reservoir. 

“Construction will destroy the natural habitats within the basins, not to mention that it is also a colossal waste of taxpayer money,” said local civic activist Christina Wilkinson said. 

“Furthermore, if this weather event actually were to occur, allowing the basins to drain into a small catch basin on Vermont Place would be pointless as the sewer system would already be overflowing.” 


The reservoir, located on the Brooklyn-Queens border, was built in 1858 and supplied water to Brooklyn until 1959. 



But the Parks Department said it will face fines by the state if the work is not done, since the reservoir is considered a flooding hazard. 

The only other solution that would satisfy the state — which would involve extensive tree removal and ongoing maintenance — is more costly and intrusive, parks officials said.

The reservoir, located on the Brooklyn-Queens border, was built in 1858. It supplied water to Brooklyn until 1959.

Former Mayor Bloomberg announced 10 years ago that the site would be transferred from the city Department of Environmental Protection to the Parks Department as parkland.

         

The long abandoned gate houses along the reservoir basin's perimeter could be repurposed and used as an environmental center and a permanent station for Parks Enforcement Patrol officers and park rangers.


The Bloomberg Administration originally pegged the reservoir and surrounding Highland Park for renovations. But the $50 million proposal to clear out 20 acres for ballfields and develop the area for recreation died for lack of funds.   

A Tale Of Two Reservoirs? The community had also requested the fences in the redesign match the historical ones but Park Department officials said that could not be done for safety reasons.  The fence around the Central Park reservoir (left) however used the exact same design as in Ridgewood (right). (Save Ridgewood Reservoir) 

The city did complete a smaller project to repair pathways and lighting around the reservoir, and make the areas more handicapped accessible. Agency officials said the flood prevention project would not change the condition of the reservoir or reduce public access. 

But concerned citizens worried that the culverts could pave the way for future development. 

“It is my firm belief that (the Parks Department) crying crocodile tears when they say that they’d rather not breach the basins but are being forced to by the DEC,” said Rob Jett, who founded the Save the Ridgewood Reservoir website.

He and others worry that the city will revive old plans to clear parts of the reservoir to build the ballfields.   


Familiar bluet at the Ridgewood Reservoir. (Photo: Steve Nanz)

 Interpretive Sign.

Read More:

Parks Officials Say State Wants Ridgewood Reservoir Basins to Be Safer
NY 1 - July 10, 2014 - By Agnes Chung 
http://www.ny1.com/content/212041/parks-officials-say-state-wants-ridgewood-reservoir-basins-to-be-safer/

Plan to cut culverts in historic Ridgewood Reservoir has local activists fearful it will lead to development of the natural oasis   

New York Daily News -  June 4, 2014  - By Lisa L. Colangelo  

Electric Zoo Lobbying Mayor de Blasio Aides For Randall's Island Return After Fiascle

Two officers stand watch at the Ward's Island footbridge  the day the city finally cancelled the event in the wake of two deaths, a rape, and after nineteen people were treated for drugs,  and  31 people were arrested.   (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) 

The NYPD blanketed Randall's Island after the Electric Zoo event was abruptly cancelled. 

Organizers of the concert have hired high-powered lobbyist Mike McKeon and Patrick Jenkins to lobby Mayor de Blasio's aides in an attempt to make a 2014 return.

Randall's Island

By Geoffrey Croft

The organizers of the controversial Electric Zoo rave event have been quietly lobbying Mayor de blasio's top aids in an effort to be allowed back on Randall's Island.

Organizers hired high-powered lobbyist Mike McKeon, whose firm, Mercury Public Affairs, raised $32,520 for Mayor de Blasio’s campaign and inauguration to secure a permit after last years debacle according to the New York Daily News.

Two concertgoers died from overdoses, nineteen other attendees were treated,  a 16-year-old girl was raped,   and thirty-one people were arrested including two felonies over two days of the planned three-day dance music rave festival.

Arrest charges ranged from drug sales, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and possession of controlled substances.   A lack of security and screening for under age concert goers also came under fire from several sources working at the event.

Electric Zoo area after the cancellation. Randall's Island's largest unprogrammed area of the park has been allowed to be converted into commercial uses for up to five months a year by the Randall's Island Park Alliance in cooperation with the city.

The 16-year-old teen woke up on the first day of the three day event under a van in a parking lot with her pants undone and bruises and scratches on her legs.  Medical personnel at Cornell Medical Hospital later determined she was sexually assaulted.

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,’’ according to published reports. 

The city finally cancelled the event on the last day in the wake of the incidents. 

“Due to serious health risks, the Electric Zoo music festival on Randall’s Island on Sunday, September 1st has been cancelled," the city said in a statement. 

"The City recommended cancellation and the event promoters have agreed.”

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.  

After the debacle, Mayor Bloomberg praised Mr. Bindra.

In November SFX Entertainment announced it had acquired Made Event the creators of Electric Zoo Festival.

(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)

Elecric Zoo came on the heels of another controversial event held a few months earlier in the same location, Governors Ball which jeopardized public safety and wreaked havoc on the field.  

City officials decided to allow the concert to go on under tropical-storm conditions and  despite a severe weather advisory. 

Twenty-eight acres of public parkland were destroyed,  turned into a mud bowl when more than 100,000 feet combined with torrential rains from Tropical Storm Andrea demolished the giant lawn after the city refused to cancel the concert.

In a rare public airing of differences between the City and the Randall's Island Park Alliance,  Manhattan Parks commissioner  Bill Castro said they regretted not canceling the Governors Ball amid such inclement weather.

"We'll consider it a learned lesson," he told the Wall Street Journal.

Organizers of the Ball however,  along with Aimee Boden,  Executive Director of the Alliance and a Parks Department employee,  disagreed with Mr. Castro.

Apparently the incessant coverage of the impending Tropical Storm Andrea the week leading up to the event was not cause enough for concern, or even a tip off to the possible storm conditions or potential public safety hazzards for the organizers or the city,  to insist the event be cancelled earlier. 

Tom Russell,  a partner in Founders Entertainment,  said heavy rain or extreme mud weren't reasons to halt the festival. 

"There's not much planning you can do for six inches of rain in 36 hours," he said.

The  Randall's Island Park Alliance received  $ 600,000 dollar fee for the event.

The field was closed to the public for months and some subsequent events were canceled. 

Bloomberg LP's annual rental of the public park land for his lavish corporate company party had to be rescheduled later later in the summer. 

The Electric Zoo music festival is lobbying to return Randalls Island after being shut down last year when two college students died of a drug overdose and a host of other incidents. 

Promoters of a Randalls Island electronic music festival — unplugged by the city last year after two drug deaths — are pressing top mayoral aides for a permit to stage the event again, according to the NY Daily News.   

Organizers of the Electric Zoo hired high-powered lobbyist Mike McKeon, whose firm, Mercury Public Affairs, raised $32,520 for Mayor de Blasio’s campaign and inauguration. 

McKeon and another Electric Zoo lobbyist, Patrick Jenkins, recently reached out to key de Blasio aides, contacting Emma Wolfe, director of intergovernmental affairs; Dominic Williams, chief of staff to First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris, and Avi Fink, Wolfe’s deputy, city lobbyist disclosure records show.  

The lobbyists are seeking a Parks Department permit so their client, EZ Festivals LLC, can operate the huge techno-music event at Randalls Island over Labor Day weekend.  Last year, the city shut down the final day of the show after college students Jeffrey Ross, 23, and Olivia Rotondo, 20, died from overdoses of a dangerous drug known as Molly.  

There were four other nonlethal overdoses during last year’s festival, and critics blasted event organizers for lax security that allowed drugs to flow freely.  

“I’m disappointed that the city is even considering the application considering what happened last year,” said Marina Ortiz, of E. Harlem Preservation Inc., whose neighborhood abuts the festival.   

Geoffrey Croft, of the NYC Park Advocates, said that last year the city ignored pleas to shut down the party during a wild electrical storm on the first day of the three-day event.  

“They’re back, and they’ve  not be allowed anywhere near our public parks,” Croft said.  

De Blasio’s press secretary Phil Walzak declined to comment, and Parks Department spokesman Arthur Pincus said the application “is under review.” 

Electric Zoo is already claiming online it has two “expected” dates on Randalls Island in late August. 

Mercury’s Stefan Friedman emphasized Tuesday that organizers have already taken steps “to bolster what was already an extremely robust safety apparatus.” 

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Randalls Island after drug deaths

New York Daily News -  March 25, 2014 - By Greg B. Smith 

Electric Zoo sued for not refunding tickets after overdose deaths 

New York Daily News - September 9, 2013 - By Barbara Ross  

Debate Flares Over Private Funding for New York's Public Parks

Some Question Whether Parks Should Be Reserved for Private Events

Wall Street Journal - June 28, 2013 - By Josh Dawsey 

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

A Walk In The Park - September 4, 2013

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 

Parks Employees Forced To Drive "Death Trap" Vehicle

City park workers in Queens were being forced to use a 14-year-old "death trap" pick-up truck that has a multitude of safety violations including a seat belt anchored by a brick, rusted holes in floorboards with exposed brake and fuel lines,  ripped-up seats stuffed with cardboard for cushions in a dangerous vehicle that should have been taken out-of-service years ago.  Workers were also being exposed to noxious fumes and mold they say. (Photos:  Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)

Queens

By Geoffrey Croft

An out-of control Parks Department supervisor in Queens is forcing employees to drive a hazardous truck that is endangering workers and the general public park employees charge.

Several park workers say Park supervisor Yvonne Esposito was insisting employees use a dangerous vehicle with a number of serious safety violations. 

The Ford two-door pickup with more than 102, 600 miles has several large rusted holes in the floor board with exposed wires including a two foot long hole, and warn away seat cushions have partially been replaces with cardboard boxes and sponges. 

One of the rusted holes is large enough to pass a foot and leg completely though the bottom of the vehicle and onto the street. 

Rusted holes in floorboards with exposed brake and fuel lines on the drivers side of the Parks Department 2000 Ford two-door pick up truck. Workers are being forced to drive a city vehicle more appropriate for a scape yard. 

Workers also complain of noxious fumes and mold.

And that's not all workers are forced to use a large ten pound Belgium block paving stone to hold down the seatbelt and help prevent the seat from moving forward.  

On a recent trip cardboard placed to cover up one of the holes on the driver side floor board had disintegrated and caused water from the street to splash up into the vehicle and onto exposed brake and fuel lines.

The truck was recently transferred from Flushing Meadows - Corona Park to Cunningham Park in Queens where it was being used throughout park district 7.  

Several workers also said they were afraid to speak up for fear of reprisals by Esposito. 

"I can't beleive it, what the hell is this," said Parks worker who was recently instructed to drive the dangerious truck. 

"We were told they couldn't get another truck.  She knew it was dangerous. The seat immediately came forward every time you slowed down or stopped.

. I am very upset about it but I just wanted to do my job.  We are afraid to say something.

Local 1505 Parks worker union president Dilcy Benn finally put her foot down on Friday and demanded the vehicle be taken out of service.

"All they cared about was getting the work done they didn't care about how it was done, if anyone got hurt,"  Benn said. 

The Parks Department press office did not respond despite repeated requests for comment.   

Queens

A New York City Parks Department truck that was used as recently as last week has a seat belt anchored by a brick and rusted holes in the floorboards so large that workers inside the vehicle could see straight to the ground, according to the New York Daily News.  

The Fred Flintstone-mobile is a veritable death trap — a yabba-dabba-don’t for terrified workers.


No Magic Trick.  A parks worker puts his hand through the rusted floor board of the truck on the drivers side.


 “I got people who could be killed being forced to use this vehicle, and there’s no accountability,” said Dilcy Benn, president of Local 1505, the union that represents city Parks workers.

 The 2000 dark-green Ford pickup — adorned with the Parks Department logo — has 102,695 miles on it, and it is clearly a rough ride. The floorboards are eaten by rust on both the driver and passenger sides. The truck has exposed brake and fuel lines running underfoot and ripped-up seats stuffed with cardboard for cushions.

Two workers were told to use the pickup truck last week to spread salt around Queens’ parks ahead of the snowstorm. The pair took one look at the rusty wreck and tried to beg off. But their supervisor, according to Benn, forced them to use the truck.

 “A supervisor picked this vehicle up at another borough garage, drove it to Queens and gave it to workers in this condition and was not held accountable,” said Benn.

“I don’t want my workers driving a death trap.” A Parks Department spokesman said the truck — officially known as vehicle 5719Q — was taken out of service for repairs after Benn called with concerns.

A two-foot-long hole on the pasenger side, and (below) ripped-up seats stuffed with cardboard for cushions.  (click on images to enlarge)

“My workers were already out in the vehicle dropping salt, and I had to call back three times before the supervisor finally took it out of service,” said Benn.

The agency says vehicles are removed from the fleet on a case-by-case basis, depending on specific conditions. Drivers are required to inspect vehicles before using them and report any safety or mechanical issues, the spokesman said. The agency’s fleet of 579 pickup trucks have two maintenance inspections annually in addition to a state motor vehicle inspection, he added. The average age of the fleet’s pickups is eight years, city officials said.

According to Benn, union members have had problems with poorly maintained Parks vehicles before.

In May 2012, veteran Parks worker Curly Robinson, 63, was nearly mowed down when an agency van he left idling popped its gear and rolled toward him. Robinson said he was thrown against another truck and then dragged several feet before the runaway van stopped.

“I had problems with that truck slipping gears all the time. It was never fixed, and it always was put back in service,” said Robinson, who added he was forced to retire for medical reasons after the accident.

The Parks spokesman confirmed that a van with the same identification number provided by Robinson was in an accident on that date and at that location but no other details were available. Auto safety expert Byron Bloch reviewed the pictures of the rusted Ford truck and said it raised questions about Parks’ maintenance efforts.


Parks workers used a ten pound Belgium block paving stone to hold down the seatbelt  as well as to help prevent the seat from moving forward while driving.


“I would not go into that truck, it’s a definite hazard and should be taken off the road,” said Bloch. “It’s actually an embarrassment and tells me there’s terrible maintenance of the vehicle.”

The extensive corrosion of the floorboards posed the biggest risk, he said. It indicated a weakened structure that would buckle easily on impact.

“That could turn a survivable crash into a fatality,” he noted.

Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates said the poorly maintained vehicle was an accident waiting to happen.

"It’s unconscionable that the city would put their own people and the public in such danger,” he said. “This is outrageous, and the people responsible must be held accountable.”


The interior of the pick-up truck reveals a multitude of safety violations including rusted holes in floorboards with exposed brake and fuel lines,  ripped-up seats stuffed with cardboard for cushions.


Read More:    

PARKS & WRECK! City crews' death trap truck has seat belts
 anchored by bricks, rusted holes in floorboards 
NYC Parks Dept. truck seems a death trap with crumbling floor, seat belts 
New York Daily News - January 9, 2014 - By Ginger Adams Otis