Parks Department Helps Itself To $ 7.5 Million Dollars Earmarked For Goodhue Center Purchase

Staten Island

And elected officials expressed further skepticism about the (Cedar Grove Beach Club) plan following the discovery that only $1.5 million remains of $9 million in discretionary dollars from the City Council delegation, Borough President James Molinaro and Rep. Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn) to purchase the Goodhue Center in New Brighton from the Children’s Aid Society, according to the S. I. Advance. 

Parks officials tried to mend fences with the borough’s City Council delegation in a closed door meeting, explaining that money was used to meet mandated cuts to their capital budget. The city budget included an 11 percent cut to Parks. 

“How are they going to allocate money for Cedar Grove after taking that money from Goodhue?” asked City Councilman James Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn). “Until we are made whole again, they are not going to get another dime from us.” 

Elected officials have also cited a lack of funding to repair the Cromwell Center in Tompkinsville, which collapsed into the water in May, the closure of the Leesberg Senior Park in Sunnyside, and the last-minute maneuvering by the City Council that kept public pools open this summer. 

Read More:

City holds firm on plans to take over Staten Island's Cedar Grove Beach Club

S.I. Advance - September 5, 2010 - By Stephanie Slepian

Rep. McMahon Asks Bloomberg To Follow Through On Acquiring Goodhue Woods For Park

A Walk In The Park - August 16, 2010 

Rep. McMahon Asks Bloomberg To Follow Through On Acquiring Goodhue Woods For Park

Marigold Green, 5, holds up a sign in favor of the Parks Department's takeover of the Goodhue property during a land use meeting last year. Neighbors and environmentalists are pushing the City to acquire 38-acres in New Brighton owned by the Legal Aid Society  in order to protect the property from development and to have it turned into a public park. (Photo: Tevah Platt/S.I. Advance) 

Staten Island

Rep. Michael McMahon has again asked the Bloomberg administration to "follow through" on its "promise" of protecting the Goodhue Center and Woods in New Brighton from development, according to the Staten Island Advance.

Noting past funding that has been secured, including a $1 million appropriation grant he got last month for the city's purchase of the property from the Children's Aid Society, McMahon said he is "very concerned about the city's seeming lack of commitment to this project." He also pointed to City Council money previously earmarked. 

In a letter to city Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, McMahon wrote in part: "Last September, Mayor Bloomberg pledged in his campaign his commitment to bring Goodhue Woods into the city parkland. I urge you to make good on this commitment and to begin to work toward an agreement with the Children's Aid Society to use the $9 million allocated as a down payment on the purchase and work out a payment plan for the remaining balance."

Read More: 

Staten Island Rep. Michael McMahon sounds off on border security, airline safety

Staten Island Advance - August 16, 2010 - By  Judy L. Randall

McMahon Calls for Renewed Effort to Purchase Goodhue

Congressman Michael E.  McMahon - August 12, 2010

Little opposition to city takeover of Goodhue Center property

Staten Island Advance -  June 11, 2009 - By Eddie DAnna