Private Park Salaries Soar

Manhattan

Maybe money grows on trees in Central Park.

Douglas Blonsky, the head of the Central Park Conservancy, got a 20 percent raise, bringing his salary to $433,940, according to the nonprofit's just-released tax filings for 2009-10, according to the New York Post.

Several other directors also raked in the green.

* Debbie Landau, the head of the Madison Square Park Conservancy, got a $15,000 raise in 2009, plus a bonus of $20,000, bringing her salary to $200,000 during a year in which the conservancy's revenue declined by $246,715.

* Aimee Boden, the head of the Randalls Island Sports Foundation, got a 6 percent hike from $166,274 to $176,200 -- including a $15,000 bonus -- in 2009. The city pays $126,609 of her salary and the nonprofit pays the rest.

Bryant Park Corp. Director Daniel Biederman's salary for the year ending June 30, 2008, was $220,027, up from $210,374 a year earlier. He also earned $220,027 as head of the 34th Street Partnership.

The directors of some groups earn more than Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, whose salary is $205,180.

"Blonsky oversees 843 acres. Our parks commissioner oversees 29,000 acres. It doesn't make sense," said Geoffrey Croft, president of NYC Park Advocates, a watchdog group.

The bulk of Blonsky's raise of $73,766 came from a $69,400 payment for accumulated vacation time, said Kari Wethington, a spokeswoman for the conservancy.

The Madison Square Conservancy refused to comment on Landau's raise. The group also employed Landau's sister, Maggi, with Landau paying her $125,000, plus a $12,500 bonus in 2009. She has since left.

The city Parks Department in 2009 began paying the bulk of Boden's salary for running Randalls Island, the location of Icahn Stadium and dozens of athletic fields. The Parks Department said it upped her salary to be more in line with her work.

A spokesman for Bryant Park Corp. and the 34th Street Partnership, a Business Improvement District, said the boards of both groups believe Biederman's "salary is justified given the renaissance that both districts have undergone."

Read More:

Parks turn 'greener' for exec $

New York Post - February 20, 2011 - By Isabel Vincent and Melissa Klein

High Line Spending Exposed

A Walk In The Park - August 3, 2009

Cedar Grove Beach Club Turned Into Private Filming Location

October 8, 2010 - The Parks Department's Park Enforcement Officers guard the main vehicle entrance to Cedar Grove Beach Club. In September, the Parks Department, which owns the land, forced the residents off the 45-acre site. The Bloomberg Adminisration is allowing the HBO series "Boardwalk Empire" to film at the site while it is still off limits to the public. (Photos By Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge.

Staten Island

A little bit of TV glitz has come to Staten Island, as the HBO series "Boardwalk Empire" has set up shop at the former Cedar Grove Beach Club, much to the chagrin of former beach residents who were booted out with promises that the space would be made public. NY1's borough reporter Amanda Farinacci filed the following report.

Cottage Number 4 at the Cedar Grove Beach Club looked the same for years, but thanks to a facelift from the HBO production Boardwalk Empire, the old home looks a little different.

Cedar Grove Beach Club Cottages.

"They've added columns and a little portico to it. I know, I was down in the beginning of January and they were fixing glass windows and they've taken down a lot of the screens so you could see the windows better," said former Cedar Grove resident Eleanor Dugan. "So apparently they're going to be filming out here from the outside."

The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment and the Parks Department both confirm that they have made an arrangement with "Boardwalk Empire" to allow the show to film scenes at Cedar Grove Beach, though it is unclear for how long and when filming will next take place there.

Crews were out earlier in the week, filming on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

There are few details about the upcoming park, except that it will be built in stages.

The agency has sealed the site to the public, and insists it is readying the space, though former residents are not so sure.

"I think it's a little hypocritical," said former Cedar Grove resident John Murphy. "They said they're going to open it up to the public, and obviously they're not doing that. But private concerns can actually use it, and I think that's very wrong."

They say "Boardwalk Empire" makes a lot of sense because it is set in the late 1920s, during Prohibition. They also say that is why Cedar Grove should be preserved.

"It has the historical value, and that's what they were looking for in the production," said Murphy. "And we have it, we have it right here."

The state is still considering whether to give the area historic designation, which would force the city to preserve some of it.

Sign of the Times. "Three Fools" A sign placed along the beach in September depicts Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Read More:

Public Officials Turn Private Beach Club Into Private Filming Location

NY1 - February 19, 2011 - By Amanda Farinacci

Last Weekend For Cedar Grove Beach Club?

A Walk In The Park - September 25, 2010

Harlem Girls Being Shortchanged Over Ice-Time In Riverbank State Park Critics Charge

Girls practice as part of Figure Skating in Harlem. Neighborhood residents say that the girls are being shortchanged as ice time is hogged by prep school hockey teams hailing from other neighborhoods. (Photo: Price for NY Daily News)

Manhattan

Many Harlem residents think their children are being squeezed out of a state park built for the neighborhood to make room for wealthy private-school kids from Manhattan and Riverdale, according to the New York Daily News.

The issue is the ice rink at Riverbank State Park, the 28-acre facility that opened in 1993 atop a city wastewater treatment plant.

Riverbank's rink has become the center of a bitter faceoff over gender and racial equity in our public parks - with some local residents threatening a civil rights suit.

Park officials deny any discrimination. It's just one of those perennial New York battles over park space, they claim. This conflict happens to pit one local figure skating program against an ice hockey program that attracts boys from across the city.

"Ice time is a rare commodity," Rachel Gordon, the regional state parks director, said. "You have to balance the needs of all the people who want to use it."

Parents of kids in the widely acclaimed Figure Skating in Harlem program say all sense of balance has been discarded - and the girls of Harlem are being sacrificed.

"Eighty percent of the rink time is allotted to boys hockey, even though not a lot of children from Harlem play hockey," parent Denise Tutt said. "It's a grave injustice to the girls of this community, and we just want the time spread more evenly."

Sharon Cohen has run the figure skating program for 14 years. She has a huge waiting list but can't accept more than a 130 girls each year because the park won't allot her more than 4-1/2 hours of ice time a week.

Yet hockey teams from three elite schools outside the neighborhood - St. David's on the upper East Side, Columbia Prep on the upper West Side, and Fieldston in Riverdale - all have regular slots at Riverbank, taking up 8-1/2 hours of the highly coveted weekday afternoon period at the rink.

In addition, the park has been expanding its hockey program, with a half-dozen teams consuming 15 more hours during the week and on weekend mornings.

Many of the older children in the park's hockey program also play on the private school teams.

"You can see when those hockey parents pick up their kids that they're not from this neighborhood," one bitter resident said.

Park director Reggie Maywood bristles at any suggestion he favors one group over another.

"I work in a state park," Maywood said. "Anyone who is a resident of this state is in my catchment zone."

Peggy Shepard of West Harlem Environmental Action, says "There doesn't seem to me any memory of why this park is there."

Back in the 1980s, every neighborhood in Manhattan successfully resisted the construction of a wastewater plant.

The state agreed to build a new park on top of the plant to compensate Harlem residents for accepting the plant and for the inevitable foul odors it would bring.

"To now have community children not being being able to use it is a travesty," Shepard said.

And the problem is not just on the ice.

"I've received complaints that Riverbank's swimming pool is increasingly being rented to outside groups as well," she said.

Riverbank is not simply a park. Harlem has lived for nearly 20 years with the odors from that plant. The promises made back then - of a park for the local community - have not been forgotten.

All they want uptown is some equity for their kids.

Read More:

Bitter faceoff at Harlem ice rink as residents complain that prep school teams hog ice time

New York Daily News - February 18, 2011 - By Juan Gonzalez

Feds Defend Tobacco Warehouse Giveaway

As expected the National Park Service (NPS) defended its decision to remove the Tobacco Warehouse property in Brooklyn Bridge Park from Federal protection. On February 14, 2011 the NPS sent a letter to Andy Beers, Acting NYS parks commissioner and the Brooklyn Heights Association, informing them of its decision. NPS's decison is the subject of a State and federal lawsuit charging that state park officials secretly and illegally removed the Tobacco Warehouse to allow St. Anne’s Warehouse, an arts group, to occupy the space.

A federal grant was administered by the NPS under the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), a national grant program designed to help create and maintain outdoor recreational sites. In 2001 the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYSOPRHP) requested LWCF funds for park improvements. As a condition for receiving funds the NPS required that NYSOP agree to never allow the parkland to be alienated. The facility was to be maintained in public outdoor recreation "in perpetuity." State Parks reneged on this agreement. - Geoffrey Croft

Brooklyn

The National Parks Service today ruled a popular DUMBO arts group can move forward with its $15 million plan to relocate and expand operations to a historic 19th-century building within the massive waterfront park, according to the New York Post.

St. Ann’s Warehouse plans to bring community events and live theater to the currently roofless remains of the Tobacco Warehouse building by 2013.

The US Justice Department last month ordered the Parks Service to review the project after grass-roots groups and preservationists filed two lawsuits claiming the building was illegally removed by the city from federal parkland protection. But the Parks Service backed the city’s position that the warehouse is not restricted to outdoor recreation.

St. Ann’s proposal includes two performance spaces, including a 10,000-square-foot theater to accommodate 300-700 people and a 2,100-square-foot flexible space that could accommodate an audience of 125. The 7,600-square-foot triangular section of the warehouse will be left open-air and is envisioned as a walled public garden with café tables and chairs.

The remainder of the site will include a lobby, public restrooms and performance-support space.

The city is allowing subtenants to use some of the space within the warehouse. Five have already inquired, including the nonprofit Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy – which offers park programming — and the Brooklyn Flea.

Regina Myer, president of the city’s Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp., hailed the decision, saying it would "allow for the preservation of this historic warehouse and reuse as a vibrant cultural and community venue. A world-class performance space and open-air garden will greatly benefit Brooklyn Bridge Park and the surrounding communities."

But project opponents said they still planned to follow through with the lawsuits.

"The announcement from the National Park Service in the Tobacco Warehouse case should shock anyone committed to good government," said Jane McGroarty, president of the Brooklyn Heights Association, one of the plaintiffs.

"It’s clear that the National Park Service — an agency charged with protecting our public parkland — has reneged on this duty and has yielded to political pressure from City Hall. Our lawsuit continues, and we will litigate vigorously so that these ‘back room’ deals do not rob the public of what is rightfully theirs."

St. Ann’s, which is moving across the street from its Water Street location, needs a new home because its landlord, DUMBO developer David Walentas, plans to take its existing site to move forward on a controversial 17-story development that opponents charge will block scenic views of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Read More:

Feds greenlight DUMBO arts group’s plan to expand operations to historic 19th Century Tobacco Warehouse

The New York Post - The Brooklyn Blog - February 15, 2011 - By Rich Calder

Feds illegally Gave Away Tobacco Warehouse In Brooklyn Bridge Park - Suit

A Walk In The Park - January 19, 2011

Lack Of Transparency Cited Over Brooklyn Bridge Park Tobacco Warehouse Bid

A Walk In The Park - November 17, 2010

Tree Cutter: Staten Island Builder $135K Fine Upheld

A Staten Island judge has upheld a $135,000 fine against a builder for improperly removing at least six trees without Parks Department permission on Shore Acres Road in order to build five houses in 2008. The one-family houses at 35, 43, 49, 55 and 61 Shore Acres Road are situated within the Special Natural Area District. Parks spokespersons last week however could provide no further details regarding the calculation of fines and tree-replacement policy. (Photo: Irving Silverstein/Staten Island Advance)

STATEN ISLAND How much are trees worth?

More than $135,000 in the case of the developer whom the city fined for removing at least six trees without permission around 2008 to construct five Shore Acres homes, according to the Staten Island Advance.

The spacious one-family houses at 35, 43, 49, 55 and 61 Shore Acres Road are situated within the Special Natural Area District, so designated to preserve unique natural characteristics, including trees, rock outcrops, steep slopes and a variety of botanic and aquatic environments.

Perched on a narrow, quiet street in the shadow of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the homes range in value from $665,000 to $947,000, according to online city Finance Department records.

A Staten Island justice recently upheld the fine against the builder, Block 3066 Inc., ruling the statute of limitations had elapsed before the company challenged the compensatory payment. Richard A. Rosenzweig, the Meiers Corners-based lawyer for Block 3066 said last week his client would appeal. The attorney, who’s affiliated with the firm Menicucci Villa & Associates declined further comment.

In a statement, a city Law Department spokeswoman said last week the city is “pleased” with the decision and confident it would be upheld on appeal. Last May, Block 3066 sued the city and its Department of Parks and Recreation in state Supreme Court, St. George, over the charges. In court papers, Block 3066 said it had removed “a number” of trees on the properties around 2008 due to their “unstable” condition.

“Severe” storms had felled some of the trees, while others were “dead” and “dangerous.” Court documents submitted by Block 3066 indicate at least 12 “dead” trees were on the lots. The Law Department spokeswoman said six trees, apparently, were improperly removed. In September of 2008, Parks informed Block 3066’s lawyer by letter that the builder had to pony up $135,038 to compensate the city for “unaccounted tree removals, missing and dead trees.”

“This amount reflects the quantitative value of the trees to the city’s street-tree natural infrastructure,” Parks wrote. The Law Department spokeswoman said the compensation Parks demanded for the destruction of city property wasn’t predicated on the trees being located in a Special Natural Area District. It was based on a Parks formula related to the trees’ sizes.

Parks spokespersons last week could provide no further details regarding the calculation of fines and tree-replacement policy. An important component of the natural landscape, trees help prevent erosion, while their leaves provide shelter from the weather. Trees also produce oxygen and reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, besides moderating ground temperatures.

Read More:

Staten Island builder who cut down trees is fined $135K

Staten Island Advance - February 14, 2011

Armed Gunman In Vidalia Playground Police Standoff

Bronx

An armed 15 -year-old boy kept law enforcement and family at bay for hours yesterday in a drama that unfolded in a Parks Department building in

Vidalia Playground

. (

180th St. bet. Vyse & Daly Aves.)

The boy,

wanted for questioning in connection with shooting a man

in Fordham was arrested after a tense standoff with police.

At 11:00 am the teenage gunman

ran up to a parks worker and asked if he could hide inside the parks building, according to sources. After the worker said no, he

brandished a Glock pistol and

locked himself inside the park house.

The assailant managed to climb up in a crawl space and burrow himself in. ESU deployed a camera after and eventually located him.

The youth’s mother, NYPD, SWATT,

FDNY,

and hostage negotiators were at the scene.

After some prodding from law enforcement, the gunman eventually surrendered after being spotted nestled near the ceiling. When he was escorted out of the building he was wearing just one boot. Police later recovered the gun hidden inside the boy's other boot.

He was transported to St. Barnanas Hospital for psychological evaluation and then to the 48 Precinct where he was charged with weapons possession, authorities said.

The interior of the park house sustained considerable damage in the ordeal. - Geoffrey Croft

Read More:

NYPD Daily Blotter

New York Post -

February 14, 2011 -

By Jessica Simeone