July 24, 2007

William Thompson, Comptroller
One Centre Street, Room 602
New York, NY 10007

Dear Mr. Thompson,

This letter requests that you please direct your attention once again to the Aquatic Development Group's contract to develop a private amusement facility and private beach club on Randall's Island and to ask for your oversight. This matter is in the papers once again, with the attached NY Metro article enclosed for your review.

We are aware of your opposition to this sole-source project in your capacity as a member of the Franchise Concessions Review Committee (FCRC) and thank you for your principled position.

It has been sometime since this controversial contract was approved, and to date there has been no review of the matter.  We are asking for you to re-examine the details and obligations of the contract to ensure that the interests of our City are protected.

As you may be aware, the FCRC has certain procedures in place to notify the impacted Community Board/s during the review process.  In this instance, the notification process for sole source contracts was not followed, and the local Community Board #11 in East Harlem was not informed by letter prior to the FCRC's vote as mandated.

In addition, the final contact signed by your office included very specific language pertaining to the financing of this private enterprise.  It is our understanding that none of the financial commitments are in place.

As the Randall’s Island Sports Foundation Chair Richard Davis indicates in the attached article, the City is liable for an investment in an electric power generator.  Not only are the costs prohibitive and inappropriate to subsidize a private enterprise, but such infrastructure will require parkland alienation legislation, something omitted from the original arrangement.  You should be further aware that, due to the sensitive nature of the habitat and eco-systems of the proposal, the project has necessitated permit approvals from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, where the developer’s application is “incomplete”.

Finally, the recent arrangement proposed by the Randall's Island Sports Foundation to provide exclusive use to a significant proportion of the public ball fields to private schools was not included in any of the preliminary statements and assessments of the amusement facility contract. This is a meaningful deficiency that should have been part of any decision review process inasmuch as the overall accessibility to the entire Randall's Island is severely restricted when these related projects are considered in tandem.  The water park deal would impact over 20% of the current ball field hours of use.  If it is duly terminated, the concurrent private school agreement can be re-evaluated, since this large proportion of recreational fields will remain available to the public.

For these and other reasons, we are asking your office to review this entire matter and provide an update of the contract obligations and how they are or are not being met.  We are encouraged to know that this contract is "Terminable at Will" by the City and are confident that your diligent review will allow New York City to avoid a costly liability for an incomplete or inefficient or unprofitable enterprise such as this.  It is in the City's interests to terminate this matter sooner rather than later if it will mean a significant cost for taxpayers to manage or remove a partially or completely built facility.  Please also share any information about other examples where a license has been granted for a 35-year term.

We look forward to your written reply.

Sincerely,

Harry J. Bubbins, Director
Friends of Brook Park
646.206.5288
http://friendsofbrookpark.org
Mail:  PO Box 801, The South Bronx, NY 10454

cc:   Valerie Budzik. Senior Counsel. Office of the Comptroller.

Article Link: http://ny.metro.us/metro/local/article/Rebirth_on_Randall's_Island/9425.html