East Harlem Preservation

Randall's Island Development Fueled by Giuliani Donors

By Emerson

NYC Indy Media, February 25, 2006

A strikingly inappropriate 26 acre development is being pushed to alienate public park land.

We have had the opportunity to review the 80 plus pages of the Draft Waterpark Concession Agreement between the Department of Parks and Recreation and Randall’s Island Aquatic Leisure, LLC and our concerns have only been magnified. It is clear from legislation and court precedent that this Draft Agreement if implemented in its current size and form would assuredly meet the definition of “alienating” park land. Hence, much more legislative involvement will be necessary to move forward. Furthermore, the Randall's Island Aquatic Leisure LLC is a currently non-existent shell company, with no track record or office space, created solely for this initiative and perhaps to thwart investigation into the track records of its principals and possible association with felons, which would certainly scuttle the deal.

We do know that, from the 2001 Giuliani Administration press release announcing this scheme that is led by the Aquatic Development Group. Why they couldn’t be named on a Draft Agreement should be cause for serious concern and further scrutiny than is provided for in the timeframe currently adhered to by the current Administration.

Dear Council Member

Thank you for encouraging your Chief of Staff to request further information regarding the proposed Water “Park” for Randall’s Island. As you are aware, we have significant concerns regarding the proposed alienation of public parkland. Like the Comptroller and the Manhattan Borough President who both voted “No” at the recent Franchise and Concessions Review Committee, we cannot support this project in it’s current formulation.

Our interest in the appropriate use of Randall’s Island stems from our decade of involvement in leading bike tours and Nature walks with youth and adults across the green fields of Randall’s Island. More recently, we have expanded our environmental educational programming to include a paddling program on the Harlem River and the Bronx Kill directly to and form the proposed site on the North East corner of the Island.

In addition we have been long time advocates of improved community access to Randall’s Island, by extending the South Bronx Green Way under the Amtrak viaduct Bridge, by the implementation of the Saint Ann’s Avenue Bridge in accordance with he NYC Greenway Plan and for the year round opening of the existing East Harlem Bridge. These much needed projects would dramatically improve the quality of life for thousands of residents of the South Bronx East Harlem and.

Firstly, the Draft Agreement is incomplete and is missing the most important information that would allow for a meaningful review by our elected officials and the public. Specifically, the Draft Agreement is missing the most crucial information. Missing and blank in the Draft Agreement are numerous sections including: Exhibit A Land Description, Exhibit B Land Depiction, Exhibit C Indoor Facility, Exhibit D Outdoor Facility, Exhibit F Project Costs, Exhibit G Amortization Schedule, Exhibit H Project Schematics, Exhibit J Licensor Construction Work and so on.

The only Exhibit on file is Exhibit I Admission Prices which sadly indicate that the cost of admission to this private enterprise being proposed on municipal land will be over $60.

We understand that these significant omissions of needed data for proper review are not the responsibility of the DPR , but of the proposed Developer. There is no need to rush through such a significant review process if the parties involved have verified their plans. It is disrespectful, inappropriate and possibly illegal to follow through with the scheduled March 7th Public Meeting if the Members of the Committee and the public are not provided with the basic information needed to make an informed vote. For this reason the scheduled vote should be rescheduled.

Besides, the proposal to develop 26 acres of public park land by a private developer is simply inappropriate on its face and begs the question as to how such a scheme could have gained any traction. Our research indicates that there is much for our elected officials and the Comptroller to review, which will be addressed further on.

It is clear from legislation and court precedent that this Draft Agreement if implemented in its current size and form would assuredly meet the definition of “alienating” park land. Hence, much more legislative involvement will be necessary to move forward. and the Home Rule Committee of the City Council will need to assert it’s role in this process.

The courts have repeatedly ruled that if land has been dedicated as a park it cannot be "alienated," or taken for a non-park use, without the approval of the State Legislature.

The following have been determined by the courts to be alienations:

The conveyance, sale, or lease of municipal parkland or recreational facilities to another entity, such a developer which results in the facility no longer being used for public park and recreation
Restricting to local residents the use of recreational facilities that had previously been open to all persons.

It is worth noting that municipalities that have engaged in grant contracts with State or Federal funds require the municipality to obtain alienation legislation when the site is impacted in any way by proposed development.

Inasmuch as the DPR and Randall’s Island Sports Foundation has received enormous support from the Sate and federal Governments, through the Environmental Protection Fun, Clean Water Clean Air Bond Act and the Land and Water Conservation Fund , among others, it is clear that their existing obligations mandate State legislation before such a drastic reconfiguration of the Island. One item of relevance: The Environmental Protection Act of 1993 (Environmental Protection Fund) Provides for a restriction on alienation and a requirement to provide substitute lands.

In addition, the municipal act of selling, leasing, conveying, or changing the use of the parkland is subject to a Type 1 action under State Environmental Quality Review and requires local or State permits including a more thorough review by the municipality in the form of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). From our review of the documents it does not appear that an EIS has been completed for the originally proposed and more modest 6 acre facility, or the 15 acre site indicated in 2001 and definitely not for the gargantuan 26 acre monstrosity proposed on our park land with its possible 133,000 sq ft of indoor space requiring ten of the Island's already overcrowded 29 baseball and soccer fields to be bulldozed.

This entire project has been subject to justifiable skepticism in that there has never been a Request for Proposals or a clear and transparent Solicitation process. This has led to The City Controller to ask how the project was allowed to swell from a 12-acre, $45 million water park in 1999 to a 26-acre, $168 million venture today - without ever putting the contract up for rebidding.

Another important issue, if this proposal is to be seriously considered at all, is in regards to financing and corporate responsibility. According the Draft Agreement, the financing is left open and not specified to a degree in which our municipality should feel confident in the developer’s abilities to complete the proposed work. Almost all of these sorts of facilities are attached to a hotel, thereby guaranteeing a clientele and paying customership. This sort of model is very untried and could fail to attract the numbers of visitors needed to sustain it.

Furthermore, the Randall's Island Aquatic Leisure LLC is a currently non-existent shell company, with no track record or office space, created solely for this initiative and perhaps to thwart investigation into the track records of its principals and possible association with felons, which would certainly scuttle the deal.

It may be that the financial ups and downs, previous bankruptcy, and their main financial backers would throw up insurmountable red flags about this deal. The financial backer that has bailed out Aquatic Development Group is Jared Abbruzzese. Since the year 2000, one year before this project in a more scaled back form was announced, Mr. Abbruzzese and numerous family members have contributed over $100,000 to various Republican Committees, in addition to entities controlled by former Mayor Giuliani, including Friends of Giuliani and Solutions America. Besides direct contributions from Mr. Ellis and Mr. Abrubruzzese to Giuliani controlled entities, before and shortly after the announced deal, the former Mayor is the recipient of tens of thousands of dollars funneled through the Republican Committees they contributed too as well.

We are fully in support of the free speech rights of everybody to participate in the political process. We are compelled to raise these issues for more extensive review by the Council, Committee and Comptroller because of the secretive and wholly inappropriate siting of this project and how it could possibly have come to be in the first place.

As part of the Review Process under question now, “…If the Comptroller raises certain objections such as irregularities within the agreement or concerns of corruption, the implementation deadline is void.”

In conclusion, we would like to put again this proposal in perspective. Rather than concentrate energies and resources in addressing the existing inequities this deal which precedes the Bloomberg Administration has continued with an unclear momentum of it’s own.

In the context of no easy access to Randall's Island from the South Bronx, a closed bridge to East Harlem and no official waterfront or shore access in the entire South, South Bronx, a project that would privative 26 acres of public park land and cost a daily admission of over $60 can’t really be supported by anybody currently in decision-making positions. More absurd is the proposal for an indoor “river”, on a site adjacent to a real river! This just makes clear that this cookie cutter project is not intended to be here.

Indicative of the politics involved in 2001 then Commissioner Stern was compelled to say "The great recreational potential of Randall's and Wards Island Park will now be fulfilled with the amphitheater, track & field center, and water park. We are pleased to see these projects get under way." Today, free of such constraints as the project has tripled in potential impact he offers this indirect yet clear position, “I think it would be no problem if it was left alone," he said. "It's doesn't have to be a happening. It's an open space, an island in the heart of the city.""

This strikingly unacceptable Draft Agreement is a leftover from the previous Giuliani Administration that needs to be rejected in it’s entirety by the Franchise and Concessions Review Committee.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to working with you to protect, preserve and expand our open green spaces. We appreciate your support.

Sincerely,

Harry J. Bubbins

http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2006/02/65491.shtml