New NY State License Plate Revealed—And Required On All Cars
Cops: Columbia Prof Punched Woman In "White Privilege" Brawl
Despite Gay Brothers, State Sen. Diaz Still Anti-Gay Marriage
Flashback: Last Brownstone Standing
Cops: Fort Greene Violence Sparked By Chicken Wing Promotion
Norman Siegel, former NYCLU director, is taking the city to court today on behalf of Harlem residents opposed to the city’s plan for sports fields on Randall's Island. The city is building 63 new fields on the island in addition to the 36 fields already there; the construction is being partially financed by a consortium of private schools who will be given exclusive access to most of the fields between 3pm and 6pm on weekdays.
The project broke ground over the summer and is expected to be completed in 2009; the schools have agreed to pay $52 million of an the estimated $70 million cost. Opponents, who include Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and NYC Parks Advocates, say the deal amounts to an unfair pay-for-play policy which would bar less affluent children from the fields.
Not so fast says Richard Davis, chairman of the Randall's Island Sports Foundation: “Right now maybe two fields are available for public schools. After this project is done, 20 will be.” Ultimately the case could swing on the plaintiffs’ charge that the city circumvented the community board and City Council to approve the private school partnership. The plan was green-lighted by the city's Franchise Concession and Review Committee, which is in Bloomberg’s pocket.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Couldn't the private schools all agree to schedule their games during the regular school day, so they don't take away precious after-school time from the public? The private schools are in a position to have this flexibility. They can change the times their classes meet.
shouldn't private schools use private facilities for private school related activities?
@ Aces
RTFA, the private schools put up $52mm of the $70mm total cost. And all they are getting is exclusive access for 3 hours per weekday. The fields are available to anyone during the remainder of the week.
@ LM
Why do you think that the private schools consortium is putting up the bulk of the money? They need fields for their students to practice and play on *after school*. If the times were altered, why would they provide the funding? Out of the goodness of their hearts?
The private schools are putting up well less than half the stated cost of the project. Writing in the Daily News, Juan Gonzalez has shown there are enormous additional costs the city must foot that they don't yet admit are part of the work. Even that $52 million is over 20 years while the $70 is spent now, so on a present value basis, that contribution is less than half.
But the important point being litigated, the one that cgee misses, is that the decision on how to change Randalls Island is not simply the prerogative of one man, Mike Bloomberg. The city charter calls for a specific process for land use review and the judge is saying the city must follow it. The mayor has not made any credible argument as to why he can make massive changes in 170 acres of land without the review and approval of the community board and City Council. Maybe in the end the people of the city will decide selling the park to the private schools is in our best interest but the mayor and the elite 20 have to convince a few more people first.
I don't get it...I think many who object to the plan have never really set foot out on the Island.
I have spent untold hours out on Randalls and Wards Island over the last 10 years as a baseball parent in CYO-Manhattan Youth Baseball. Except for the fact that the island is surrounded by water and that makes the views attractive, the place is an absolute DUMP!
The playing fields are abysmal, they are laid out in a horrific design, and the "alleged" open space is nothing more that gross patches of dirt, and when it rains, MUD. Socer players and rugby players who play in the "open" areas play on patches of weeds, broken glass, and rocks. And trust me when I say this: NOBODY goes to Randalls Island to sunbathe, as was alleged by Mr. Seigel during the court hearing......
As for the ball infields, they are now a safety hazard, with broken glass, infields with big holes and uneven grading so that chidren playing on them are more likely to be injured.
There are no restrooms for the thousands of people who use the park every weekend; parking is unsupervised and laissez-faire, making it incredibly dangerous for young children.
The RISF plan optimizes the land use to provide the most opportunities for the thousands of baseball, softball and soccer players who yearn for more and better playing facilities by putting more ball and soccer fields in the same amount of space. It provides provides for additional restrooms in logical spots to make being out there more pleasant. It controls traffic flow to minimize the pedestrian dangers that currently exist.
It eliminates the huge patches of swamp in the middle of the island and makes it usable land; the cluttered unkept areas near the edges of the Island are a haven for RATS!! I know, you have to watch out for them when you use a ballfield located near the water.
Why would ANYONE not want to take advantage of private financing to make a terrific public facility?
Would the critics of the plan to complete the renovation of Randalls Island have also preferred that dump of a track stadium that used to occupy the space remain where Icahn Stadium and the beautiful soccer fields next to it now exist ? What the RISF plan does is bring the rest of the Island up to those standards.
What is so wrong with that?
The alternative is what? More of the same?!?