Mayor doesn't own our parks in NYC

(re: “Van Cortlandt Park eyed for cricket stadium,” July 20)

On July 15, Mayor Eric Adams proposed construction of a commercial 34,000-seat cricket stadium in Van Cortlandt Park to host the June 2024 T20 World Cup held by the International Cricket Council.

The mayor floated a vague concept, saying the city would build a “temporary” and ‘modular” structure on the Parade Ground in fewer than five months, and that the Parade Ground will not be available for public use for six months.

On July 20, Community Board 8 met to review the limited information released. I attended via Zoom and listened to all of the speakers. We do not know who will build it, or at what cost, or who will really benefit.

I write on behalf of members of the Ruth Mullen Riverdale Huddle, and based on my own advocacy experience for public parks to urge that all possible steps be taken to stop Mayor Adams’ proposal. There are many reasons to oppose it, including lack of transparency, absence of acknowledgment of legal requirements, strong opposition by the community and local elected officials, and our city’s sorry history in managing similar projects — some of which are detailed here.

Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz spoke strongly against the proposal and the lack of alternative site review. Councilman Eric Dinowitz addressed the lack of transparency, and the lack of answers to basic questions about how the city could or would do it. We strongly support their reservations and concerns.

The city has not said why the event cannot be held in Yankee Stadium (46,537 seats), Citi Field (41,800 seats), or Arthur Ashe Stadium (23,770 seats) — stadiums that already have adequate restrooms and plumbing, electricity, security, parking lots, food service, entrance control, locker-rooms, and media facilities.

Local attorney Chris Rizzo and Karen Argenti from the Bronx Council for Environmental Equality — both experienced public park advocates — said there is not enough time between now and January to conduct alienation and Uniform Land Use Review Procedure approvals that are legally required to build a commercial facility in a public park.

Our greatest objection to the proposal is that it would be a misuse of parkland. Parkland is owned by New York’s citizens, and is protected by law so that all residents can freely use it.

Our parks are not “empty space,” and they are not owned by the mayor, other elected officials, or their political supporters.

A new stadium in Van Cortlandt Park will displace hundreds of current public activities: cross-country and relay races, New York City’s own cricket matches, soccer games, public and private school events, the Philharmonic and other free public concerts, and all of the family gatherings, birthday and other celebrations held on and around the Parade Ground. A stadium would also displace dog-walkers, and those who exercise or stroll, and those who go to the park for peace and quiet.

City agencies have not done the planning needed to build a 34,000-seat stadium for a global, televised sports competition, on a site that does not now have adequate sanitation, electricity, parking, traffic control, nor even public sewers. The city has not proven it has the ability to protect adjacent burial grounds, bird-nesting areas, or implement a court-ordered daylighting of Tibbett’s Brook.

There are multiple reasons to not believe any mayor who negotiates for a commercial use of parkland and “promises” restoration. The Croton Filtration Plant settlement included mitigation funds — promised by a prior mayor — to rebuild the Mosholu Golf Course. The chemical filtration plant opened in 2015, but the Mosholu Course has not been rebuilt.

When a former governor and mayor negotiated a mitigation agreement with Bronx elected officials so the Yankees could build their new stadium in public parks, they promised to also build local replacement parks.

That is not what happened.

The Bronx officials used chunks of the mitigation funds for projects in their own districts. Taxpayers paid for state bonds that funded construction of new parking garages on the parkland, which are now a financial failure. But the local community did not receive the parkland promised to them.

If New York City builds a facility for 34,000 attendees in Van Cortlandt Park, it will damage the park. If New York City collects funds provided by a bond — theoretically to restore the park — the money will go into the city’s general fund.

Some City officials can — and will — argue that the bond money should be used to reduce the deficit, or another need. Van Cortlandt Park users will then have to fight to get the funds allocated to fix Van Cortlandt Park. Based on past experience, it will cost much more to fix the damage than the bond revenue provides. Years will pass.

New Yorkers should oppose any commercial takeover of public parkland. We should not believe that this mayor — or the next mayor — will use related mitigation or bond-revenue to repair the damage to Van Cortlandt Park.

The author is the former president of Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, and former executive director of what was once known as The Parks Council. She writes on behalf of Ellen Chapnick, Sue Ellen Dodell, Annmarie Golden, Lois Harr, Helen Krim, Julie Marcus, Abigail Janco Martin, Judith Minkoff-Grey, Madeline Ritter, Janice Weaver and Dale Wolff.