Donald Trump to build public golf course in Ferry Point Park

A little bit of Jack Nicklaus is coming to the Bronx, via The Donald.

Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe today announced that the City has negotiated a 20-year license agreement for the operation of the Ferry Point Golf Course to the Trump Organization. The course is a Jack Nicklaus Signature, tournament-quality golf course that will be open to the public and will generate economic activity in the Bronx.

The golf course is expected to open to the public for play in the spring of 2014.

In addition to the primary responsibilities of maintaining and operating a tournament-quality golf course, the Trump Organization has committed to a minimum $10 million capital investment to design and construct a new, state-of-the-art golf clubhouse – expected to create 100 new construction jobs. The clubhouse will include a cart storage facility, locker rooms and a grill room.

The parks department has not yet said when construction will begin.

The Trump Organization was selected through a public Request for Offers issued by the Parks Department.

“This new public golf course will be a great amenity for the Bronx, for the City, and for visitors,” said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “More than $600 million has been invested in parks around the Bronx during Mayor Bloomberg’s tenure, and now this long-awaited golf course will soon be among them – bringing more people from across the country and around the world to the Bronx. The Trump Organization is known for operating world-class golf courses, and I’m excited to be able to partner with them to build and run the first tournament-quality golf course in New York City.”

“This is an opportunity to have one of our country’s greatest golf courses right smack in the middle of New York City – an unheard of opportunity,” said Trump Organization CEO and Chairman Donald J. Trump. “The residents of New York City will be very proud of the end result which will include championship tour play, with all of its benefits, right down the road.”

At 222 acres, Ferry Point Park East represents one of the largest pieces of previously undeveloped parkland in New York City, and one of the biggest opportunities for augmenting the City’s recreational resources. When complete, the new park will contain the golf course, a community park with playgrounds and ball-fields, and a waterfront park with rambling trails and scenic overlooks.

Ferry Point Golf Course is an 18-hole, links-style, Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course that will be open to the public. Sitting at the foot of the Whitestone Bridge in the Bronx, it is designed specifically to take advantage of spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline, East River, and Whitestone and Throgs Neck Bridges. In addition to the 18-hole course, the facility also will include a clubhouse, snack bar, comfort station, and driving range. It will be the only tournament-quality course in New York City, giving avid golfers a unique and more challenging alternative to the City’s other well-maintained (hehe, nice try Parks Department) public courses.

The Trump Organization has past experience developing, maintaining and operating first-class golf venues around the world including a recently completed links-style course in Aberdeen, Scotland. Trump courses have played host to major professional golf tournaments, including the LPGA playoffs in West Palm Beach and the PGA Puerto Rican Open. The Trump Organization is also an experienced Parks concessionaire with background operating the Wollman and Lasker ice skating rinks and the Central Park carousel.

Liu audit finds thousands is uncollected revenue from Bronx parks

Here's a story from this week's Riverdale Review.

By Brendan McHugh 

In the Bronx, parks’ concessions have over $58,000 lying on the table in uncollected revenue, a recent audit found. 

City Comptroller John C. Liu audited the Department of Parks and Recreation’s controls over recreational, dining, and retail concessions and found that better management could have yielded $8.8 million more in badly needed revenue for the city. 

In Riverdale, uncollected revenue from the Major Deegan gas stations, mobile food carts in Van Cortlandt Park and even a tennis professional in Seton Park are among the amenities in local parks that are not being forced to pay what they owe to the city. 

“Parks are not just about concessions, but concession contracts should be better managed so that revenue flows to the City without unnecessary interruption,” Liu said.

Jump below for the full story.

City pulls plug on Bronx skating rink

Here's a story from this week's Riverdale Review and Bronx Press.

By Brendan McHugh 

There will be no ice-skating in the Bronx this winter. 

After months of delays, the Department of Parks and Recreation says the electrical upgrade needed to operate a skating rink will not be completed in time to operate this season.

This puts a black eye on Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy, who partnered together to bring a full-size rink to the Bronx, Bloomberg said in his 2011 State of the City address at the beginning of this year. 

"Parks has explored every possible means of bringing ice skating to the Bronx this winter. The engineering and capital construction issues involved with bringing the power needed for a skating rink make it necessary to forgo, for this season, what we had hoped would be a fun activity for all,” Bronx Parks Commissioner Hector Aponte.

The electrical hookup, needed for a rink of any size, will require the installation of an underground vault that will not be ready this winter.

Jump below for the full story.

Bronx comes out on top in State awards

Here's another story that didn't make this week's Bronx Press.

By Brendan McHugh 

For once, the Bronx came out ahead of the other boroughs in something positive. 

In Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Council (REDC), 13 Bronx and borough-related projects were tapped as top development priorities and therefore will receive funds nearing $37 million. 

Throughout the entire city, $66.2 million has awarded. This includes $29.5 million that will be used for the redevelopment of the Hunts Point Produce Market, as well as smaller grants for other borough projects. 

“I am extremely gratified that both Governor Cuomo and our State’s economic development leadership understand the importance of the Hunts Point Produce Market not only as a transformative economic engine for the Bronx, but for the entire region,” Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said in a statement. “Investing in the market and building a new 21st century facility will both preserve and create jobs here in the Bronx while also expanding opportunities for upstate farmers.” 

The New York City Economic Development Corp., which worked with Diaz and other Bronx officials to help keep Hunts Point from moving to New Jersey, said they will continue to fight for the redevelopment of the produce market to take place in the borough.

Jump below for the full story.

Bronx Board 8 "deplores" process with temporary ice rink in Van Cortlandt

Here's a story from this week's Riverdale Review and Bronx Press. But before we get to that, let us provide you with an update:

Community Board 8 overwhelmingly passed a resolution at last night's (Tuesday) general board meeting saying they "deplore" the parks department's decision to circumvent the public-review process by introducing a smaller, temporary rink that only needs a permit to operate. The board is planning a public forum to discuss the ice rink--both the temporary permit rink and the full concession rink--for January with the community, though a date has yet to be finalized. We will have a full story on the actions of Board 8 in next week's paper.

By Brendan McHugh 

As the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation continues to negotiate with Ice Rink Events to try and bring the boroughs only public skating rink to Van Cortlandt Park, their efforts to appease the community may have only enraged them more. 

A number of Community Board 8 members have expressed outrage over a new plan for a smaller—“mini”—29-day rink that skips public scrutiny. 

“There are a lot of disturbed people,” said one member of the board, who wanted to be kept anonymous until the general board meeting Tuesday night. 

The Tuesday, Dec. 13 meeting at the Rivedale YM/YWHA, which is after press time, is the community board’s best chance to collect public input on the skating rink. 

The board had scheduled—and subsequently cancelled—five meetings over the past few months as they attempted to hold a public meeting to discuss the larger, 15-year rink. However, with very little details, they did not want to hold a meeting. 

Community Board 8 has a resolution they plan to vote upon Tuesday night that, if passed, would say the board “deplores DPR’s decision to circumvent the public-review process…” 

Jump below for the full story.

Skateboarders seek park here

Here's a story from this week's Riverdale Review.

By Brendan McHugh 

In an attempt to get themselves off the streets, four skateboarders came to the parks committee of Community Board 8 last week asking for the area’s first skateboarding park. 

“We’d have a place to skate and we’d be out of your way,” said Michael Roberts, a Riverdale-Kingsbridge Academy graduate. 

They offered the committee pictures of themselves skating at public places as evidence. One was outside Bronx County Courthouse, another in front of RKA, yet another down the block from two of the community board members, and even one right outside the board office. 

They managed to win over support from the board fairly easily. The four skaters discussed skate park aesthetics, safety concerns and revenue for the community. 

“Skaters need to eat,” Michael Alfano, an eleventh grader at KRA, chimed in, saying putting in a park in the neighborhood will help out the local businesses. 

Jump below for the full story.

Liu says Parks Dept. needs to do a better job with concessions

City Comptroller John Liu says better management of parks concessions would net millions for the city.

He highlights Tavern on the Green, which closed nearly two years ago and still has yet to be replaced with a new tenant, costing the city over $2 million (and made my school change the location of our Senior Formal! Still bitter about that, if you couldn't tell).

Liu says all the concession mismanagement by the Department of Parks and Recreation has cost the city $8.8 million. In addition to the lost revenue calculations, the City and State have forfeited nearly $3.7 million in sales taxes with Tavern’s demise, and 500 jobs disappeared, the audit estimates. 

“Parks are not just about concessions, but concession contracts should be better managed so that revenue flows to the City without unnecessary interruption,” Liu said. 

The audit concluded that other concessions could also have been better managed – to the tune of $6.6 million. These include the pushcart licenses in Battery Park, the Central Park tennis courts, the ice skating rink at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, and the snack bar at Orchard Beach in Pelham Bay Park.

He mentions the ice skating rink in Queens, but the audit has left out (for good reason) the non-existent ice skating rink in Van Cortlandt Park. 

Over the summer, we've been writing about the parks department's failure to close negotiations with Ice Rink Events to bring a skating rink to Van Cortlandt Park. There was limited interest--only three companies showed up to the site tour, and two of them didn't bother bidding on the contract--which seems to have given Ice Rink Events the upper hand in the negotiations, allowing them to force the better deal.

Because of that, parks is probably going to not gain as much money as they could have out of these negotiations. Mayor Michael Bloomberg wanted to rink up and running this year. They're already behind schedule.

They recently announced a compromise for this year only, though if the entire summer has shown us anything, it's that the entire concession process needs to be looked over and reexamined for a more transparent process. 

Liu says that specifically, the Parks Department should have started key contract solicitations earlier and ensured more competition. Parks also failed to maintain key documentation supporting contract decisions and preventing conflicts of interest. 

The Parks Department, as custodian of over 29,000 acres of City parkland, is responsible for soliciting and awarding concessions for various attractions. Typically, the concession operators pay a fee or a percentage of their total receipts – money that is used to support programs and services.  

Jump below for the rest of the audit summary.

$9.9 million restoration coming to Soundview Park

Here's a story from this week's Bronx Press.

By Brendan McHugh 

Groundbreakings, am I right?

The mouth of the Bronx River is getting a makeover. 

The US Army Corps of Engineers, the same group that oversaw the highly necessary reconstruction of Orchard Beach, is restoring the Soundview Park wetlands, lagoon and upland forests. 

The $9.9 million restoration should take about a year, officials said. They added that the wetlands would help curb flooding during heavy storms, something that was all too obvious to area residents during Tropical Storm Irene. 

The ecological restoration will include the excavation of approximately three acres immediately north of the park’s lagoon area and the creation of tidal wetlands in its place. Aside from preventing flooding, restoring the tidal wetland will provide a habitat for birds and marine life, improve water quality and promote a healthier ecosystem.

Jump below for the full story.

Body found in Van Cortlandt Park Lake emphasizes need for more park patrol

Another story from this week's Riverdale Review and Bronx Press.

By Brendan McHugh 

A body was found Monday in the lake.

A body was found in Van Cortlandt Park Lake Monday afternoon, highlighting a lack of patrol in the city’s parks.

Anthony McGurran, 77, was missing from his Bailey Avenue home since Friday. Police say the investigating is ongoing and that the cause of death is not yet known. There were no immediate signs of foul play.

The news of the tragic death, whatever the cause may be, has underlined a problem with parks and crime.

“The Parks Department is responsible for 14 percent of the city’s land and it’s completely unacceptable that the city is not tracking and reporting crime,” said Geoffrey Croft of NYC Parks Advocates, a parks watchdog group.

Jump below for the full story.

New operators for food services coming to Orchard Beach

Orchard Beach needs a new vendor for food services.

The Bronx Riviera is in need of food.

The city's Department of Parks & Recreation announces that a Request for Proposals (“RFP”) has been issued for the renovation, operation and maintenance of three snack bars and the operation of up to 20 mobile food units at Orchard Beach.

“For more than 75 years, Orchard Beach has served as the Riviera of the Bronx, delighting New Yorkers with its 1.1 mile sandy beach and promenade,” said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “No trip to the beach is complete without delicious food and we are hoping to find high quality, interesting food offerings for the beach’s snack bars and carts.”

The deadline for RFP submissions is Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011 at 3 p.m.

The contract expired at the end of the 2011 summer season for the previous company that ran food services.

Jump below to find out where you can obtain the RFP if you're interested.

Williamsbridge Oval Park open to community

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe were joined by Parks Bronx Borough Commissioner Hector Aponte, District Manager of Community Board 7 Fernando Tirado, Jerome-Gun Hill BID Executive Director Michael Lambert, Community Board 7 Parks Chair William Francis and others to celebrate the ribbon cutting this afternoon at the Williamsbridge Oval Park. Also attending the event were members of the Friends of the Williamsbridge Oval, the St. Brendan's school choir and other members of the Norwood community.

This looks like a nice playground.

“Williamsbridge Oval originally served as a reservoir of drinking water for the Bronx, and as a park it has long been a 'wellspring' of recreational opportunities,” Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe said in a statement. “Along with the recently completed running track and synthetic turf field, and the soon-to-be-opened recreation center, these new playgrounds and basketball courts will allow the Norwood community to continue to 'draw from' Williamsbridge Oval for years to come."   

The reconstruction includes two new playgrounds: one that is handicapped-accessible and contains play equipment for toddlers and preschoolers, the other with more challenging climbing features for older children. The site is united by a centralized spray plaza that recognizes the site’s history as a reservoir with the embedded names of New York’s aquifers and watersheds. The renovation also includes a new basketball complex, seating, ornamental planting beds, pathways, and restoration of the site’s promenade.

This $6.1 million project is part of a $200 million investment in Bronx Parks paid for with mitigation funds from the construction of the Croton Water Filtration Plant through the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and the Municipal Water Finance Authority.

Croton funding has also allowed us to reconstruct park’s recreation center. The $3.6 million dollar overhaul is almost complete, and includes a new roof, façade, drainage system, upgraded restrooms, and handicapped accessibility. This is in addition to a new synthetic turf field and running track that were completed using Croton funds in 2008. In total, nearly $14 million in Croton mitigation funds have been spent on improvements to Williamsbridge Oval Park.

Also, ribbon cuttings are just as dumb as groundbreakings.

$1 million slated to fix Seton Park

Another story from this week's Riverdale Review. Check out old coverage of this issue here.

By Brendan McHugh 

City Councilman G. Oliver Koppell is set to allocate nearly $1 million to the restoration of Seton Park, and based off a recent community meeting, it will go towards repairing the natural grass, the ball fields and the tennis courts.

“[T]he consensus was to do various repairs to the ball field, tennis courts, etc., rather than use the money for artificial turf,” Community Board 8 parks committee chairman Bob Bender said. “We are sending our minutes to Councilman Koppell so he can learn what happened.”

Ultimately, the park users decided for renovation of the worst parts of the ball fields’ surfaces, including restoration of a field that has essentially disappeared to the naked eye, resurfacing the tennis courts, and brining in new infrastructure such as benches, backstops and dugouts. 

Koppell spoke briefly at the Oct. 27 meeting, held in the Schervier Apartments, to a group of Seton Park users that included tennis players, a Riverdale-Kingsbridge Academy representative, little league parents and other concerned residents before he had to run off to another meeting. 

Jump below for the full story.

Roberto Clemente State Park highlighted in national initiative

Here's a story from this week's Bronx Press. The full lineup of stories is coming later today.

Ken Salazar (center) toured Roberto Clemente State Park
with U.S. Rep. Jose Serrano, state Sen. Jose Serrano
and others last week.

By Brendan McHugh

It’s not often a member President Obama’s team visits the Bronx, but they did last Friday to launch a new job creating initiative.

U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Obama’s nature czar, came to Roberto Clemente State Park in Morris Heights to launch the Urban Waters Federal Partnership. 

Just days before the release of a 50-state report outlining ways to reconnect Americans to the outdoors, Salazar joined U.S. Rep. Jose Serrano and local environmental activists in highlighting Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative to establish a 21st century conservation and recreation agenda and reconnect Americans to the outdoors. 

“For so many decades, people turned their backs on America,” Salazar said. “It’s been only in the last 30 years there’s been a rediscovery of the greatness of the rivers of America.” 

Jump below for the full story.

Koppell pledges a brighter future for Seton and Ewen parks

Should Seton Park be
natural or artificial grass?

Here's a story from this week's Riverdale Review. Enjoy.

By Brendan McHugh 

Seton Park’s soccer field is getting a makeover, but whether the pitch will be natural or artificial is up to the community.

City Councilman G. Oliver Koppell, who has slated $900,000 for the park’s refurbishment, toured Seton Park with a handful of community members last month and found a number of issues with the field.

“It’s not in good shape,” he said, noting the puddles that form because of drainage issues. “But in order to do all of Seton Park, it’d be like $2 million dollars.”

So Koppell has put forth the largest allocation of funds toward the park to reconstruct the field, which will also fix the drainage issues and clear out embedded rocks and other debris.

Jump below for the rest of the story, including Ewen Park news at the bottom.

Owen Dolen groundbreaking

Here's another story from this week's Bronx Press. Last week, community leaders rejoiced during a groundbreaking ceremony in Westchester Square's Owen Dolen Park. 

By Brendan McHugh 

Improving a triangular park is a step towards revitalizing Westchester Square. 

Local pols and community members were thrilled last week to break ground on a $5 million reconstruction of Owen Dolen Park, a necessary process in erasing memories of a once derelict area.

“We want the square to comeback,” Vacca said. He allocated $4.5 million and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. allocated the additional half-million.

The reconstruction of Owen Dolen Park is a major
step in the revitalization of Westchester Square.

“We always had things to do in Westchester Square,” Vacca said, reminiscing about all the things he used to do as a child, including going to the library, the local shops and restaurants and more to the point, just enjoying the area.

“We can bring that back if we do it right,” he added, noting plans to bring a library to the area. “We can very truly say that Westchester Square has good days ahead.”

The funding will expand the public plaza and repave many of the paths and sidewalks. New fencing, benches and landscaping will also be added along with better drainage, water lines and hydrants. A drinking fountain will be added. In addition, new lighting and electrical service for outdoor events will be built.

Jump below for the rest of the story.

Vote! Artificial or Natural Grass?

Seton Park, as seen from the Whitehall

If you check the top right side of the blog, you'll see a new poll. City Councilman G. Oliver Koppell has a couple hundred thousand dollars he wants to put toward repairing field conditions at Seton Park, but hasn't decided what type of playing surface should be built.

During a site visit over the summer, the group he was with was split on whether or not to make more of the grass artificial, or simply repair the natural grass that is already there. Currently, only the baseball infield is artificial.

Please vote! I'd like to get my own census for a story I'd like to write this week. Feel free to email us at bronxpolitics(at)gmail(dot)com if you'd like to comment for the paper, or just leave your feedback below for the website.

Jump below for the pros and cons.