Carter's View
The New York City Department of Parks has given a 12-month contract to the Sutton East Tennis Club to use the grounds beneath the Queensboro Bridge on the east side of York Avenue, a deal that about 100 local residents protested at a meeting last night of the parks and open spaces committee of Community Board 8, according to an article in the New York Daily News today by Christina Boyle and Kerry Burke.
Holding signs reading "Save Our Field" and "People Not Profit," opponents, the article maintained, criticized the department for "cutting a secret deal with a tennis center that charges fees of as much as $180 an hour - and $800 a week for a kids camp."
The tennis club has been used the site for several years with an inflated tent for eight months of the year while the rest of the year, in summer, it has been used by "Little Leaguers, dog walkers, joggers and cyclists," according to the article.
"The Parks Department made a behind-closed-door deal in a community that has the least amount of open space," said NYC Park Advocates campaigner Geoffrey Croft, adding "They should be ashamed of themselves," the article said.
Parks officials told the Daily News that under the new contract the city would get 35% of the facility's gross earnings between September and April, and 25% during the remaining months.
Community Board 8 chairwoman Jacqueline Ludorf said the Parks Department had vowed to let the baseball players back, but "now they say they can't do that," the article continued, adding "I think it's a done deal." "How can you take this away from us when we have so little?" open space in the neighborhood, she said, the article added.
The fees would bring $1.9 million into the city's coffers in 2010 and $2.2 million in 2011.
The article said that Sutton East Tennis Club director, Tony Scolnick, did not return a call for comment.
Holding signs reading "Save Our Field" and "People Not Profit," opponents, the article maintained, criticized the department for "cutting a secret deal with a tennis center that charges fees of as much as $180 an hour - and $800 a week for a kids camp."
The tennis club has been used the site for several years with an inflated tent for eight months of the year while the rest of the year, in summer, it has been used by "Little Leaguers, dog walkers, joggers and cyclists," according to the article.
"The Parks Department made a behind-closed-door deal in a community that has the least amount of open space," said NYC Park Advocates campaigner Geoffrey Croft, adding "They should be ashamed of themselves," the article said.
Parks officials told the Daily News that under the new contract the city would get 35% of the facility's gross earnings between September and April, and 25% during the remaining months.
Community Board 8 chairwoman Jacqueline Ludorf said the Parks Department had vowed to let the baseball players back, but "now they say they can't do that," the article continued, adding "I think it's a done deal." "How can you take this away from us when we have so little?" open space in the neighborhood, she said, the article added.
The fees would bring $1.9 million into the city's coffers in 2010 and $2.2 million in 2011.
The article said that Sutton East Tennis Club director, Tony Scolnick, did not return a call for comment.
Additional Info About the Building
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.