Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza sues New York City Department of Parks & Recreation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Community Demands a Fair Shake
Calls for Concession Reform


NEW YORK, June 2006– Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza has filed suit against the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, seeking an injunction to stop the Parks Department from issuing a concession license to the New York City Milkshake Company for use of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, a city park located on 47th Street between First and Second avenues. The suit, an Article 78 proceeding, was filed in New York State Supreme Court, New York County.

Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, a nonprofit community organization and watchdog for the park, is outraged that the Parks Department selected the least qualified bidder, an inexperienced operator whose specialty is milkshakes and cheese sandwiches, to replace the popular Patio Café, whose management assumed the lease of a failed concessionaire and worked with the community to revitalize Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, a historic gateway to the United Nations and once, a shamefully neglected public park.

“Our concern is that the Milkshake Company cannot deliver on its projections and that a failed café is detrimental to the park, creating a delinquent property in a high-risk public space,” said Sherrill Kazan, Friends president. “Having reviewed the proposals of all four bidders, the facts do not support the Parks Department determination that Milkshake Co’s bid was superior to all other applicants.” The Turtle Bay Association, Community Board 6, and local elected officials stand behind Friends of Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza. A petition containing over 1300 signatures of local residents has been submitted in support of the current café concessionaire, Dag Park, LLC

Even the NYC’s Comptroller’s Office is staying the performance of the awarded contract pending its investigation of the circumstances surrounding the bid selection process.

Assembly Member Jonathan Bing, Rep. Carolyn Maloney and Council Member Daniel Garodnick have all written to City Comptroller William Thompson, Jr., expressing their concerns and requesting his careful review of the Milkshake Company’s qualifications. “Changing the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza concession will have a major (MORE)
impact on the well-being of the park,” Assembly Member Bing said. “A rigorous assessment must be applied so that the surrounding community does not pay the price for a poor decision.”

The suit argues that the Parks Department operated in an arbitrary and capricious manner in awarding the contract, and that the bid selection process was tainted, suggesting cronyism or favoritism (see Fact Sheet).

“We were completely baffled by the Park Departments decision, and responded immediately, expressing our concerns,” Kazan noted. “The response of Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe and Manhattan Parks Commissioner Bill Castro has been deeply disappointing as we have always considered ourselves a partner in making Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza the vibrant public park that it is today.”

Until Hammarskjöld Plaza was reconstructed in the late 1990s, the park was a barren stretch of pavement with a homeless encampment. After pressuring the city for more than a decade to rebuild the park, the community celebrated its reopening in 1999. The Friends group has been the primary agent for park revitalilization and upkeep. Integral to that mission, Patio Café management assisted with fundraising and lent support for events.

Anne Saxon-Hersh, founder and Director of Development, stated, “The community feels betrayed. Our organization provides the essential upkeep for Hammarskjöld Plaza, which the city fails to provide, and yet our concerns have been ignored. This is a deeply flawed system: neither the Parks Department nor Friends derive any direct benefit from concession revenues. The City pressures the Parks Department to raise more funds from concessions while the budget for parks is continually cut. Hopefully, our case will provide impetus for Concession Reform.

Proposed legislation before City Council Members calls for a portion of the $60 million in concession revenues collected by the City to go directly toward maintaining its park system, the nation’s largest.

“Concessionaire funds are siphoned off by the City while the Parks Department is starved,” said Saxon-Hersh. “At present, less than .5 percent (half of one percent) of the annual budget is allocated for park maintenance and operations. Staffing is at an all time low. Community groups like ours must raise funds to provide essential services or watch their park spiral into decay, taking the neighborhood down with it.”

Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza is a nonprofit community organization whose sole mission is park beautification, preservation and vitality. Its volunteer activities include keeping Dag Hammarskjold Plaza clean and green, maintaining the Katharine Hepburn Garden and organizing events that foster community. As stewards of the Plaza, membership is open to all who share our commitment to public space.

Contact: Anne Saxon-Hersh 917-374-1440
Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza