PLAYLAND: WHERE is the $100k "Biederman Report"?

This letter was sent on March 4, 2015 to Westchester County Board of Legislators (“BOL”) leaders Mike Kaplowitz (D) - Chair, Jim Maisano (R), Vice Chair and Pete Harckham (D) -Chair of the Labor, Parks, Planning & Housing Committee which oversees all Westchester County Parks. It was also sent to all members of the LPPH Commitee, including Catherine Parker (D) who represents District 7 (in which Playland - located in Rye, NY- sits).

Dear Legislators Kaplowitz, Maisano and Harckham:

On February 6, 2015 there was a report in the Rye City Review regarding the “Biederman Report” on Playland Amusement Park that was commissioned in the summer of 2014 by County Executive Rob Astorino.

(For online article click here)

The newspaper article cites sources in the CE’s office – named and un-named- as well as Dan Biederman himself essentially confirming that the report has been done and handed to the CE’s office, but “remains an unfinished product”.

The Public’s understanding was that this “evaluation” of the Park was due to be completed and submitted to the County by late November or early December of 2014, at a cost to taxpayers of $100,000.00. Apparently the fee worked out between the CE’s office and Mr. Biederman was one of $20k per month.

This report is now more than four months overdue and this article in the Rye City Review raises serious questions. Among these questions are:

*Is the Biederman Report “mostly completed” or is it completed?

*If not completed, how much more work needs to be done on it by Biederman’s team and at what, if any, additional cost to Westchester County taxpayers?

*When will there be an opportunity for public scrutiny of and input on the Biederman Report?

*What public input did Mr. Biederman’s office seek when putting the report together and how was this compiled?

*What areas of the report did the CE’s office determine needed further anaylsis?

In addition, the same Rye City Review article claims that an unnamed source in the CE’s office told them that the CE’s office has already picked Standard Amusements to run Playland on behalf of the County. This raises more serious questions, among them:

*What is the status of the apparent “talks” with Standard Amusements and why has the BOL not been brought in to participate in these discussions?

*When will there be an opportunity for public scrutiny and input regarding any “deal” the CE’s office works out with Standard Amusements – or any other private operator?

*What further vetting and approval process would any management contract with Standard Amusements have to go through prior to being implemented?

We would like the BOL leadership and the Labor, Parks, Planning and Housing Committee to address these concerns and obtain answers to these questions for the public.

It is our understanding that FOIL requests for the Biederman document are being denied because of claims that it is in “draft form”. -Author’s note: This info has since been deemed unconfirmed.

In light of the fact that at least $100k of taxpayer dollars have been spent on this “Biederman Report” (and possibly more at this point) and it is now egregiously over-due, we are calling on the Board Of Legislators to formally bring Mr. Biederman in to discuss the status of his evaluation and provide the BOL and public a copy of what was submitted to the CE’s office for review. We would appreciate seeing this done as quickly as possible and we believe the BOL would fully be within their rights to do this as duly elected representatives of their Westchester County constituents. We believe public oversight, input and involvement are key in making sure this process gets done correctly.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter, as always we appreciate the concern we know all members of the BOL have for the current and future well-being of our beloved historic Amusement Park.

Sincerely,

Deirdre Curran

Friends of Playland

(“Friends of Playland” is a newly formed 501c3 organization, still in its infancy, established in late 2014 to serve as a community watch dog and Public Advocate for the Park. Visit their site at www.friendsofplayland.org)

OPENING DAY AT PLAYLAND IS MAY 9TH, 2015!