New group looks to give residents seat at Playland table
The last time Playland”™s marketing budget increased, the Berlin Wall still stood, Bill Clinton was still the governor of Arkansas and country singer Taylor Swift hadn”™t even been born. The park is owned by Westchester County, and the county government didn”™t add a cent to the $550,000 allotted each year for Playland marketing for 26 years ”” until now.
This month, county lawmakers agreed to increase Playland”™s marketing budget by $300,000 for 2015, after a rebound season in 2014 that saw revenues up 24 percent, to $8.7 million, and 77,000 more visitors than 2013, according to county figures. The marketing boost came after calls from a grassroots organization whose members say Playland isn”™t broken, just neglected.
Deirdre Curran is one of the organizers of the Friends of Playland, a nonprofit advocacy group for the park that formed in October. The additional marketing funds were a small victory, she said, with the long-term goal giving the public a seat at the table as a re-invented Playland is negotiated.
“It is amazing: A lot of people for a long time felt they were watching a train wreck and there was nothing they can do for it,” Curran said. “They are really excited there”™s something now.”
County Executive Rob Astorino, a Republican, came into office in 2010 with the stated goal of getting county government out of the business of running an amusement park. His administration said attendance was declining, revenues were down and that the park needed to find year-round uses outside of the amusement park.
But Playland enthusiasts such as Curran have contended all along that with some needed investment and better park management, Playland could be restored to the reputation it had early in its 80-year history. A turnaround in attendance and revenue would follow with only minor changes in management, such as food service, and in improvements in infrastructure.
“Why is Playland always held to a different standard than other parks?” Curran said. “Why is Playland expected to turn a profit and when it doesn”™t it”™s called a money hole? Why does Playland have to become a year-round destination ”” Are you going to open the golf courses in the winter?”
Astorino chose a Rye-based nonprofit called Sustainable Playland Inc. to take over management of the park last year, but SPI backed out earlier this year after backlash from the community over its management plan, which included scaling back the amusement function and building a year-round, 82,500-square-foot field house.
The field house became a rallying cry for residents of the city of Rye, where Playland is located, with locals saying it was out of character for the neighborhood and would bring an influx of traffic in what has traditionally been the Playland offseason. The Friends support modifications of offseason programs, including possible holiday events, Curran said, but are leery of major shifts such as a field house.
Rye”™s City Council recently asserted its decision-making authority over any construction at the park, a move which the county disagrees with. Any future building or rebuilding may be contingent on the city and the county finding consensus in their turf dispute.
With SPI out of the picture, the county is considering two other private operators, Central Amusement International LLC and Standard Amusements Inc., both of which want to focus on the amusement park piece of the 80-acre park. The county executive”™s office meanwhile is in a holding pattern until it analyzes recommendations in a forthcoming report to be filed by consultant Biederman Redevelopment Ventures Corp. The report, which cost the county $100,000, was expected by November but has yet to be filed. A representative from the county executive”™s office said the report should be in hand by the end of the year.
What the exact focus of the Friends will be as advocates, volunteers or advisers will depend on how some of these situations play out. Curran said the group looks to be the voice of a segment that has mostly been missing in the various discussions: the average residents of Westchester who love Playland.
“None of us are going to have any financial interest in construction or what will happen in the park,” she said. “We don”™t have any other agenda or ulterior motives. We just care about the park and we want to see it run properly. We don”™t want to manage the park.”
The Friends of Playland have a fledgling website still under construction and Facebook and Twitter pages. As a registered 501(c)(3) the group is accepting tax deductible donations via mail: Friends of Playland, P.O. Box 36, Rye, NY 10580.