Standard Amusements, the company that has been operating the Playland Amusement Park in Rye under a contract with the park’s owner Westchester County, has sent the county a notice that it is terminating its 30-year contract to manage the park. Standard just finished its third summer season in charge of Playland. The notice was in the form of a letter to the county dated Jan. 21.
Standard alleged that the county breached their contract. The county, in a Jan. 22 letter to Standard signed by County Attorney John Nonna, rejected Standard’s termination and took the position that the county has not breached the contract as Standard claimed.
A separate letter dated Jan. 21 to Standard from County Parks Commissioner Kathleen O’Connor also took the position that the county did not breach the contract with Standard. However, O’Connor took the position that it is Standard that has breached the Playland Management Agreement.
“First, throughout the 2024 season, the Manager has consistently had a significant number of rides closed on any given day of operation,” O’Connor said. “For example, during the ride safety audit in June, it was observed on back-to-back weekends that anywhere from 8 to 19 rides (out of approximately 40) were not operated during times Playland was open to the public. Whether these closures were due to maintenance issues or understaffing, it violates the Manager’s obligations to ‘operate’ and ‘maintain’ the Park in accordance with industry standards.”
O’Connor also referred to Standard’s maintenance and inspection practices, saying in part, “the County’s ride safety audit revealed that the Manager had insufficient maintenance staff to perform standard ride maintenance and inspections, even excluding maintenance of the rides that were closed. This violates the Manager’s obligation ‘maintain and repair Playland Park in accordance with standard industry practices.'”
O’Connor also alleged that Standard as of Jan. 21 had not paid the management fee it owes the county from 2023. She said that Standard must make the payment immediately and also cure within 30 days the deficiencies the county says breach the contract.
Standard began managing Playland after reaching a settlement with the administration of former County Executive George Latimer. Standard and the county had been at odds in court over the management agreement that Standard received when former County Executive Rob Astorino was in office. To settle the dispute with the county, a new management contract was negotiated. It was approved by the county’s Board of Legislators in 2021.
O’Connor said that in conversations with Nicholas Singer, who heads Standard Amusements, and in the company’s Jan. 21 letter to the county, it was made plain that Standard did not intend to be managing the amusement park in 2025.
A spokesperson for Standard Amusements gave the following statement to the Business Journal:
“For over a decade, we have tirelessly worked to revitalize Playland. Unfortunately, Westchester County has once again failed to live up to its end of the bargain. And once again, the County is publicly pointing fingers and misrepresenting facts instead of working towards solutions.
“In November, we alerted the County that we were terminating our agreement based on their complete failure to meet the construction obligations under the contract. By its own admission, the County has missed the contractual deadlines, despite our consistent flexibility and patience, including a blanket one-year extension on all their project deadlines.
“While we will no longer be the Park’s steward, we are committed to facilitating a seamless transition of Playland management responsibilities to the County. We sincerely hope — for the sake of Westchester County residents and visitors, our 40+ employees, and ultimately the taxpayer — that the County changes its attitude and decides to prioritize the Park and stops wasting time and money trying to spin and misdirect the public.”
