Donations preserve ‘Bicycle Sundays’

Westchester”™s popular “Bicycle Sundays” program, facing a loss of funding in the county”™s upcoming budget, will carry on through at least 2012 following matching $20,000 donations by Con Edison and Friends of Westchester County Parks announced Dec. 13.

County government officials have repeatedly stressed the need for public-private partnerships as the Westchester County Board of Legislators and County Executive Rob Astorino move closer to finalizing the fiscal year 2012 budget, which cuts spending by $100 million compared to the 2011 budget.

“I want to thank Friends of Parks and Con Edison for their partnership in developing a new financial model that will save taxpayer dollars and allow us to roll Bicycle Sundays, a Westchester tradition for three decades, into the future,” Astorino said.

The program, founded in 1974, annually draws 60,000 participants on weekend dates in May, June and September.