Authorizes the city of Yonkers to alienate and discontinue the use of certain parklands.
Summary
This bill authorizes the City of Yonkers to discontinue and alienate a specific 10,535-square-foot parcel of parkland within Samuel Untermyer Park & Gardens and to sell it to St. John’s Riverside Hospital at fair market value. The stated purpose is to support restoration of the historic Color Gardens once located on the Untermyer estate, for public enjoyment by residents and visitors.
As a condition of that transfer, Yonkers must dedicate a separate 19,840-square-foot parcel as replacement parkland. The bill also requires that, if the replacement land is worth less than the land being removed from park use, the city must make up the difference through additional parkland acquisition and/or capital improvements to existing park and recreational facilities. If any federal funds were involved in the original parkland, the city must also satisfy applicable federal conversion requirements before the alienation can occur.
Impact
The bill creates a local exception to New York’s parkland alienation rules for a specific Yonkers parcel, allowing land that is currently protected as parkland to be converted and conveyed for hospital-related use tied to restoration of the Color Gardens. It also imposes a replacement-parkland condition and a fair-market-value parity requirement, preserving the state’s policy that parkland conversions be offset by equivalent public land or recreational investment. The measure affects the City of Yonkers, St. John’s Riverside Hospital, and users of Samuel Untermyer Park & Gardens, and it may trigger additional review if federal park funding restrictions apply.
Sentiment
The available voting history suggests broad support for the bill, with favorable action in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee and unanimous approval in the Assembly Rules Committee. The bill’s framing around restoring the historic Color Gardens and providing replacement parkland likely contributes to its positive reception. No committee transcript is available, so there is no recorded debate reflecting opposition in the provided materials.
Contention
The main point of potential contention is the conversion of protected parkland to non-park use, which can raise concerns about loss of public open space and precedent for future alienations. Any disagreement would likely center on whether the replacement parcel is truly equivalent in value and usefulness, and whether the public benefit of restoring the Color Gardens and supporting the hospital justifies the parkland loss. The bill addresses these concerns by requiring replacement land, possible additional compensation through park improvements, and compliance with any federal conversion rules.