Authorizes the city of Yonkers to alienate and discontinue the use of certain parklands.
Summary
S08271 authorizes the City of Yonkers to discontinue and alienate a small parcel of parkland associated with the Samuel Untermyer Park & Gardens area and to sell it to St. John’s Riverside Hospital. The stated purpose is to support restoration of the Color Gardens once present on the Untermyer estate, for public enjoyment by residents and visitors. The bill identifies the parcel to be removed from parkland use and requires the conveyance to be at fair market value.
As a condition of that authorization, Yonkers must dedicate replacement land as parkland before the alienation takes effect. The replacement parcel is larger than the land being discontinued, and the bill also requires the city to make up any difference if the replacement land’s fair market value is less than the value of the land being lost. The measure further provides that if any federal funds were used for the original parkland, the city must satisfy any applicable federal conversion requirements before proceeding.
The bill’s impact on state law is narrow but significant for local parkland protections: it creates a specific statutory exception allowing the City of Yonkers to convert protected parkland to another use, while imposing replacement-land and value-equivalency safeguards. It affects the city’s authority over municipal parkland and the legal status of the identified parcels, and it may also implicate federal parkland conversion rules if federal assistance was involved.
The general sentiment around the bill appears strongly favorable. The voting history shows unanimous approval in the Senate committee and on the Senate floor, and broad approval in the Assembly, indicating little formal opposition. The absence of committee transcript material suggests there was no recorded public controversy in the available materials.
The main point of potential contention is the parkland alienation itself, since converting public open space can raise concerns about loss of recreational land and precedent for future conversions. Any such concern is mitigated in the bill by the replacement-parkland requirement, the fair-market-value offset, and the stated restoration/public-benefit purpose tied to the Untermyer estate and hospital use.
Impact
This bill amends state law only for this specific Yonkers parkland transaction by authorizing the city to discontinue parkland status for a 10,535-square-foot parcel and requiring dedication of a 19,840-square-foot replacement parcel as parkland. It also requires any shortfall in fair market value to be used for additional parkland acquisition or park improvements, and it preserves compliance with any applicable federal parkland conversion requirements.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been viewed positively and with little opposition. It passed the Senate Rules Committee 21-0, the Senate floor 61-0, and the Assembly 125-11, suggesting broad bipartisan support despite the general sensitivity around parkland alienation. No committee transcript was provided, so there is no recorded debate to indicate organized opposition in the available materials.
Contention
The principal issue is the conversion of protected parkland to another use, which can be controversial because it reduces public open space and may set a precedent for future alienations. In this case, the concern is tempered by the bill’s requirement that Yonkers dedicate replacement parkland, equalize any value difference, and comply with federal conversion rules if federal funds were involved. The bill’s supporters appear to emphasize the public benefit of restoring the Color Gardens and the limited, site-specific nature of the land swap.