Public Space in Flux

By Sandra Larriva and Sydney Beveridge

New York City parks maintenance spending has dropped over the past four decades, but private organizations are initiating collaborative projects in public spaces.

One such project is the renovation and addition of 65 sports fields on Randall’s Island, a 273-acre piece of land between Manhattan and Queens.

Since 1992, the Randall’s Island Sports Foundation (RISF), whose office is on the Upper West Side, has worked in tandem with the city to develop the island and operate community programs. The Foundation's current initiative to renovate and add sports fields started a controversy among community members.

Addressing a lack of fields

George Calano, the Athletics Director at Collegiate High School, has frequented New York City parks since his childhood. He concluded that Manhattan has the worst park facilities in the city. Students pay a yearly tuition of $30,000 at schools like Collegiate, but in the windowless athletics offices, space for games is still at a premium.

The Trust for Public Land consistently ranks New York City’s park resources below those of other major cities. The City also fell behind 44 other major cities for its lack of available baseball fields, according to a 2006 report from the Trust.

The Foundation recognized the demand for more sports fields and reached out to the schools who used the Randall’s Island baseball facilities.

Under the deal between the RISF and 20 private schools, the parks department would renovate and double the number of sports fields on Randall’s Island. The project, for which the private schools would pay $52 million, would add new fields on the sites where prostitutes mingled years ago.

Richard Davis, Chair of RISF, said, “the independent schools are providing the money that stimulated the city to put even more money in.” His law firm’s offices overlook Central Park, which has benefited greatly from the Central Park Conservancy’s efforts to raise funds and provide maintenance for the land.

He estimates that the Randall’s Island development will increase the amount of playing fields in Manhattan by 20 percent.

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