Crains New York - June 4, 2012 - (Page 10)

VIEWPOINT H Save Hudson River Park udson River Park is on its way to becoming one of the city’s top amenities. It’s also on its way to falling into said river. An ambitious project when it began in the 1990s, the 550acre park and estuarine sanctuary has been even more difficult and costly to maintain than expected. Its massive piers have been whittled away by erosion and microorganisms; every day they go unrepaired brings them closer to ruin. Meanwhile, the nonprofit Hudson River Park Trust is eating through its $20 million reserve fund as fast as those nasty marine borers are chewing up the piers. In less than three years, the reserve will be exhausted. One-third of the park is still not built, for lack of $200 million. But the situation is far from hopeless. The park’s popularity and superb location offer great potential for revenue, which is necessary in the absence of public operating money. However, the 1998 state law that created the park forbids a variety of lucrative uses. The park’s stewards are asking the state Legislature to give them some flexibility, including the right to add residential development. One possibility is 800 apartments and a 150-room hotel on the 15-acre Pier 40, the park’s prime commercial asset, which may need to close as soon as 2014 if there’s no cash for repairs. The trust also wants the right to award long-term leases because the current 30-year limit is too short for developers and their financiers to commit to a major project. Another request is for the power to issue bonds to raise money upfront from commercial uses that will generate revenue for decades. These are reasonable requests. But, New York being New York, there is opposition: Notably, Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes the crumbling Pier 40, said in a Crain’s story by Senior Reporter Theresa Agovino, “I don’t think the current legislation is outdated by any means.” We beg to differ. So does Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, even though he put the prohibitions on hotels and residences into the original law. Mr. Gottfried has gotten past the misplaced fear that park residents and hotel guests would effectively privatize the space. “The extraordinary capital need is crippling the park,” he wrote last week in The Villager. “That’s why we have to look at alternatives.” As for the bogeyman of privatization, it didn’t wall off Battery Park City, as anyone who strolls or cycles through it can attest. Plazas under many office buildings are technically private yet are heavily used by the public. It insults New Yorkers to suggest that they would not visit an attractive recreational venue because of apartments or a hotel nearby. Moreover, changing the law would not commit the park to anything. Projects would still be subject to the city’s exhaustive, seven-month public review process, which lets the community and the borough president weigh in before the City Council and mayor render a decision. Of course, the process would relegate state legislators like Ms. Glick to the sidelines. But political power plays should not be a consideration in the context of saving the park. The Legislature should amend the Hudson River Park Act before it adjourns this month. editor in chief Rance Crain publisher, vp Jill R. Kaplan EDITORIAL editor Glenn Coleman deputy managing editors Valerie Block, Erik Ipsen assistant managing editors Erik Engquist, Jeremy Smerd senior producer, news Elisabeth Butler Cordova news producer Lauren Elkies contributing editor Elaine Pofeldt columnists Greg David, Michael Gross, Alair Townsend pulse editor Barbara Benson senior reporters Theresa Agovino, Aaron Elstein, Lisa Fickenscher, Matthew Flamm, Daniel Massey, Miriam Kreinin Souccar reporters Amanda Fung, Shane Dixon Kavanaugh, Adrianne Pasquarelli reporter /producer Emily Laermer art director Steven Krupinski deputy art director Carolyn McClain staff photographer Buck Ennis copy desk chief Steve Noveck copy editor Thaddeus Rutkowski data editor Suzanne Panara interns Ken Christianson, Cara Eisenpress, Emily Lundeen, Eva Saviano, Mary Shell, Amy Stern EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING OFFICES Park trustees need flexibility from Albany to generate cash 711 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017-5806 editorial: 212.210.0277 Fax 212.210.0799 advertising: 212.210.0711 Cable craincom nyk Fax 212.210.0499 Entire contents ©copyright 2012 Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. ®CityBusiness is a registered trademark of MCP Inc., used under license agreement. TO SUBSCRIBE: For subscription information and delivery concerns, please e-mail customerservice@crainsnewyork.com or call 877-824-9379 (in the U.S. and Canada) or 313-446-0450 (all other locations.) $3.00 a copy, $99.95 one year, $179.95 two years. www.crainsnewyork.com ADVERTISING AND MARKETING advertising director Trish Henry senior account managers Irene Bar-Am, Courtney McCombs, Sheryl Rose, Suzanne Wilson account executive Jill Bottomley Kunkes sales coordinator print & online Danielle Wiener newsletter product manager Alexis Sinclair credit Todd J. Masura 313.446.6097 director, audience development Michael O’Connor senior marketing manager Catherine Schutten event producer Courtney Williams reprint sales manager Lauren Melesio general manager, online & e-commerce strategy Kira Bindrim senior web developer, interactive Chris O’Donnell NEW YORK PRODUCTION production and pre-press director Michael Corsi advertising production manager Suzanne Fleischman Wies PUBLISHED BY CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. chairman Keith E. Crain president Rance Crain secretary Merrilee Crain treasurer Mary Kay Crain executive vp, operations William Morrow senior vp, group publisher Gloria Scoby group vp, technology, circulation, manufacturing Robert C. Adams vice president/production & manufacturing David Kamis chief information officer Paul Dalpiaz founder G.D. Crain Jr. (1885-1973) chairman Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. (1911-1996) CRAIN’S ONLINE POLL COMMENTS SHOULD MAYOR BLOOMBERG BAN LARGE-SIZE SUGARY DRINKS? Date of poll: May 31 Re: the ‘Big Gulp ban’ ONLINE COMMENTERS POP OFF Studies show that we don’t get enough sleep. Will there be a curfew so we can all get our rest? Loud noises are also bad for our health. Will the mayor ban car horns, jet planes, fire engines and helicopters? The subways are much too crowded and contribute to the spread of illnesses like the common cold. Will he require us to wear protective masks and limit the number of passengers per car? Violent and gory movies give some people bad dreams. Will he regulate movie content so they’re all peaceful and happy? Being unemployed is stressful and often leaves the unemployed person with no health insurance. Will he give the unemployed jobs with benefits? Nanny Bloomberg may have created the latest party-game craze: What ridiculous initiative will Mayor C. Montgomery Bloomberg come up with next? Discuss. People are knocking Mayor Bloomberg for wanting to reduce sugary-drink sizes. Guess what? Forty percent of NYC schoolkids are obese. They will grow up into fat, type-2 diabetes adults who cost a fortune to treat. Nobody is an island; people’s health decisions end up costing themselves, their families and the taxpayer if they end up on Medicaid because they’re so fat it affects their health and ability to work. In the 1950s, a Coke was six and a half ounces; today it is 22 ounces or more. Poisoning your kids isn’t some expression of “freedom.” It’s just stupid. I wonder how enthusiastic and zealous City Hall would be if it were ever discovered that Bloomberg terminals posed some sort of physical or environmental hazard. 340 votes No 64% . 36% Yes —brian buck ennis For this week’s questions: Go to www.crainsnewyork.com/poll to have your say. 10 | Crain’s New York Business | June 4, 2012 . —hj flowers With the money you’re saving on Big Gulps, you don’t need that silly living-wage law. —sp yder dar ling —of ten annoyed CRAIN’S WELCOMES SUBMISSIONS to its opinion pages. Send letters to letters@crainsnewyork.com. Send columns of 475 words or fewer to opinion@crainsnewyork.com. Please include the writer’s name, company, address and telephone number. http://www.crainsnewyork.com http://www.crainsnewyork.com/poll

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - June 4, 2012

Crains New York - June 4, 2012
Table of Contents
Drink stink: Big Soda aims to fight Bloomberg ban
To your health: Late nightclub owner bequeathed bar’s profits to hospitals
New York, New York
Tax cuts for wage hikes: A political deal takes shape in Albany
Sugar buzz: Readers weigh in on the idea
Viewpoint
Opinion
Small Business
Real Estate Deals
Classifieds
NASCAR’s marketing chief hits the road
Seed money for social entrepreneurs
Hot Jobs
Tracey Stewart finds her “moment of Zen”
A dream of a wine bar opens
The Week Ahead

Crains New York - June 4, 2012

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