In March, Joyce Hogi and Karen Argenti wrote again. State_OPRHP_02162010 response 033110

In March, the OPRHP Commissioner responded with this note:  fax-6088808

In February, BCEQ wrote to the Head of the National Parks Service:  BCEQ NPS YS 02192010

In February, Joyce Hogi and Karen Argenti wrote a note to the State to get them to act in the public interest and demolish Yankee Stadium:  State_OPRHP_02162010 a

Here is the link to the Federal Court Decision from November 2006:  061115_Buchwald_Decision

Here is a note from the Parks Commissioner Benepe in August 2009: BenepeLetter082809

Last year, the Norwood News in the 2/5/2009 Editorial:  Tear Down the Stadium – Now! started a clock: http://www.norwoodnews.org/story/?id=1344&story=tear+down+the+stadium++now

Is it possible that Robert Moses was misunderstood?  Imagine mediating land use stakeholders during his tenure.  What if he negotiated something that although not so nice, was many times better than what the landowners wanted to build.  We understand that Moses was telling the city’s fathers to take care of the CSO problem in order to protect the beaches that he built in the parks.  More on that as time passes.

Let us take one small step into a few pages of documents showing how Robert Moses felt about the Yankees taking parkland, in particular, Macombs Dam Park.

Below is a file from the New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division, Humanities and Social Sciences Library archives:

From the Robert Moses Collection, Box # 79, Folder number/title:  1961 – Coorodinator, Misc. corresp. 5 of 5, Item Description, Yankee Stadium Parking, Number of pages:  13

• June 15, 1961 letter from Moses to Parks Commissioner Newbold Morris: “We established no precedent whatsoever for your action.”

• June 14, 1961 memo from TBTA Arthur Hodkiss to TBTA Commissioner Robert Moses recounting the history of negotiations with the Yankees:

“In 1958 the Yankees demanded that you provide additional parking space around the Stadium.  …………..At the meeting they asked that part of Macombs Dam Park be made available for parking area.  This was refused.

“The Yankees and Jim Lyons continued to put pressure on you during 1959 and 1960 through the Mayor to make the park available for parking.  You refused to go along.”

Attached to this memo was addition info on this issue.

• February 10, 1960 letter from NYC Parks Commissioner Moses to Mayor Wagner:

“I take it that the old crazy scheme to turn over the heart of Macomb’s Dam Park again advocated by Jim (Lyons no relation to the BP) and the Yankees is at last buried for good.  It never had any validity and the arguments that Macomb’s Dam Park is not needed, that the Yankees are practically a public agency, that you could dig up three or four millions for a substitute park at an undisclosed location in the Bronx, that the Yankees would otherwise take their marbles and go home, that he could obtain special legislation to put this over, was and is so much hogwash.”

“……..the attached memo from Stuart Constable tells the story.  It would seem that the entire subject is academic since the extra-ordinary letter to you of Monday from the Yankees offering to sell their Stadium to the City.  You referred this complicated offer to us for report.  To the extent that we can understand it at all, we think it has no merit. ……….”

“This proposal is manifestly aimed to renew pressure for Macomb’s Dam Park and to attack and bedevil the building of the Flushing Meadow Stadium.  It is curious that the Yankee representatives never mentioned this quaint and ingenious deal at the conference with you only ten days ago.  It must have been a sudden inspiration.”

• April 22, 1959 letter from Parks Commissioner Moses to New York Yankee General Manager George Weiss:

“There is no possibility whatever that any public park area will be converted for use as a parking field for the Yankees.”

“You have pursued this matter for years, brought all the pressure you could muster, and now imply that we not only exaggerate park usage but that we have a more active interest in inducing some other major league club to operate in New York City than we have in assisting the Yankees.  This is perposterous.  We have done everything possible to assist you, except to agree to let you use park property for private purpose.  So long as I am Commissioner of Parks, we shall not do this.” (bold emphasis added)

“Your problem can be solved if you will spend some money on land and parking structures.  There is plenty of space around, without invading the park system.” (bold emphasis added)

• March 3, 1959 letter and Memo from Parks Commissioner Moses to Mayor Wagner:

“The area the Yankees would like to use for parking is our Macombs Dam track ……………This is one of the most heavily used areas in the park system.  This spring we will have at least 22 track meets, 45 baseball games and over 200 softball games in the area.”

“The use of more park area for Stadium parking is out of the question.”

• October 3, 1958 letter from Parks Commissioner Moses to New York Yankees President Daniel Topping:

“As to the park, we simply cannot open that up for parking without  ruining the surface so that it would be unusable for park use.  It would create precedents all over the city adjacent to schools, stores and other privately and publicly owned developments.”

• November 14, 1949 letter from Assistant Director of Construction Coordinator WS Chapin to State DPW District Engineer JJ Darcy:

“A compromise scheme was worked out whereby the Park Department agreed to give up one of the ball diamonds and to otherwise rearrange their facilities in order that this area could be kept open for parking during important Yankee Stadium athletic events. The area will be paved and will this provide for roller skating, sofl ball and other athletic events during the times when Yankee Stadium is not in operation.  The number of hand ball courts was increased from nine to twelve.”

• August 8, 1949 letter from Assistant Director of Construction Coordinator WS Chapin to State DPW District Engineer JJ Darcy: moves a retaining wall at 157th Street for the Deegan Expressway.

• July 29, 1949 letter from Coordinator Moses to Director Real Estate Bureau Board of Estimate:

“The State Department of Public Works has awarded a contract for the construction of the Major Deegan Expressway between the Bronx Terminal Market and the notherly limits of Macombs Dam Park.  This contract includes incidental parka nd other construction ….., now leased as parking spaces.”

“You are familiar with the fact that we plan to develp this park area in a manner which will allow the Park Department to operate it as a parking field on days when baseball is being played at Yankee Stadium, and at other times for recreation.  This has been fully approved by the Mayor, as well as the Federal and State agencies involved.” (bold emphasis added)

Copies of the full 13 pages in the folder:  RobertMoses B79 Yankee Stadium Parking 1961

As in the current national heath care reform mess, both the 2003 Croton Filtration and the 2005 Yankee Stadium Redevelopment meetings mangled an overlying issue with the project purpose — the taking of parkland (read: free land), when other alternatives existed to build said project. This mantra was encouraged by the so-called union-contractors and supported by union leadership and membership for selfish reasons – so contractors could make money; and union members higher pay and better benefits.

Just like some are confused about health care reform, few decision makers realized in 2004 and 2006 that alternative sites for each project would maintain union workers keeping their jobs and benefits, and would save the taxpayer billions of dollars.

Today, the message of health care reform is being purposely confused with “death trap for old people,” “increased in abortions,” or “socialistic medicine” for someone’s selfish agenda – like those $24 million per year health care insurance company CEOs, lobbyists tied to the health care industry, etc. Clearly, reform mean equal and better health care for all.

While those joint ventures of contractors and union leaders were initially successful, they ended with many corruption investigations, convictions and pleas, as well as with those same union workers left out in the picket line at the site of the Lehman College Science Building – across the street from the Jerome Park Reservoir!

Mayor Bloomberg & Friends are republicans; that explains the similarities to the national health care reform battle. Hopefully health care reform comes quicker than the long awaited park mitigation around the Jerome Park Reservoir and replacement parks around Yankee Stadium!

We need to learn from our mistakes; not make them over and over. The republican lobbyist spinners have selfish agendas. This is not a public relations campaign, this is our lives.  Health Insurance Reform is not complicated. The cost of inaction is immeasurable. President Obama’s program is clear:  he is not going to raise taxes, but cut the costs we all know exist.

I support the President’s Health Insurance Guarantees.

1. No Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions

2. No Exorbitant Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Deductibles or Co-Pays

3. No Cost -Sharing for Preventive Care

4. No Dropping of Coverage for Seriously Ill

5. No Gender Discrimination

6. No Annual or Lifetime Caps on Coverage

7. Extended Coverage for Young Adults

8. Guaranteed Insurance Renewal

Join me. Take Action. Start the discussion.