|
Years ago, I tagged the Bryant Park privatization issue as one of special importance and I have reported upon it frequently. I'm doing so again because what's happening today in that little park in the heart of New York City provides such a clear example of how the privatization of virtually all of our public parks and open spaces is now happening. It provides the best example I can think of for what could, soon enough, be happening at the Capital Mall in Washington DC.
There have been NO SURPRISES with the privatization of Bryant Park. The privatization of this park has been occurring EXACTLY as expected. So if you like how the privatization of Byrant Park is progressing (which some will!) and would like to see this applied to the parks, forests, rivers, mountains and/or wilderness areas that you use and enjoy, then be patient. Do nothing and this form of privatization will reach you soon enough.
If you don't like what you see, then please take note and take appropriate action. This form of privatization is most definitely headed your way.
Scott
-- begin quoted ---
December 5, 2005
In Manhattan Park's Rebirth, Unease at Corporate Presence
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
During the late 1980's, when Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan was
frequented by more drug dealers than sunbathers, the city turned the
park's management over to a private group to try to revitalize a public
space that many thought of as a lost cause.
That group, the nonprofit Bryant Park Restoration Corporation, helped
transform the park into one of the city's most heavily used and beloved
public spaces. But a major concern has come with the transformation:
that Bryant Park is being operated in such a businesslike fashion -
including charging fees for holding events, and allowing corporate
sponsorships - that it barely seems like a public space anymore.
"It's come to the point where it impinges on the park to be used in a
public sense," said Vikki Barbero, a neighborhood resident who is vice
chairwoman of Community Board 5, a neighborhood advisory board.
No one can deny that the park is more beautiful and accessible than it
was 20 years ago, and many of the events that take place in it are open
to the public - if seats are available. Nevertheless, even though
Bryant Park receives no public financing, the heavy rotation of private
events has raised questions about how a park in the middle of the city
can best serve the people. There are suggestions that Bryant Park has
reached the saturation point and indications that the number of events
in it may be reduced.
Similar complaints have been lodged in recent years at other parks,
including Union Square and Madison Square Parks. Assemblyman Richard N.
Gottfried, Democrat of Manhattan, expressed concern at what he called a
trend toward commercialization in parks.
"Parks have never in this city's history been thought of as entities
that would fund themselves, and I think that's a dangerous concept,"
Mr. Gottfried said. "This takes us way down the road of a public park
becoming a theme park."
No park managers have embraced commercialism with the enthusiasm of the
Bryant Park Restoration Corporation, which runs the only public park in
the city that receives no public money.
In the past few months, Bryant Park has played host to Fashion Week,
sponsored by Olympus; summer movies underwritten by HBO; a concert
series put on by ABC; and a book fair supported by The New York Times.
Much of the eight-acre park is currently occupied by a privately
operated holiday market and by an ice-skating rink sponsored by Citi.
Each sponsor generally pays a rental fee and is allowed to post its
corporate name as part of the event.
There are so many requests for private events that the corporation
employs a small staff to sort through applications seeking permits for
corporate parties, family celebrations and promotional events for new
products, including Microsoft Windows Media Edition and Coffee-Mate,
which had representatives dressed in cow suits passing out samples last
spring. The fees vary, depending on factors including whether the event
is open to the public.
Also, parts of the park - which is at Avenue of the Americas and 42nd
Street, behind the New York Public Library - are closed at times to
accommodate film and video crews. Commercial photographers are assessed
hourly fees, determined in part by the "publicity potential for Bryant
Park," the park's Web site says. Even the park's carousel can be rented
for birthday parties or corporate events.
Daniel A. Biederman, executive director of the Bryant Park Restoration
Corporation, said the events were necessary to produce revenue for park
operations and to keep the park in use year-round. As part of its 1985
operating agreement with the city, the corporation is given wide
latitude in financing park operations through commercial events.
"Most of the events in the park are free and open to everyone," Mr.
Biederman said. "The concerts and movies often have a name attached,
but so what? The public gets to go for free."
Mr. Biederman, a graduate of Harvard Business School who is also
president of both the Bryant Park Management Corporation and the 34th
Street Partnership, said that on most days the park has only a few
conspicuous sponsorships, including a half-dozen signs saying that the
free wireless access in the park is sponsored by Google.
"We understand there are people who come to the park as an escape, who
are sensitive to commercial intrusions, and we try to be sensitive to
that," Mr. Biederman said, adding that there had been few complaints.
Mr. Biederman said most of the events and attractions brought many more
people to the park than would otherwise use it - including the rink,
which is free, though the private firm that operates it charges $7.50
to rent skates and $5 to rent a locker.
User fees collected by the corporation have gone from zero in 1993 to
$1.7 million in 2004. Under the 1985 agreement, the city paid a
relatively small amount for the park's upkeep for several years but now
pays nothing. The shift to a reliance on user and restaurant fees has
coincided with the doubling of Bryant Park's revenue since 1993, to
$4.2 million in 2004 - even as assessments on local businesses for the
upkeep of the park have been reduced.
In response for what it sees as too many commercial events, Community
Board 5 recently rejected an application for a liquor license by
restaurant overlooking the ice rink.
And in a letter sent to the parks department last week, the board was
critical of the multiplicity of commercial events held at Bryant Park
and at Madison Square Park and said neighbors of those parks had been
excluded from the decision-making process. "The conservancies that run
Madison Square Park and Bryant Park need to be reminded that these are
public parklands, not private revenue-generating venues," wrote David
Diamond, chairman of the board.
William T. Castro, the borough commissioner of parks, said the city's
Department of Parks and Recreation supported Bryant Park's management,
but he added that the number of events at the park was likely to be
reduced.
"I'm pretty confident that will be addressed," he said. "They run a very good park, but they can always do better."
|
- Privatization 
