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Last week, New York City Comptroller William Thompson rejected a heavily debated contract that would transform the Ridgewood Reservoir into a sports field.
The comptroller cited the environmental impact, increased truck traffic, and vendor selection process as reasons for derailing the plan.
Thompson was critical of the Parks Department for submitting the $3.3 million contract for registration on May 29 with the Mark K. Morrison Associates LTD (MMA). The agreement called for MMA to provide landscape design services for the reconstruction of Highland Park at the Ridgewood Reservoir site in Queens.
Such an endeavor would include selecting an architect through the agency to draft an environmental assessment. This, the comptroller suggested, could be problematic for the same reasons self-certification has been troublesome for the Department of Buildings.
“Given the sensitive ecological nature of the location, we strongly believe that the environmental assessment process must have maximum transparency,” a June 23rd letter from the comptroller’s office reads. “In that light, we are also concerned that it may be a conflict of interest.”
Thompson further asserted the MMA’s proposal would partially or completely fill Basin Number 3. This, in turn, would necessitate 27,500 sizeable truckloads of fill to be transported through the bordering neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Queens.
The comptroller estimates that even if partially filled, the site would require approximately 11,700 bulky truckloads of dirt to be transported to the area.
“The areas surrounding the park,” the letter continues, “will have to bear the brunt of the noise, emissions, and traffic disruptions for many years.”
Last Thursday, Thompson testified at before the City Council’s Parks and Recreation Committee hearing on the future of the Ridgewood Reservoir, and has been vocal in defending the site.
In a New York Times editorial, the comptroller and environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. warned about destroying this “extraordinary natural habitat.”
“This plan flies in the face of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s widely hailed environmental blueprint, which bemoans the loss of the city’s natural areas,” they wrote in the article. “The Parks Department’s own scientific consultants have warned against disturbing the reservoir.”
The reservoir, which sits on the border between Brooklyn and Queens, used to supply water to parts of Brooklyn. It has not been used for decades. Recently, the property was transferred from the Department of Environmental Protection to the Parks Department.
In any case, Comptroller Thompson believes the City’s money could be better spent improving the Park and recommends that the trail surrounding the perimeter of the reservoir be upgraded with benches and rest areas. He also thinks the area should be opened for guided nature walks.
Activist and well-known local advocate of the Reservoir, David Quintana agreed with Thompson’s choice.
“I think that Comptroller Bill Thompson’s decision to reject the Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) contract at the Ridgewood Reservoir is a monumental day for activists,” he wrote in an e-mail. “I feel this decision will make the DPR more accountable to the public and force them to conduct actual community outreach.”
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