Update for Bay Park, et.al.

We are pleased to report that we learned today, NIFA rejected an $8.1 million contract to install artificial turf fields in Nassau County Parks including Bay Park as simply unaffordable. As we noted on September 20th, improvements while laying off the workers needed to maintain them just doesn't make sense. The Bay Park fiasco would have only enhanced Molloy College's athletic program at county expense. So we applaud this action by NIFA.

Parks are not profit centers

Parks are not Profit Centers
By Bruce Piel

When push comes to shove, it is always apparent that politicians and political hacks alike have no concept how private industry works and how public services are funded. The latest proof of this is a “plan” to upgrade the facilities at Nickerson Beach Park, 5 local active county parks to generate profits and close museums and other facilities that are not profitable enough.
Public Parks are not now nor have they ever been profit centers. They are acquired, improved and maintained through tax revenue, not fees. Fees supplement revenue needed to maintain parks by charging for seasonal or optional services not covered by taxes. For example, Nassau County may build and maintain a pool for its residents. That is tax money. When the pool is open, life guards must be hired to enforce the rules and protect the users. That is by fees. Pretty simple, but somehow Nassau doesn’t get it.
Before the tax line on our bills for parks was “erased” by the Suozzi Administration in 2002, the total taxes supporting the county park system was $65 million dollars. This included all the active parks, preserves, museums, historic sites and the daily services they provided. It included over 800 full time employees, about 500 seasonals, equipment, supplies, administration, etc. Nassau Parks collected in fees about $14 million a year which was put into the general fund. When the budget line was eliminated and employees laid off or pensioned out, the tax levies remained the same or even increased. We now have about 100 full time employees. Where did all the park tax moneys go? The parks are mostly a shambles, so the money didn’t go there. If you wish to evaluate a park, go the the rest rooms and see if you want to take a toddler there or even use them yourself.
Should the county proceed with the “improvements” outlined? The answer is no! It may seem strange for a park advocate to argue against park improvements, but we feel we have good reason to take that position. First, the county is broke and is contemplating layoffs of the very people that must maintain the parks, improved or not. This is extremely short sighted. The improvements will not survive neglect or being ignored. Better to keep or hire enough people to preserve existing facilities for public use. Installation of turf fields is not a panacea. The life of turf fields is about 10 years, less when not monitored and maintained, and then they must be replaced. Natural fields will last forever with a little TLC.
We have noted before that the “backroom deal” with Molloy College benefits the college not the average county resident ball player. The increased fees already at Nickerson Beach are onerous to the average family. Adding more amenities and charging the inflated fees will not turn a profit. You must collect the annual cost of the park system before any revenue can be called a profit and that will not happen. Closing museums is rejecting our heritage and the heritage of our children and grandchildren. That heritage is the profit our museums generate.
So Nassau, put a hold on the proposed “improvements” and employ an adequate workforce to keep our parklands available for no or low cost to our residents. Lay off those in patronage jobs that are fabricated or have unqualified employees. If you want profits, leave the public payroll and start a small business in Nassau. Hire the unemployed and provide a product or service that will earn a profit

All County Museums May Become History

Most Nassau County Residents should be aware that the latest official response to the current Fiscal Problems is to lay off 130 county workers, you know, the ones that keep the county running. Of the 25 employees of the Departments of Parks, Recreation and Museums now on the chopping block, 21 are the annual employees assigned to the Museum Division, effectively eliminating any qualified employee
staffing of the museums, historic properties, etc.

Why was the museum division targeted for the layoffs? It didn't generate enough money, period. Ignored was its contribution to the education, history and pride of Nassau. It is all about the money. When queried, the spokesman for Parks said they planned to keep the sites open but reduce the days and times drastically. Manning would depend on volunteers, "Friends" groups and others to staff the sites. This is a slippery slope for any long term commitment.

There are already a number of volunteers working under Park supervisors at the Cradle of Aviation, Bethpage Restoration Village and other sites. Their contribution is invaluable and must be recognized and encouraged. That being said, there is an ebb and flow in volunteerism, which must be considered. People get older, have other commitments and enthusiasm wanes. It is the continuity of full time park personnel that keeps museums and historic sites open and stimulates recruitment of new volunteers. That will be lost after the dismissal of the current employees. To close our museums and Historic Sites would be a horrible loss to our County.

The legislature will vote on the lay-offs on June 28th and if passed they will be effective on July 1st. If you have an opinion on this, you should testify before the Legislature on the 28th, contact the county executive and your legislator now and have your voice heard.

The Museum Division consists of :

Cedarmere, Chelsea Mansion, Elderfields, Sands Point (includes Falaise & Hempstead House), Garvies Point, Holocaust Memorial & Education Center, Malcolm House, Nassau Museum of Art, Roslyn Grist Mill, Saddle Rock Grist Mill, Science Museum of Long Island, African American Museum & Center for Applied Arts, Cradle of Aviation and the Long Island Children's Museum.

Aquatic Center in Eisenhower Park

On May 31st, Newsday published an article by Mark Harrington "Doubts over swim club-aquatic center deal".
I've reread the article several times and this is the bottom line:

Nassau County is giving, yes giving, public land for a private company to build a Olympic sized pool behind the Aquatic Center in Eisenhower Park which they will run for 20 years! This private pool will be in direct competition with the center.The operator is a former director of the Aquatic Center who was investigated for improprieties in that position and forced to resign! Nassau County issued an RFP tailored to a proposal by this gentleman and surprise, surprise, he was the only one to bid on it.

What the hell is wrong with our county officials? Democrat or Republican, they can't wait to give away our county park system to private interests. They lay off or provide pension sweeteners to all the qualified and knowledgeable park employees, deliberately do not hire replacements, the county facilities go to hell and then the county looks to dispose of our parks and amenities! The Bay Park Athletic fields and the property in Eisenhower Park are the latest examples.

All the county justifications for this latest assault on parklands created, developed and maintained by our taxes are so much bushwah!

Does the Center need to be overhauled. Absolutely! This is largely due to the fact that the county did not monitor the original construction and a lot of shoddy work was done. Once the construction was done, county did not properly maintain the Center. If a substitute pool is required during the 8 month rehab, the county should RENT the Olympic Sized pool for the 8 months and using existing employees collect the revenue instead of sharing with the private operator.

Relieving cramped conditions at the center? The center is 80,000 square feet with a 223 foot pool for competition, training and lessons plus a 164 foot section for recreational swimming and water exercise plus a diving pool plus a full health spa. That ain't cramped!

Like the Bay Park proposal, this plan is a slap in the face to every taxpaying voter in this county and should be fought by calling the County Executive Ed Mangano, the county legislators and the Park Commissioner Carnell Fosky and tell them no private pool in Eisenhower Park.

Nassau Hub

One of our PARCnassau friends was kind enough to send us a copy of the Nassau Hub Study proposal and noted that this could be a problem if Mitchel Field Park were adversely affected.She is absolutely right!

We have no innate objection to intelligent development of the "Hub" area. Currently being bandied about are Casinos, Minor League Ball Parks, New Hockey Arena, Modern Transportation Facilities and high density housing. Even with the removal of the existing Coliseum that is a lot for the land currently available.

What does concern us is that a lot of parkland may be at risk in this mad dash to create "an economic engine that will solve all of the county's fiscal problems". In the study area are the following parklands: Eisenhower Park, Mitchel County Park and the Hempstead Plains Preserve. The history of Nassau County shows that when when a political advantage is to be had or a temporary fiscal windfall is possible, the value and sanctity of public parklands is conveniently ignored.

The current development proposal, minimally defined, will cost $400 Million. Cost who? Why the county taxpayers of course. The county is proposing to sell bonds to finance this "Public Private" partnership. Traditionally this meant the Private entities walk away smiling and the Public takes it in the neck. What will be the final cost of these bonds? No one ever mentions that.

When the county finally gets around to laying out the plan in detail, we must be assured that the parklands noted above will not be adversely affected in any way. Once they are lost, they will never come back. In addition we must learn what amount of debt we will be passing on to the future residents of Nassau vs. the Estimated Economic Benefit.

The county has promised to detail the plan well before the August referendum. When they do, examine it closely and submit a knowledgeable vote.

Bruce Piel
Chairman

Bay Park, a lesson in bad government

Yesterday, Monday, April 4, 2011 the Rules Committee of the county legislature voted to allow the County Parks Department to finalize an agreement with Molloy College, Rockville Centre for the Occupancy and Use Permit for the Bay Park athletic fields. In effect, this commits COUNTY TAXPAYERS to underwrite Molloy College’s athletic program for $3 million up front and field maintenance costs for up to 30 years. This decision begs the question, why?

· Why was this proposal brought up in the Rules Committee instead of the Parks Committee?

· Why did the Republican majority ignore calls for further data that would insure an informed vote?

· Any logical reading of the agreement shows it to be, in fact, a lease and not a permit. Giving a private entity total use and control of most of a county park for up to 30 years is a lease, nothing less. Calling this a permit is just a way of avoiding scrutiny under the Alienation of Municipal Parklands case law which would require approval of the NYS Legislature. So, why was this done?

The vote was along party lines with the Republican majority outvoting the Democrat minority. (Will we ever see voting in accordance with personal knowledge and belief? Apparently not in Nassau County.) Testimony by PARCnassau and Vincent Esposito, former president of the Bay Park Civic Association against the proposal, stimulated a lively debate among the legislators about public access to the fields. A motion to table the matter until glaring omissions of public rights and access were investigated was totally ignored.

So who is the real loser in all this? The taxpaying Nassau County resident who will now have to finance a $3 million capital project bond to improve the fields for a private college to play on to the exclusion of the general public. The same residents will have to pay tax moneys to maintain those fields for up to 30 years for the private college’s sports and continuing exclusion of the public.

The only remaining hope is that either NIFA will nix this expensive agreement as not in the public interest or that the NYS Department of Parks will bring action to have this agreement brought under jurisdiction of the Alienation of Municipal Parklands case law. Any and all citizens of Nassau could and should petition NIFA and the State to weigh in on this issue.

For too long the very government entities charged with the fiduciary responsibility for our county parks have instead either violated or ignored that responsibility at the expense of the public that voted them into office. Shame on Them!

Bay Park-Not an April Fool's Joke

In a typical end run, supporters of the "sale" of Bay Park to Molloy College have engineered an unscheduled Rules Committee meeting on the issue for Monday, April 4th at 1:00 PM. This will take place in the legislative chamber of the Theodore Roosevelt Courthouse, Franklin Avenue, Mineola.

Opponents to this privatization of a county park should make every effort to attend and speak out against it.

Should Bay Park be improved and upgraded? Absolutely! This "stepchild" of the county park system is long overdue for a facelift and infrastructure improvements. This situation is one which should be corrected by the $100 Million Dollar Environmental Bond Fund approved by county residents 2 years ago. Why isn't $6 million of those moneys being allocated to Bay Park, allowing it to be kept available for all county residents?

Instead the Parks Department is willing to give away virtually all athletic field use for up to 30 years to Molloy College for $3 million to be matched by the county's capital project bond for another $3 Million. This way county residents lose twice. Once when they cannot access public fields and second when they have to pay off this new obligation while the county wallows in debt. The winner is Molloy College who will gain new athletics fields to replace those they are building dorms on. While we are sympathetic to the college's need for additional dormitories and new athletic fields, we don't believe they should take away public parkland for that purpose.

This proposal is also an Alienation of Parklands issue. According to the NYS Handbook on Alienation and Conversion of Municipal Park Lands the following have been determined by the courts to be alienations:

- The conveyance, sale or lease of municipal parkland or recreational facilities to another entity...........which results in the facility no longer being used for public park and recreation purposes.
[in this case Bay Park would virtually only be used for private recreational purposes, Molloy College's]

- The lease of municipal park or recreational facilities even though the resource may continue to be used for public park and recreational purposes.

Thus, this cannot be permitted without State Legislative approval!

Most disturbing of all is that this is setting a precedent that puts all county parks at risk. The same convoluted thinking by County Parks Administration could spur similar "land grabs" by other private interests with county residents and taxpayers the ultimate losers.

The time and place to "nip this travesty in the bud" is Monday at the Rules Committee meeting. If you are concerned for county parks, please make every effort to be there and state your concerns

Aquatic Center, Bay Park, Wantagh Marina, et. al.

Despite the lousy weather, the gremlins in Eisenhower Park have been busy alienating the public they are paid to serve.

The Aquatic Center, Eisenhower Park will be open for only 3 months to schedule and complete repair work. This needed to be done and is understandable. However the fees for the 3 months have been raised 75 to 100% in an unpublicized move that contradicts the county's claim that only cabana fees at Nickerson Beach would be raised this year. Another falsehood revealed?

Solution: Swimmers and exercise buffs should quit the Aquatic Center and sing up at the town parks of Echo Park (Hempstead) and Michael J. Tully Park (North Hempstead), which are less expensive, even for non-residents, better maintained and are the product of more open government. In addition, many private indoor pools and gyms are available to Nassau residents. OR you can call your legislators and ask them to rein in a department out of control.

Nickerson Beach. Speaking of the cabanas at Nickerson. The fees have ben raised to $3,400 for a cabana and $765 for a cabinette (read closet) for the 2011 season. Three Thousand, Four Hundred dollars to watch dry rot over take the unit? One could buy a foreclosed home for that price. The public is being gouged and it is time to say enough!

Solution: Cabana owners should be forming an organization to protect their interests and lobby against this sort of obscenity. This has been hard to do with ownership limited to 3 years but it can be done! Again, call your legislators and complain or ask them to justify this sort of nonsense.

Wantagh Park Marina: After offering the standard slip contract, the county rushed through a revised edition which must be agreed to by each boater to obtain the slip he/she won in the lottery. A new slew of regulations and rules are included but fail to hide a provision that the county must be held harmless despite any actions they take or fail to take concerning the marina. Boaters must not only agree to this but must now carry up to $1 million dollars insurance to be in the marina.This absolves the county from any liability at all such as the power outages and boat thefts last year. Improperly maintained docks, etc. are now the boater's problem. What are the boaters paying an annual fee for?

Solution: We believe that coercing someone into surrendering his rights of redress under the law is illegal and improper. It is obvious no competent attorney vetted this contract. To protect their interests, each boat owner should sing this contract, with "Under Protest" after his name to facilitate any later litigation. Even if this isn't done, no boater should be dissuaded from filing a claim or law suit should he or she suffer a loss due to the county's malfeasance, misfeasance or nonfeasance.

Bay Park: The Nassau County Open Space Committee has refused to approve the "sale" of Bay Park to Molloy College and have cited a number of compelling reasons for doing so. While this is not binding on the county we trust the search for intelligent life in Eisenhower park will uncover someone who will trash this whole idea. All public users of Bay park should keep up the pressure on the county legislators to stop this "alienation of park" plan.

Good News: We understand that both the Tanglewood Preserve and the Cow Meadow Marina have been taken back from private operators and returned to county control. Bravo!

Bruce Piel
Chairman
Park Advocacy & Recreation Council of Nassau (PARCnassau)
246 Twin Lane East
Wantagh, NY 11793-1963
(516) 783-8378

Smoking in Parks

Smoking In Parks
The latest politically correct silliness is to ban all smoking anywhere in any park. Talk about overkill. With all the problems that must be addressed in the Nassau County park system, someone sitting on a park bench with a cigarette is not one of them.

No one likes blown smoke in their face, but this is hardly a big problem outside in a park. Smoking is already banned in any building or enclosed space in the parks and that should be sufficient. This only diverts attention from the destruction in many of Nassau’s preserves, critical lack of park personnel in site administration and maintenance and the timely replacement of aging infrastructure.

We have had the opportunity to visit most county parks on a regular basis. While we have found numerous problems needing attention, smoking is not one of them. Cut the bloated patronage jobs at park headquarters and hire more entry level workers. Restore clean and inviting restrooms, pedestrian walkways, park benches and picnic tables. Those projects are worthy of the county’s attention.

Leave the poor smokers, ostracized from virtually all public and private buildings, some place they can take a puff in peace.

Update of Nassau Park Fees

The parks budget which includes increased fees will not be on the agenda for tomorrow's (Oct 6) committee meetings. Apparently the administration and the legislature are still "batting it around." We will check on whether it will be part of the full legislative hearing on October 18th and let you know.

There is no procedure to withdraw or cancel the park budget ordinance. If they choose not to pass it, they will either not include it in the final version they do vote on or they will vote no on it separately. A strange system, it would seem. In any case it is important that we keep the pressure up and insure the legislators know we are firmly against the proposed budget. Our reasons:

To insure fair and equal treatment of all organized sports that use county fields, public or private.

To insure all county residents have access to affordable recreation

To accomplish this, no increases in any county park fees! Our regular county property taxes pay for the park system. Fees pay for special services not covered by property taxes. There are no services being offered to justify any increases or new fees. Ergo, there should be no new or increased fees.

On October 14th or 15th we will check to see if he proposed park budget is included in the overall county budget hearings and let you know. If it is not included it would mean it is dead and we will make a point of thanking county government on October 18th for their response to our concerns. If it is included, we will testify against it and encourage every park user to join us on the 18th.

Take back County Parks in N. Hempstead

In the current brou-ha-ha over the new and increased fees of the 2011 county parks budget, an interesting fact came to light. Included in that budget were fee increases for Hempstead Harbor Beach Park and Whitney Pond Park pool. On September 20th, while testifying before the county legislature on the budget, PARCnassau mentioned both parks had been given to North Hempstead in 2007. Someone wasn’t paying attention and a discussion broke out in the legislature over the status of the 9 county parks that were transferred to the town.

It appears that “the deal” was never finalized. Whether the county legislature did or didn’t submit a Home Rule Message to the State Legislature to support the transfers, apparently the State did not approve them as required in accordance with Alienation of Parkland case laws. While the Suozzi administration turned over the keys to those parks in 2007, the true ownership may never have changed!

In 2007, PARCnassau and others fought the transfers as being detrimental to all county residents who had paid through their property taxes for the acquisition, development and maintenance of those parks. North Hempstead residents would bear the full cost of those facilities, increasing their property taxes. All others would lose any voice in how those parks would operate and could be charged up to double the entrance fees and we believe, would eventually lose all access.

The previous administration announced the deal was done and gave North Hempstead $5,000,000 dollars to “sweeten the deal”. Indicative of how politics in Nassau works, that was not true and those 9 parks may still belong to the county.

If that is correct, the new administration should move immediately to retake those parks on behalf of all county taxpayers. A new Home Rule Message from the legislature should be sent to Albany demanding the cancellation of the first message and of any process to transfer those parks to North Hempstead.

Anyone who has visited Hempstead Harbor, Manhasset Hills and Whitney Pond parks will notice their conditions have not changed since 2007. Deplorable! Take them back and use monies from the county’s $150 million dollar Environmental Bond Fund to restore all of those parks. Hempstead Harbor has the potential to be one of the finest parks on Long Island. Now it is just a commuter parking lot and an eyesore.

The Mangano Administration is becoming expert in correcting the transgressions of its predecessor; so correcting this one should be a piece of cake.

Increased Fee Proposal Temporarily Stopped

The county administration's attempt to covertly muscle through an ordinance to assess increased fees (camouflage tax) on every ball player in Nassau was stopped this past Monday, September 20th , when the county legislature agreed to table the measure. It will next be addressed along with the entire 2011 county budget in the near future after full investigation and public comment.

The justifications tendered by the county were filled with misconceptions, misrepresentations, exaggerations and outright falsifications. Thanks go to each league that testified Monday, each league, team and player that sent letters, emails and made phone calls to the legislators. Ultimately that is what cut this bill off at the pass.

The battle is not over. Whatever is motivating the county and park administrations to attack the ball players who are county residents and taxpayers is known only to them and the almighty. Inviting private leagues into becoming public leagues is fine, destroying private leagues is not! The latest tactics being used include:

"For profit" leagues should pay more to use county fields.
All 38 private leagues using county fields in 2010 are technically "for profit" even if their sponsoring entity is not. A church may be a 501(C) 3 but a ball team providing recreation and fellowship is not. Not should it be. Even the largest independent leagues only pay a living wage to their "owners", virtually all of which are involved for the love of the game. No George Steinbrenners here, Nassau. No ticket sales, no concessions stands, parking fees, TV contracts or product endorsements, just the minimum player fees to provide scheduling, referees or umpires, web sites and office support.

Non-residents should play more to play on county fields.
What non-residents? While the rules mandate at least 80% of the players must be residents, the actual number is in the upper nineties. It is much more likely that a Nassau resident would be playing on a company team in NYC where he works than a city resident would be playing out here.

The proposed bill would allow eliminating field fees for Little Leagues.
The Parks commissioner has always had the authority to "waive any fees which he believes would be in the public interest." If they want to eliminate Little League fees, do it! We have no objection.

Every league, team and player that opposes these unjustified increases should call his county legislator and request being notified the next time this measure is up for discussion and public comment. When that occurs they should make every effort to make their opposition known via letters, emails, phone calls and by testifying before the legislative committees and the full legislature itself. Tell the county that Nassau taxpayers deserve better!

Increased Park Fees AKA Hidden Taxation

Monday, September 13th, the County Administration advanced their agenda of increasing most park fees by misstatements and misrepresentations and glaring omissions. Through a last minute addition to the agenda of the legislative DPW / Parks committee, they received a preliminary approval of the increases that now will go before the full legislature next Monday, September 20th at 10AM. Our thanks to those few citizens that managed to show up at the 1:30 PM meeting and waited over 3 hours to be heard.

Next Monday, PARCnassau expects to be there to testify against taxing our already overtaxed citizenry thru fees and pretending this is for our own good. The bogeyman this time around are the private ball leagues, most of whom have been around providing organized sports for Nassau taxpayers (and voters) for over twenty years.They not only provide the extra services ballplayers wanted and still want but allowed the top teams to compete regionally and nationally if they wished.

The County admits abandoning their own leagues in 2002 leaving only private leagues for ball players to join. Now if the county leagues belly up in the future there will be no leagues for our friends and neighbors. The county administration states they are "taking back" their ball fields. Its is apparent the Parks Department never shared the fact that they never lost them. Private leagues never controlled the county fields. They were always offered for game registration by the county who permitted the teams, scheduled the games and resolved any conflicts and collected a fee based on the cost of that service. For years that was one employee without a computer.

When the County stated they were starting county leagues, we were delighted, believing they would address under-served markets such as women's sports, disabled sports and senior sports. Unfortunately this was not the case. Instead they are pushing out private leagues or worse buying out certain private leagues and hiring their owners high paying county jobs to run them on behalf of the county. Hello?? Is anyone paying attention?

The method is to increase the fees for private leagues forcing them to pass on that cost to their players while reducing player fees for "new"county leagues to lure the players to switch. That is stacking the deck! What they should be doing is offering the same costs and benefits to the ball players and allow market forces to prevail. This has not been the history of County Government. They are bullying us and only we the people stop them.

Next Monday, it is time for every private league owner, manager, player to make it to the hearing at before the full legislature. Bring your families and friends. Invite everyone who cares about fairness in government.
Is the time and date inconvenient for most of us? Yes! Will you have to wait for no apparent reason? Yes!
Is good, representative government worth it? Yes! Yes!

Increasing park fees is camouflage taxation.

Bruce Piel
Chairman
Park Advocacy & Recreation Council of Nassau
246 Twin Lane East
Wantagh, NY 11793
(516) 783-8378

http://parcnassau.blogspot.com/

Wantagh Marina Thieves strike again

The Nassau County parks Department still haven't found a way to protect the marina and the park itself from thieves, vandals and other ne'er-do-wells who prowl in the dark. Despite periodic drive throughs by Public Security Vehicles and occasionally a police vehicle, groups of youths roam the park at will most nights without being challenged or investigated. Overnight Wednesday, September 8th, at least 3 boats on "F" Dock were broken into and contents stolen. That is twice in 11 days and should be intolerable to the county administration as well as to the boater victims.

Would you think the Parks Department and Police Department would be proactive in addressing this problem. Wantagh Park is officially closed from dusk to dawn except for boat owners, guests and lighted activities, ie ball games. Why isn't Nassau County enforcing the law? Is your county park safe?

Wantagh Park Marina under attack, county stumped

Nassau County Turns Boats into Sitting Ducks


It was bound to happen. The county marina in Wantagh Park lost its power three days ago. Park Administration was notified but boat owners, who reside throughout the county, were not. To effect a repair the entire park electrical system was shut down leaving the boats literally in the dark each night.Two Hundred boats valued at well over a million dollars were left unprotected by the Police Department and Department of Public Security, apparently because they weren't notified about the problem by the Parks Department.



On Augsut 27, 2010, under cover of darkness, thieves broke into several boats, stealing TVs, GPS chart plotters, fishing gear, jewelry and anything else they could lay their hands on. Then stole a dinghy to haul the loot away to be off-loaded.



When questioned by a TV reporter the county admitted they do not have round the clock security in the park but refused further comment. Is it unreasonable to expect the Parks Department to request special security coverage in a situation like this? Who dropped the ball and who is being held responsible? The Boaters would like to know.

Play Ball 2011

Nassau County Leagues return in 2011



Nassau County Department of Parks, Recreation and Museums has confirmed their intent to recreate county sponsored and run leagues for baseball, softball and lacrosse. These leagues had been allowed to dissolve during the 8 years of the past administration. While we applaud this initiative of the current county administration we are concerned about some of the rhetoric accompanying this news. Statements that “we are taking back our ball fields”, “the private leagues will be working for the county” and “the private leagues will be gone” go beyond just offering Nassau county sportsmen and women an alternative to private leagues.



Nassau County must realize that it was the private leagues that filled the gap and provided park users continuous structured sports when the county failed to. The county should not become the school yard bully and chase off the private leagues. Rather they should provide a lower cost alternative to the pricier leagues and allow market forces to determine where a ballplayer signs up.



PARCnassau has spoken to some of the private leagues that would be affected. We found that some leagues that were begun by local athletic supply companies will gladly step aside from running sports to allow them to continue to equip sports. Those companies only organized leagues to keep their client base for their primary function, retail sales. Others are concerned that that they will be “shut out” of county ball fields, especially prime locations such as Mitchell Field and Eisenhower Park.



It is important that the parks department while giving public leagues priority in scheduling insure that the private leagues are offered the maximum remaining time possible and not shut them out either in perception or in reality. Give county residents intelligent choices. Offer more women’s sports, senior sports, disabled sports, etc. That will fill our parks and ball fields the right way and so will encouraging economical private leagues.



The county must also state their intentions concerning Flag Football, Soccer, Rugby, Cricket and all other sports using county athletic fields and administered by private leagues. All sports are too important to the health and well being of our taxpayers and deserve no less than the full, fair support of our county officials.

Nickerson (Nassau) Beach Update

Nickerson (Nassau) Beach Park

The Parks Department sells seasonal vehicle parking decals for the beach park, $40 for seniors and $80 for everyone else. In previous years the decals were mounted inside the window glass on the cars where they are checked when one enters.

This year they decided to place the decals on the outside of the glass. They believe that due to tinted windows the seasonal kids manning the gate would not be able to read decals mounted inside. That doesn't happen to be true but we will address that in a moment.

The main problem is that the outside mounted deals can be peeled off by hand and reused or destroyed depending on the intent of the vandal. The county may have created a cottage industry at Nickerson in the theft and resale of beach parking decals.

When county residents brought this problem to the attention of the park director, she stated those were her orders and if a decal was stolen or destroyed, the victim would have to pay the daily entry fee of $8 until they reported the theft to the police, obtained verification of the report and brought it to the park. At that time the decal would be replaced and the new decal placed on the outside of the window. When concerned county residents contacted Eisenhower Park with the problem, they were told that was the policy but they would replace stolen decals ASAP.

First, the decals can be read through a legally tinted window, though a employee might have to actually stand up and look closely, Heaven forbid! NYS prohibits tinting auto windshields and front seat side windows "Limo Black", so here should be no problem placing the decals there. In addition, the county added bar codes on the decals this year. They can also be scanned through legally tinted windows. Unfortunately the county has no scanners, so that is not really a problem.

What is a problem is a system that is unable to recognize the validity of a resident's complaint, then investigate and change a defective procedure, when necessary. The 2010 beach season is just starting. So, Parks Department, place the deals on the inside where they are relatively protected from vandals and thieves!

What's happening in your county park?