Camp St. Edward is a 12-acre summer camp on a bluff overlooking Raritan Bay on the watery edge of Staten Island. The Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary have run the camp for underprivileged children since inheriting the land from the New York Archdiocese in 1948. Last December, the nuns quietly sold the property for a reported $19 million to local developers who plan to build residential homes on the site.

Now Staten Island politicians are trying to arrange a deal that will preserve the land as public space.

“When I heard the nuns were looking to sell the property, I scrambled to put together a proposal, offering them $9 million, and the sisters laughed at us, saying the property had been appraised for twice that,” City Councilman Andrew Lanza said. “It seems clear to me that they are motivated to sell the land for the highest price, that greed, and not a higher power, is guiding them.”

“It was always our hope that the land, which is a unique jewel of open space in New York City, would remain here for generations of New Yorkers to enjoy,” said Representative Vito Fossella. “Unfortunately, we have never been given the chance for a genuine dialogue with the nuns, and I cannot emphasize enough how the Handmaids have not returned our repeated calls.”

The Handmaids of Mary, an order based in Harlem, fills the camp’s 13 cabins with thousands of inner-city kids each summer, running two-week sessions for children ages 6 through 10. Only a handful of elderly nuns remain in the order, which was founded in 1915. The Handmaids face increasing financial strain, and the money from the sale would cover their medical costs and living expenses, say officials.

Also at issue is a $1 million public project paid from the late 1990s that brought a sewerage system to the area. Mr. Lanza now believes that it was a ruse.

“The nuns said it was for the kids, but as it turns out now, the land would be worth considerably less without it,” he said. He also takes issue with a gag order the nuns had the developers sign when they purchased the property.

Mr. Fossella and Mr. Lanza sent the New York archdiocese a letter last month and received an answer from Cardinal Egan offering a compromise with the nuns. According to the deal, eight acres of the 12-acre parcel would be sold to the developers and the remaining four acres, plus an adjacent 4.5 acres owned by the archdiocese, would be sold to the community.

“We have been working with the sisters and public officials to reach an agreement, and we have set aside some of the land for preservation,” said a spokesman for the archdiocese, Joseph Zwilling. “But they have to come up with the money to preserve it,” he added.

“It is the best news since this whole thing started,” said Mr. Lanza. “There is no doubt the cardinal’s involvement should help our cause.”

A developer involved in the purchase of the property, Thomas Costa, and mother general of the order, Sister Maria Goretti, both declined to comment.

Officials hope a deal to buy the land could be funded through the Trust for Public Land, a conservation group. In the past, the trust has bought parkland in Staten Island from the archdiocese and allowed the city and state to pay the group back over several years. Mr. Lanza said the trust had expressed “sincere interest” in proceeding with a similar plan for Camp St. Edward.