Work Begins on Randall’s Island Fields as Opponents Cry Foul

Ground was broken yesterday on 63 new sports fields on Randall’s Island, a project that opponents say is unfair to public schoolchildren.At issue is a deal that will grant exclusive use of many of the fields to a group of 20 private schools. The schools will pay $2.62 million a year toward the project; in return, they will receive exclusive access to two-thirds of the fields during after-school hours.Expected to be completed in 2009, the project will add 10% to the available playing field space in the city. “This is a real win-win for New York City, for its school kids, and for its communities,” Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe told The New York Sun.But the president of NYC Parks Advocates, Geoffrey Croft, said at a press conference before the groundbreaking that the private schools’ access deal leaves public schoolchildren in East Harlem and the South Bronx at a disadvantage.“We feel this is illegal, it is discriminatory, and the city should not be entering into private pay-to-play deals,” Mr. Croft said. “Everyone should have access. … These communities suffer from the highest levels of obesity and asthma in the United States.”Opponents of the deal filed a lawsuit in June seeking to stop the sports fields project on the grounds that it illegally bypassed the public review process.Richard Davis, chairman of the Randall’s Island Sports Foundation, which has partnered with the city to build the fields, countered that the fields will be available to the public for 85% of prime playing hours, including weekends and summer. “Right now maybe two fields are available for public schools. After this project is done, 20” will be, he said.Mr. Benepe said the private schools’ money helped the project get past the planning stages. “It’s unlikely the city would have put in the balance of the money if a first partner hadn’t come in,” he said.

Work Begins on Randall’s Island Fields as Opponents Cry Foul

Work Begins on Randall’s Island Fields as Opponents Cry Foul

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