OP-ED submitted by Yonkers on Hudson Alliance
The Yonkers on Hudson Alliance (YOHA), a coalition of community groups, is questioning the legality of an action by the city of Yonkers that authorizes the developer of the Glenwood Power Plant to control and reap profit from land in JFK Marina, the last public park in Yonkers that affords public access to greenspace on the Hudson River shoreline. The city’s action would privatize the south lawn of the Marina, an open area cherished by park visitors who come for recreation and respite along the riverbank, where they can enjoy sweeping views of the Palisades.
At its February 15 2022 meeting, the Yonkers Planning Board gave a greenlight to the Goren Group to advance to the next stage, granting the developer a ground lease to build on and earn profit from private events held on the highly valued south lawn of JFK Marina–referred to in official documents as Parcel 1C. By ceding this essential public space to private control, the city has overstepped its authority, YOHA claims.
As outlined in a letter from the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic on behalf of YOHA and Riverkeeper, which has been protecting public space on the Hudson for 56 years, YOHA contends that the city is neglecting the Public Trust Doctrine, a principle long upheld by New York courts that precludes the use of dedicated parkland for non-park uses. YOHA’s advisors have also confirmed that a little known, legally-binding document called a Letters Patent mandates that JFK Marina be preserved as a public park forever.
“It comes down to a question of social justice,” says Barbara Smith, president of the Hudson River Community Association, a founding member of YOHA representing the neighborhood immediately surrounding the Plant and the Marina. “The city needs to stop privileging private developers and start elevating the health and wellbeing of the people of Yonkers.”
THE LETTERS PATENT
To date, the city and developer have relied upon a process known as parkland alienation as its route to hand over control of public land to the Goren Group. Alienation provides cover for claims that the city is flagrantly violating the Public Trust Doctrine.
But YOHA argues that the Letters Patent, a land deed issued by New York State in 1964, dictated the terms under which Yonkers was permitted to create and operate the Marina. The document stipulates that no one may ever be allowed to make a profit on Marina parkland. The city therefore lacks authority to allow Marina land to be used for profit, as the Goren Group intends.
A July 16, 2021 letter from the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic to Mayor Spano informed the city of its duty to uphold the mandate of the Letters Patent. If the Marina, or part of it, stops being used as a public recreational space, the letter stated, “the land immediately reverts to The People of New York State, not the entity planning to develop the land.” Plainly stated, the 2013 alienation of the south lawn is invalid and any further alienation or leasing of Marina property is against the law, too.
“It’s the law, plain and simple,” says Dominique Surh, co-founder of the Friends of Trevor Park, who discovered the Letters Patent while researching the origins of the park. “The Letters Patent states that no one–not even the city of Yonkers–is allowed to give control of the Marina to a private company. The park is meant to stay public, forever.”
“The city doesn’t have the authority to do what they’ve done by putting through the alienation and giving the developer a lease on Parcel 1C,” emphasizes Stephen Wagner, of Yonkers Committee for Smart Development. “The alienation must be declared invalid and the proposed ground lease needs to be voided.”
To date, the city has offered no response to refute the primacy of the binding document brought to their attention by YOHA and Riverkeeper in the Pace letter.
FINDING SOLUTIONS
While supporting rehabilitation and reuse of the Glenwood PowerPlant, YOHA’s focus since its inception has been to protect essential Yonkers public space, especially parkland that affords direct access to the Hudson. The group, a coalition of four anchor community groups supported by a dozen affiliate organizations, played a galvanizing role in preventing the Goren Group from erecting a parking garage for the Plant in the middle of Trevor Park. When public outcry scuttled that effort, the developer proposed putting their garage in the center of JFK Marina.
YOHA led the effort against that project, too, and were ultimately victorious in having the planned garage relocated to another site. “The Hudson River and the Palisades make Yonkers special,” says Elliot Scott of the River Communities Coalition of Yonkers, one of YOHA’s founding groups. “But our elected representatives keep cutting off our access to the waterfront. They seem dead set on turning Yonkers into a cookie cutter city, where only rich people get to enjoy the city’s beauty. Our city government should be doing everything in its power to protect and provide even more public access to our amazing riverfront.”
Of course riverfront property is coveted by developers, as well, and the city has a long history of offering sweetheart deals that smooth the way for construction of high-end housing that most residents cannot afford, and that continue to shrink public access to the river. And the Goren Group has been receiving such benefits, including commitments that allow the developer to go tax-free for years to come.
YOHA members have hit upon a solution that upholds the Letters Patent and the spirit of the Public Trust Doctrine and still allows The Plant development to move forward. “The developer needs a road to its front door through the Marina,” comments Wagner. “We get it–the Plant needs a road. So, okay, the city can and should authorize a simple restricted easement that lets the developer build a single narrow roadway. The city is muddying thewaters with talk about ground leases and other instruments that convey the entire south lawn to the developer. They should not hand over a lease giving the Goren Group free reign over the entire south end of the park. Ownership and control of Parcel 1C should remain with the citizens of Yonkers for ‘public recreation,’ as mandated by the Letters Patent.”
“The developer plans to redesign the entire south lawn, the heart of the park,” says Surh. “Of course they say the public will be allowed to use it, but that will be difficult because the city handing them control. And they intend to use it for events, to make money. We’re asking the city to seek a more equitable solution, to protect open public space, and to stand up for its people.”
Submitted by Yonkers on Hudson Alliance
