By Dan Murphy
This month, (Jan. 2023) City of Yonkers recently filed suit against Mt. Saint Vincent College and Concrete Contracting Construction, for their lack of completion of renovations at Fay Park, located in the Ludlow neighborhood of Yonkers at Abeel Street and Depeyster Street.
On Nov. 27, 2018 the city and college entered into a Memorandum of Understanding for the purpose of collaborating on a large project to redo/restore the softball and baseball fields located at Fay Park.
The purpose of the arrangement was to help the college meet its need for additional athletic playing fields to serve the students at its adjoining Bronx campus. The arrangement would also allow Yonkers residents to benefit from these improvements at a reduced cost to the city.
The project was to be completed in two phases. The college was responsible for completing Phase I, at its expense, and the City of Yonkers would complete Phase II at a cost not to exceed $560,000.
The First Phase involved renovating two fields both the infield and outfield and drainage and irrigation systems. The college retained Concrete Contracting Construction, to perform the Phase I work.
On March 30, 2019 the college and contractor entered into an agreement for the college’s portion of the work at Fay Park, which the city was not a party to.
It was believed that the City of Yonkers would be a third party beneficiary for the construction contract and the contractor knew that. The work was set to begin on June 15, 2019.
As of Jan. 2020 the work was still incomplete and failed to progress from that point forward and work that was performed was unfinished or defective.
Eventually, the City claims in its suit, defendants abandoned the work at Fay Park, and due to defendants negligence and abandonment, Fay Park was left in a state of disrepair and the fields were effectively destroyed. And City residents were unable to use Fay Park, and still are to this day.
The ballfields are now overgrown with vegetation and dirt, left in a hazardous condition. Starting in the spring of 2020, the city and the college began conversations about how to fix the problem, with the college explaining that it had no intention of continuing to work with the contractor, who failed to perform the agreed upon work.
The City received numerous complaints about the park from residents and organizations. Sports teams could no longer play on the field and some residents complained of flooding from the damage at the park.
The City hired its own contractor to complete the work at a cost of $700,000 in March 2022. In April 2022, the City proposed that the college pay $250,000 of the cost, with the City paying for $470,000.
The College did not agree to move forward, and the City is now suing the college for breach of contract, with damages of $700,000.
The City is also suing Concrete Contracting Construction for $700,000 for their failure to perform their contract with the college and the damage to Yonkers.
The City is also claiming damages because the park and ballfieds are now in worse condition than when the agreement was made, and that the subsequent lack of performance created a nuisance for the residents and taxpayers of Yonkers. The total amount sought by the City is $3.5 Million.
Residents in the Ludlow neighborhood have been complaining about the damages at Fay Park for some time. Resident Eileen O’Connor said, “Residents of Ludlow Park were without a safe, open neighborhood space, in the middle of the pandemic of the century. Both Adults and Children were unable to walk to their field and play ball for the last 3 years. We are very glad the COY did the repairs needed so these fields can be used in the spring. We can’t wait!!”
