UPPER WEST SIDE — Residents are worried that a funding shortfall for the final portion of construction on Riverside Park South will mean they'll lose sought-after lighting for ball fields that would make the space accessible and safe at night.
The Parks Department currently doesn't have enough money to pay the estimated $22 million cost for the final phase of the park, which will run from West 65th to 59th streets, said Michael Bradley, a project administrator with the department's planning division.
That could mean four expensive athletic field lights will be eliminated, he acknowledged.
Community Board 7 members reminded Bradley at a meeting Monday that locals had urged the Parks Department to include the nighttime lighting.
"The community desire to have lighted ball fields is really high. It would be such a shame to not make sure that we can have lighting there," said Marisa Maack, chief of staff for City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal.
Not only are there issues of the timing of games and practices being restricted when it gets dark early, but it would make the park less safe, she added.
"I can’t imagine anyone building a new park and not putting lights in," Maack said.
Bradley assured her and CB7 members that the Parks Department shared their view on the lights, but offered no guarantee that they would be included in future plans.
In addition, two new metal staircases included in the plan — one leading from Riverside Boulevard at West 70th Street to the Pier I concession, and another at Riverside Boulevard and West 61st Street leading into the park — could also be eliminated, he noted.
The Parks Department did not return a request for comment regarding other features included phase six.
"I’m getting a little concerned about where the plans are... you’ve got budget issues, you've got design issues," said Klari Neuwelt, chairwoman of the board's Parks Committee.
"This is a situation in flux," Bradley conceded.
The six-phase project to build the 21.5-acre public park began in 1998, with the fifth phase poised to begin in the fall.
The developers of the Riverside Center — a new development that's going up due west of phase six and includes five new luxury towers, a public school, a private school and retail space — are funding the final phase of the park as part of their agreement with the city.
However, the amount that's currently in escrow from the developers — The Dermot Company, GID, Silverstein Properties and the Elad Group — is below the current $22 million cost estimate for phase six, Bradley said.
That estimate is higher than the cost originally negotiated with the developers, but Bradley wouldn't say by how much.
He blamed the Parks Department's budget miscalculation on the fact that the initial planning process took place in 1992. While the agency factored in other increases, it did not anticipate the amount by which construction costs have increased, he noted.
Compounding the budget issue is the fact that previous shortfalls were made up by using money from future phases of the project, Bradley said.
The Parks Department is going to take the next three months to determine whether the plans for phase six, which are about 80 percent designed, can be done at a lower cost, he explained.
As part of the developers' agreement, none of the luxury towers can get a Certificate of Occupancy allowing people to move in until the park is finished. This restriction has motivated Silverstein Properties to take the reins from the Parks Department in overseeing and executing construction, a move the department has allowed, Bradley said.
Silverstein Properties, which did not return a request for comment, wants to open its luxury residential tower in late 2016, he added.
The upside of this new arrangement is that Silverstein's prices for construction and landscaping services will be lower than the Parks Department's, potentially putting the project in a much better financial position, Bradley explained.
Silverstein is working with the department on "a complete reevaluation of construction estimates," he said.
"We will come back to you as soon as we have something real to report," Bradley added.
