LINDENWOOD — The city has put out a request for a new operator to take over a controversial Queens stable — but that's news to the people currently leasing the stables, they told DNAinfo.
The Parks Department posted a request for proposals Aug. 7 to renovate, operate and maintain the Cedar Lane Stables at Gemini Fields in Lindenwood, on the South Conduit.
The site has been home to the New York City Federation of Black Cowboys since 1994, but the group's president, Kesha Morse, said Monday that she wasn't informed of any proposal to take it over from the group.
"I don't know anything about that," Morse told DNAinfo. "I didn't know that it was being made public."
The group's lease at the stables is up in June 2016.
A spokeswoman for the Parks Department, however, said the group was notified and sent the RFP.
"They are also aware of when their license agreement expires," spokeswoman Tara Kiernan said.
"Anyone, including the FoBC, is welcome to submit a proposal. This is the standard citywide RFP process - when an agreement is about to expire we issue an RFP."
The stables were temporarily shut down in 2013 after six horses staying there died within a few months — but the ASPCA later found no evidence of cruelty to the horses, according to a report. An email to the ASPCA was not immediately returned.
The Federation of Black Cowboys promotes the "Black West," according to its website, teaching skills to take care of horses and also working with local groups, attending block parties and hosting rodeos.
