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Hundreds of residents oppose Flowers/City Park RFP; council and staff outline review steps
Summary
A broad swath of New Rochelle residents, coaches and youth sports organizers urged the council to withdraw an RFP seeking private partnership(s) for Flowers/City Park, raising concerns about privatization, eminent domain language in the RFP, and lack of community input; staff outlined the technical review, proposer presentation dates and a 90‑day M
An RFP the city issued for redevelopment of Flowers/City Park — framed by staff as a mechanism to address stormwater challenges and to explore a public‑private partnership for recreation upgrades — drew intense opposition during the meeting—s public comment period. Dozens of residents, youth coaches and local organizers said the RFP risks privatizing a long‑used public recreation area, could restrict access or add costs for local teams and families, and that the city issued the RFP with insufficient public engagement.
Council member Albert Tarantino raised concerns at the start of the session about community outreach by a prospective proposer (named in public comments as Bob Young) prior to any award and asked the city manager to convene meetings so councilors and key stakeholders could see materials. City staff described the staged process: a technical review committee (TRC) has been convened to vet proposals; the proposer has been asked to present and…
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