City Council Urges Mayor to Cancel Unauthorized Event at Memorial Field

The City Council strongly urges the Mayor to cancel the unauthorized food event and to work towards restoring Memorial Field for public use

Posted on May 23, 2017 by AJ Woodson in BW News // 0 Comments

Mayor Richard Thomas standing in Best Buy parking lot overlooking Memorial Field [Black Westchester]

Council President Roberta Apuzzo [Black Westchester]

Earlier this week, when City Council President Roberta L. Apuzzo asked Mayor Richard W. Thomas to produce a letter he claimed to possess from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“DEC”) clearing Memorial Field for public use, the City Council instead received correspondence from his administration highlighting the cleanup that must occur at Memorial Field pursuant to a DEC Consent Order.

Specifically, in a letter to the Council dated May 23, 2017, the Department of Recreation outlined “next steps for remediation of conditions at Memorial Field to restore the site for immediate public use” and proposed actions “to remove the unsanctioned debris from the site as a pathway to restoration of Memorial Field” pursuant to the Consent Order.

In light of the Recreation Department’s letter which was issued just yesterday, the Council is highly concerned that an event is already being advertised indicating that food is to be prepared, sold and consumed at Memorial Field as early as this weekend…despite the fact that none of the outlined remediation has occurred.

On March 31, 2017, the City Council and Board of Estimate and Contract authorized payment of a $40,000 civil penalty to the DEC as an important—and costly—step towards restoring Memorial Field to our residents. The City Council strongly urges the Mayor to cancel the unauthorized food event and to work towards restoring Memorial Field in a manner that will promote efficiency and public confidence as we move forward.

Mayor Thomas did not return our calls for comment on this matter.

See flyer below for the event in question. Stay tuned to BW for more on this developing story.