From the Daily News:The city is setting up increasingly cozy relationships with nonprofit parks boosters - even paying some of their staffers a second salary out of the public till, a Daily News review found.
Critics say the entwined arrangements with conservancies - nonprofits that support individual parks - mean that a handful of well-connected parks are ending up with more attention and money than the rest.
"New York is creating a two-tier system," said Geoffrey Croft of New York City Park Advocates, a frequent critic of the Parks Department.
"The nightmare is that all these deals are going on behind closed doors and that people are taking city dollars away from other parks," Croft said.
The situation is unusual. Although it is not uncommon for the city and nonprofits to hire from the same pool of advocates and experts, it is extremely rare for people to work for both at the same time.
No other agency has as many employees who have been cleared to work for nonprofits while simultaneously collecting a city salary, according to the Conflicts of Interest Board.
The News found seven top-salary city employees working on nonprofits that support specific parks, including four who got money from both.
Estelle Cooper got $101,507 as assistant commissioner of Queens parks in 2009, while she also ran Unisphere, a nonprofit that supports Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Unisphere did not list a salary for her and did not return calls.
In 2008, Stephanie Thayer became director of the Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn - and the Parks Department's director of North Brooklyn Parks.
Records show Thayer got $86,528 from the city. She said her work for the nonprofit is voluntary.
"I'm still fighting the good fight," she said. "I'm just doing it in a different way."
Figuring out which hat Thayer is wearing has created frustration among some park advocates.
Laura Hofmann, a member of Open Space's steering committee, said Thayer spurned her when she tried to find out how many trees would be planted in a new park.
"She basically told me you have to trust the Parks Department and you have no business asking for this kind of information," Hofmann said.
New York has more than 1,700 city parks - but only 58 registered conservancies, which support specific parks by recruiting volunteers, creating programming and funding upkeep with a mixture of public and private cash.
Half of them - 24 - are in Manhattan and most are connected with parks in affluent neighborhoods.
16 comments:
Estelle Cooper is as useless as tits on a bull...She looks like she had tied one on with her good friend, (Retired Chief) Gertie LaForgia!
In all fairness, Crappy, those of us who live under Ms. Thayer's regime have to beg. Repeatedly. For essentials like functional toilets, sanitation, lights.
I got word albeit indirectly (READ: leaked emails) that OSA members--- Dewey Thompson and Steve Hindy have stated that Barge Park, McCarren and East River Park will get Port-o-lets. Four. Two at McCarren, one at Barge Park and another at East River.
We're still waiting for them.
Aw c'mon Crappie. She's worth every penny. This cow's turds are used for manuring FMCP's beautiful flower beds.
2 Words:
Senile Whore.
Where is that beukoo $$$$ raised at Terrace on The Park to stabilize the New york State Pavilion Estelle ?
We all know what the engineers cost. Where is the remaining money ?
Just a note:
When you delete a FAT 16 or FAT 32 hard drive always remember to delete the the mirror index. ---sleep well, you and your friends !
I believe she was diagnosed with some form of dementia several years ago. So how is she still able to hold a city position??? She should be retired and on disability, no??? Once a city clubmember , always a ....
What's scarier -- this picture or one of Toby Stavisky?
What's scarier -- this picture or one of Toby Stavisky?
She looks like a promising candidate for Queens Borough President.
She was -- in 1986.
Any recent grad from a college that isn't a degre mill makes six figures these days. Just because you guys pretend to work and they pretend to pay you doesn't chnge the real world.
Uh, what?
This woman in her 80s does absolutely nothing and makes 100K+ paid for by your tax dollars. I'd rather a kid out of college get that.
re:any recent grad......
are you delusional ? this city has a 10% to 17% unemployment rate for the past two years. the economy has no growth.
n.y.c. is on the same path as GREECE.
the private sector always has to pay taxes in order for the public employees to earn salary and pensions.
no income to the private sector means no public sector income, eventually.
I'd hit it
This is one of the many, many reasons why the city has no money and the government is taxing us to death. There is too much waste and inefficiency and until that is curtailed, we are screwed.
Now this is how one community blog handles failing park service:
first of all, when the threat gets a little too rowdy, we close down converstion. Remember, children, we must always be polite and respectful!
http://www.astorians.com/community/index.php?topic=18607.0
Then, we all decide to do the work of the city ... and clean it ourselves!
This not only takes attention away from the lack of services the community gets (note the $27 million to improve six blocks of Jackson so developers will close the deal) but we can actually do the work the city should do until fall sets in and then forget about it until next year!
http://www.astorians.com/community/index.php?topic=18843.0
No politican involved so they can take photos with HANAC seniors.
No unpleasant scenes at the Community Board as it digs its way through a stack of community cafes and hookah bar approvals.
Pretty clear, 'eh?
Pretty Astoria, 'eh?
This is a shining example of how the city-run agencies are run! She is one [of the many] park officials who should've been ousted out of their comfortable positions a long time ago. The incompetence,unprofessionalism and shadiness runs rampid in Queens Parks. Dig deeper; I'm sure lots more unethical, criminal and dirty dealings will be unearthed.
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