Scorching NY Times takedown of golf, Bloomberg & Trump: $97MM(!) golf course

[Mark Bourgeois]

NYTimes: In the Bronx, Throwing $97 Million Down 18 Holes
http://nyti.ms/Rp2pQX

[corey miller]

It appears the lady does not like Mr. Trump.  I would only call this "news" article a "takedown" if it provided good reasoned arguments.  I am not sure caloric exertion of a person golfing cuts it.

I would not  favor the city being involved in this business but take solace that the contracting jobs provided by MFM are union.  Also, I am sure if MFM were so crooked they would not have been used at the Barcleys Center which took private land and turned it over to a private developer via eminent domain. 

I suspect this project even at $98 million, will create more shovel ready jobs at a lower cost per job than many of our recent government expenditures.

[Carl Johnson]

This comment from the author of the article put me off, about the physical condition of today's "elite" pro players.  There are a few that appear to be fitness-challenged, but most seem to me to be just about the right weight.

"Arguably, if New York is going to be the place that does everything in its power to keep you from having that second extra-large Pepsi, then it ought to also be the place that does not so aggressively encourage a recreation whose most elite professional players often look as though they should be given gift certificates to Jenny Craig."  Emphasis added.

[JNC Lyon]

This comment from the author of the article put me off, about the physical condition of today's "elite" pro players.  There are a few that appear to be fitness-challenged, but most seem to me to be just about the right weight.

"Arguably, if New York is going to be the place that does everything in its power to keep you from having that second extra-large Pepsi, then it ought to also be the place that does not so aggressively encourage a recreation whose most elite professional players often look as though they should be given gift certificates to Jenny Craig."  Emphasis added.

Clearly the reporter has a major problem with the game of golf, which some people do for some reason. If you watched the Ryder Cup today, all of the top players are in very good shape, and I wouldn't hesitate to call them athletes.  But this lady has never watched more than ten minutes of golf in her life.  How is a golf course covering a former landfill possibly a bad thing?  Does she think $97 million just gets flushed down the drain?  No, obviously it goes to pay people who are building the golf course.  I'm not a big-government guy, but this project seems like its pretty solid.  All in all, I can't stand reporting like this. 

[Steve_ Shaffer]

But for the 40M$ cost overage would this article have been written?

Too many people think that Trump is the developer, hence the stupid reader comments to the article.

[Mike Sweeney]

Wow that was a poorly written column. 

She offers no perspective of:

• Giuliani started the project
• The site had to be cleaned up regardless of whatever ended on top of the cleanup

She also does not mention the new parks tied to the plan:

http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/ferrypointpark

In addition to the state-of-the-art golf course, Ferry Point Park will include two parks. The Community Park Phase I was completed in October 2011 and includes a little league and a junior baseball field (to be opened Spring 2012), basketball courts, a play area for children and a pedestrian trail.  A separate 20-acre waterfront promenade will convert undeveloped parkland into a passive ecologically responsible park. Phase 1 of the promenade project will include a picnic area, comfort station and views of the Long Island Sound, a multi-use path and the creation of a tidal wetland.

Here is a proposal for a $275 million hockey complex in the Bronx:

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/mayor-bloomberg-team-choice-kingsbridge-armory-development-article-1.1165233?localLinksEnabled=false

A partnership headed by former Wall Streeter Kevin Parker is backing the Kingsbridge National Ice Center. Ex-Rangers star Mark Messier and Olympic figure skating gold medalist Sarah Hughes are on the team. The plan calls for investing $275 million to create a skating facility that would tap what the sponsors say is a huge unmet demand for ice time from professional, school and college hockey teams, as well as youth and adult recreational leagues.

Here is the $130 million renovation of the ball fields at Randall's Island:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/nyregion/14randalls.html

When the work was mostly done, the city held a ribbon-cutting on May 19 and heralded the project as “the largest city-funded initiative, in both scale and investment, dedicated toward new sports fields in New York City in over a century.” The total cost, almost all of it public dollars, was more than $130 million.

Nothing is simple or easy in NY, but I think there is an argument that golf is not the best use of that land. Instead, Ginia Bellafante used some NY Post style commentary to elicit responses from her readers....

[Jay Flemma]

M'ke you are a thousand times right.  She had a great argument, but infused her own class warfare politics into it.  I was just as put off about those misguided allusions to golf being a game for fat or elitist people.  She sounded kinda OWS to  me...

[Jud_T]

All I know is when I lived in the city and was taking up the game we would have killed for another decent public option that wasn't over an hour's drive away.  Maybe it doesn't serve her politics, and perhaps there was a better use for the property, but it's far from a blight on the landscape, as long as The Donald's not there during high winds...

[Scott Stearns]

this story has gotten totally screwed up.  nobody spends 100mm on a golf course.  Capping a landfill might cost that much, and putting a golf course on top might be a great way to confuse everybody.

NYT reporter also never fails to mention that her proposed use of the site bring in ahem, ZERO revenue.  Golfers actually pay fees to use the green space.

agree with the guy who said NYC could use some more public options. 

[Greg Tallman]

With a bit of background to the Ferry Point issues I can say that the issues leading to the excessive expense are all about local government and not about Trump, the course, the designer... etc.