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Chris Hughes


Brad Lander, currently NY City Comptroller and previously a long tenured City Council member, has gone on record with the idea as he ramps up his bid for Mayor of NYC. 

Campaign video (59 secs) on the topic here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEFS2bxmd3E

30-page "housing plan" here:  https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25554810-brad-lander-housing-plan-march-2025/


In the housing plan pdf he makes some interesting claims about the state of golf, one passage here:

"The popularity of golf has waned over the past twenty years; between 2003 and 2018, the number of golfers declined nationally by 6.8 million or 22% and the number of golfers at half of the City’s municipal golf courses dropped by 17% between 2008 and 2018."

Lander makes no mention of which 4 courses would be targeted but on page-36 in the housing-plan he lists the 12 courses in 2 buckets, accessible to "transit, and not.   Vannie, Dyker, Mosholu and Forest Park are the only 4 he considers "accessible".


Will be an interesting situation to monitor...
"Is it the Chicken Salad or the Golf Course that attracts and retains members?"

Matt Schoolfield

Sigh...

No reasonable person would try to convert the green space in a city they live in. In a healthy city, you'll start to see large buildings overlooking the parks and golf courses. The cities that consider building on the golf course have, in every case, made those larger buildings literally illegal to build. There are two entire generations in most of the UK and US suffering greatly because of our housing shortages born out of restrictive zoning and naivete. It's even worse in Canada.

La Tourette Golf Course: completely surrounded by single family homes, with no connection to transit.

Dyker Beach Golf Course: surrounded by single family homes and duplexes.

Pelham Bay and Split Rock Golf Courses: the course is on a peninsula with only single family homes on the north edge. Zero connection to public transit even though the site is on the Amtrak line.

Mosholu Golf Course: A bit more complicated, there are 1-story units next to the course, but tenements on the south side. The course is connected to the larger Van Cortland Park, which is surrounded on three sides by single family homes.

Eliminating all these courses would permanently destroy extremely valuable open space, to build inefficient housing that the market would, in all likelihood, build itself if it were just legal to do so. If we don't want golf courses, by all means, make them public parks, but don't remove green space in the densest city in America. We keep pretending that we need more land, when really we need to just relegalize organic urban development.
« Last Edit: Yesterday at 02:40:48 PM by Matt Schoolfield »

Steve Abt

Regardless of the merits of the plan (not insane, but giving every lot 30 feet more of transferable air rights, with no land use review only DOB, makes more sense to me) or one’s thoughts on Lander (I’ll rank him, but not #1), cutting off the data in 2018 is shameful and dishonest.
« Last Edit: Yesterday at 05:05:44 PM by Steve Abt »

Jeff Schley

cutting off the data in 2018 is shameful and dishonest.
I would think one could write a counter article using 2018-present numbers as well, with the public requiring 4 more courses.  Certainly compromise is getting to be a bad word in politics so who knows what will happen.
"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice your gifts."
- Steve Prefontaine

Greg Hohman

Interesting. Although I visit, I know nothing about the political landscape. Is Lander a contender and how hot is the topic?

newmonumentsgc.com

Rob Marshall

I had to laugh at the data cutoff before covid. Do these people really think everyone is stupid? They must.
If life gives you limes, make margaritas.” Jimmy Buffett

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