Nice Utopian clap trap. Why are their business improvement districts? private guards? private schools etc because unless there is someone directly concerned it just doesn't happen. Even when their is equitable distribution do you think that all public schools are the same? Maybe we shouldn't have different newspapers only one per state. The Brooklyn Bridge park you site is such a poor example. There wouldn't be a park at all unless there was direct funding for it. We as you point out about Prospect park didn't have enough money for the parks we already had. So a mechanism to ensure that the money would be there was created. Its convenient enough to forget that the park was approved as long as it would be self sufficient. Manhattan has learned this. Battery Park city provides enough money for the entire Hudson River Park. When 100 million was needed for the Intrepid where did you think the money came from. Not NY City but from Battery Park City. The State just stole almost 200 million that was sitting in the Banks for Battery Park City....money which rightfully belongs to the city. The Rich are taxed plenty. If they want to give money to something else you are not going to stop them.

Lord, this "paper" is a freaking pathetic joke. This from the same "Editorial Board" that shills for private developers who happen to be their landlord.

Perhaps the "editorial board" would like all the parks in the City to be equally crummy. Nyet?

Tupper is a nice woman and all, but her refusal to universally enforce park rules tarnishes her legacy.

When residents just outside the park complained about barbecue fumes from fires nowhere near the designated BBQ areas, Tupper's response was to criticize wealthy homeowners for picking on poor people.

Tupper Thomas' inability to respond when called upon to act, is the reason why her legacy is sad. The neglect in care is rampant and getting worse.
She has a see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, speak-no-evil mentally.

What kind of leadership of a non-profit does she claim to possess.
The day-to-care is almost non-existent.
The money raised by her is being given mostly to contractors.
I am sure that those profiting financially from her mis-guided "Lakeside Profit", I mean Project, will be the only one's sad that she is leaving.

Look, the bottom line is that if the system doesn't work people find a way around it.

Principles can get in the way of practical needs, and those who could afford principles are typically those without the practical needs.

Once again, the Brooklyn Paper has demonstrated its lack of understanding as to what a BID is. Let's try to break it down simply.

1. A BID is basically a Merchants Association.
2. All BID funding is raised locally from the pockets of the member property owners.
3. Annual budgets of BIDs include NO public money, no tax revenue.
4. BIDs are run by the people whose funds create it - just like a civic association, a merchants group or a club.
5. Although BIDs are basically Merchant Associations, they have a huge amount of transparency, unlike a typical not for profit, merchants group or civic association. They must publish their budgets in detail. They must allow all elected officials (City Councilmember, Assemblymember, State Senator, Mayor, City Comptroller & Boro President) who represent their area to sit on their boards to observe what is going on & participate on behalf of their constituents. Their meetings are open to the general public. The local community board has a seat on BID, just like the elected officials.
6. BIDs do NOT take the place of public agencies, they provide services and amenities that their local community want beyond those provided by the city thru tax revenues. And rather than have the general population of the city provide the funding, the local community pays for it themselves. For example, why should tax payers in Washington Heights pay for Sunset Park to install a clock on the sidewalk?

A BID is not the case of someone with deep pockets funding and calling the shots in the public domain. It is the property owners themselves paying from their own pockets to provide services for them and their local community. These services are not like those provided to a public park. Many times these services are in the form of special events that advertise or promote local businesses, or it may provide incentive funds for individual property owners to fix their buildings.

If you are saying that neighborhoods with more affluent members can do more for themselves, I guess that's true. But then why aren't you complaining about every neighborhood group or club from affluent neighborhoods? And what does any of this have to do with a BID like the 5th Avenue Sunset Park BID?

So please Brooklyn Paper, speak of what you know, not what you imagine.

Who authored this? Gersh? For shame.

Bold editorial, I concur.

I like the barbques, AND the drums. As do the great majority. Welcome to NY.

We don't need another bureaucrat like Tupper Thomas kissing up to donors and ignoring the existing park's decay.
She has not done the hard work of maintaining and caring for the park. Her choice is to cover-up the serious problems and to smile insincerely.
Report abuseFriday, Apr 16, 2010 at 10:42 am

Tupper Thomas has failed many responsible park-goers.
There is all too often, an excuse-laden response from the park, when the residents who live nearby express their concerns.
It is a fact, that the park lakeside is in poor shape. It is also a fact, that the deterioration we see at the lake is due to inaction on the part of those in charge.

My hat's off to Tupper Thomas and her tireless advocacy for the people of Brooklyn over the years. Ms. Thomas has made Prospect Park a shining jewel from all New Yorkers.

Prospect Park is now an example of how all park user groups can co-exist in harmony, from the runners to the cyclists, to the dog walkers, to the birders.

Thank you Tupper!

Oy! Tupper almost single handedly brought Brooklyn back from the brink and this is the thanks she gets from The Paper on the eve of her retirement? Face it: public-private partnerships work. Pragmatism trumps idealism, imho.