This race was over before it began.
The promoter planning the Oct. 26 Brooklyn Triathlon canceled the event at the last minute after he found out the city wanted to charge more than $100,000 to close two miles of Surf Avenue in Coney Island.
In a letter sent on Oct. 14, the mayor’s office said police needed $127,466 to close Surf Avenue between W. Fifth and W. 37th streets to traffic for the three-hour event. The promoter pulled out because the city declined to itemize the bill and gave him impossibly short notice that the fee would be so high, he said.
“We thought it would about one-fifth of this,” said Jack Caress of Pacific Sports. “What’s really troubling is there was no transparency, no detail — I’ve asked for months to see the deployment. Well, $127,000 for two miles — I can’t fathom what they would need, and they won’t disclose it.”
Pacific Sports has held events in Brooklyn before, but they didn’t require closing roads, he said.
Caress said he chose the People’s Playground because he wanted to support Coney Island’s revitalization, and the race would have brought money to the neighborhood, Caress said.
“We’d have had easily between 1,500 to 2,000 people including spectators, and it was the last day at Luna Park so we were marketing it as that, too. ‘Come to the race and then go eat at Nathan’s or ride some rides.’ ”
Caress said Pacific Sports will refund all or a portion of registration fees, something the company is still working out. But he estimates the California company has lost $100,000 by cancelling the race.
Another race promoter said the NYPD’s steep price tag and lack of transparency are par for the course.
“What do you think, you’re going to get a small police bill?” said John Korff, who founded the NYC Triathlon. “Yes you get a bill. Yes you get it late in the game. No you don’t really have any recourse.”
But just because it is a common practice doesn’t make it a good way to do business, he said.
“The small entrepreneur can’t exist in an environment like this because of the uncertainty of city fees,” said Korff, who sold the NYC Triathlon in 2013 because he didn’t want to be in the position Caress is in now. “I got concerned, and I thought if the Police Department can charge me, how do I know I won’t suddenly get a bill from the Sanitation Department or the DOT?”
Caress said he’s not likely to try another triathlon in the city.
“I love New York, it’s a fantastic city, and I have the utmost respect for the police, but it’s got to be a partnership,” he said. “If they’re not going to be honest with us, then I don’t see why I would want to come back, and I can’t imagine why somebody else would.”
The mayor’s office and the Police Department did not return a request for comment.
