BILL NUMBER: S8271
SPONSOR: STEWART-COUSINS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act in relation to authorizing the city of Yonkers to alienate and
discontinue the use of certain parklands
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to authorize the City of Yonkers to alienate
a portion of Untermyer Park and to give this portion of land to St.
John's Riverside Hospital in exchange for an adjacent portion of land
owned by St. John's Riverside Hospital.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill authorizes the City of Yonkers to alienate a plot
of existing parkland and to give this plot of land to St. John's River-
side Hospital.
Section 2 states that the City of Yonkers can only take the actions
outlined in Section 1 if it dedicates a new plot of land, equal to or
greater than the fair market value of the plot it is giving to St.
John's Riverside Hospital, to be used as parkland.
Section 3 states the plot of land that the City of Yonkers is giving to
St. John's Riverside Hospital, as described in the City's Official Tax
Map.
Section 4 states the plot of land that St. John's Riverside Hospital is
giving to the City of Yonkers, as described in the City's Official Tax
Map.
Section 5 states that if the amount of land St. John's Riverside Hospi-
tal is giving to the City of Yonkers is less than the amount of land the
City of Yonkers is giving to St. John's Riverside Hospital, the City of
Yonkers must dedicate enough new land as parkland to ensure that this
land transfer does not lead to less parkland in the City of Yonkers.
Section 6 states that if the City of Yonkers has ever used federal fund-
ing or assistance to purchase, maintain, or improve this plot of park-
land, it must comply with all federal parkland alienation requirements
before the plot is alienated.
Section 5 is the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In 1940, Samuel Untermyer, a prominent American lawyer and civic leader,
passed away. Mr. Untermyer bequeathed his 150-acre estate in the City of
Yonkers to the State of New York. In 1946, 43 acres of the estate were
transferred to the City of Yonkers, and the tity dedicated this land as
Untermyer Park. The Untermyer estate once contained a series of six
terraced gardens each planted in a single color, known as the Color
Gardens. The terraces led down to the Overlook, and contained plants in
the color schemes of, in descending order, pink, blue, red, white and
yellow, with a delphinium garden at the bottom terrace. Today, only the
lowest two terraces remain, as the land that comprised the four higher
terraces is now part of the parking lot of St. John's Riverside Hospi-
tal. With this parkland alienation and land transfer, the Untermyer
Gardens Conservancy hopes to restore the Color Gardens for the benefit
of the residents of Yonkers and all who visit.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately