Should Sleepy Hollow Buy Kingsland Point Park?

The topic of Kingsland Point Park – and the potential for the Village of Sleepy Hollow to buy this from the county – came up at a board meeting a while back but never again.  

Still, it’s an interesting matter for residents to consider. Should Kingsland return to Sleepy Hollow’s domain, or do we not want it?  

The lease with the county is due to be renewed in October, “though it doesn’t have to be,” noted Village Administrator Anthony Giaccio. “We can just extend it until we reach an agreement.”  

Maintaining a park so large comes with its share of troubles of course, notes Giaccio, who says the Board of Trustees is still negotiating details of the next five-year lease. But the village remains “unhappy,” he said, with a few terms and is raising these issues with the county.  

There are various outstanding issues with Kingsland that the county reportedly hasn’t attended to: namely, the capital expenses that are its responsibility. “We don’t feel they are carrying their weight on that,” Giaccio said.  

The sea wall is collapsing at park’s edge; the Kathryn W. Davis Bathhouse is not fully completed; the fields need a complete overhaul; that eyesore of a footbridge now connecting DeVries Park to Kingsland is not being attended to.  

We could buy the park for a token amount like a $1 but at a much greater cost, said Giaccio.  

Replacing that overpass is unlikely, Giaccio said. He thought it necessary to remove and not restore it, deeming it too dangerous to open and the price of trying prohibitive. Renovation would require handicapped access of ramps or elevators.

Even “just to remove it is costly,” he said. Any work done over MTA train tracks requires special rates for their workers. “Enormously expensive,” Giaccio said.  

So even if we could afford it, Giaccio said, “we’re not sure if we’d want it with these issues.”

Here he's talking about the overpass, but what about the whole park itself?  

Would you like to see Kingsland Point Park fully in Sleepy Hollow hands or leave it to the county? Weigh in here.  

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