Standard Amusements Wants to Exit Playland Contract
![(PHOTO: Nick Singer, managing principal of Standard Amusements (the firm with the long term management contract for the park) (center, in the blue Playland jacket) speaks with Westchester County Board of Legislators local Rye Representative Catherine Parker.)](https://myrye.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/IMG_3590-1024x768.jpeg)
Standard Amusements, the firm that fought hard to win a 30 year contract to operate Rye Playland, the County owned amusement park in Rye, wants to get off the roller coaster ride after just three years.
Off. Right. Now.
In a letter to the County on Tuesday, Standard said the County failed to meet its obligation to complete at least 70% of its scheduled capital project work at Playland by last spring (before the park opened for the season). The County has invested $150 million in capital improvements in Playland over the last number of years.
Further, Standard is demanding liquidated damages, according to a formula in its contract with the County, that it says are in excess of $57 million. Standard has also told the County it should be ready to operate the park for the 2025 season.
![(PHOTO: The #PlaylandArt initiative is calling on the community and all artists to make their mark on the park with a community-wide Dragon Coaster Art Contest. This is MyRye.com's submission, made with AI.)](https://myrye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Rye-Playland-Dragon-Coaster-3-300x199.jpg)
Westchester County punched back with two letters to Standard Amusements on Wednesday. The first, from Commissioner of Parks Kathleen O’Connor, claims the County met its “70% Threshold” for the capital improvements. It then goes on to claim anywhere between 8 to 19 rides (out of 40) were closed during various points of Playland’s season last year and that Standard still owes a 2023 management fee to the County. A second letter from County Attorney John Nonna claimed that Standard’s reading of the County being in default was simply an incorrect reading of the contract language.
Referring to Standard Amusements, Rye resident and Board of Legislator Catherine Parker said “They haven’t been good partners. Their unwillingness to meet with the City of Rye, they really didn’t seem to have a sense of wanting to work with the local community on anything… they were very slow and obstructionist in many ways, including when we were doing the living shoreline project over at Edith Reed, and they held that up for like two years.”
Parker and other local officials speculated that the County may well be running Playland Park, at least for the 2025 season, while all this acrimony plays out. Next up is an open Board of Legislators meeting on Friday at 4:00pm when officials expect to hear from the County’s attorney Nonna.
Another roadkill from all this activity may be the City of Rye and the Rye City School District. The City has been trying – on and off – to levy an annual $3.6 million tax bill onto Standard as a private operator. If those funds are never collected, there will be impacts to the City and the school district that would otherwise enjoy those funds.
Playland has long been a monkey in the middle between local Democrats (Latimer and others) and Republicans (Astorino and others) who have bickered over the issues of privatization and Playland as a symbol of government overreach.
There is the Dragon Coaster. And then there is the Playland political roller coaster–an involuntary ride for generations of local residents who love the park. Put on your safety harness.
![(PHOTO: Playland's historic Dragon Coaster turns 95 this year. Credit: Alex Lee)](https://myrye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/AL-Playland-2024-06-10-0040-Dragon-Coaster-birds-eye-view-_O0A3262-1024x683.jpg)