Emergency Order to Inspect & Prepare Playland Rides
On Thursday, Westchester County issued an emergency order to permit a no-bid process needed to accelerate the inspection and preparation of rides at Playland Park ahead of any opening this summer. The emergency order, signed by Westchester County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Commissioner Kathy O’Connor, allowed the department to select Zamperla, Inc. to carry out the necessary emergency work which includes inspecting, repairing, replacing and maintaining specific rides.
Zamperla, based in Italy with local offices in New Jersey, is an amusement ride manufacturer. The County owns 11 rides that were manufactured by Zamperla (as well as a number of other rides manufactured by a company that is no longer in business). The order states in part: “The Emergency order will allow the County to hire a company to inspect specific rides, secure all necessary supplies and parts to operate the rides, repair and thereafter maintain the rides. Standard’s abrupt departure leaves the County with little time to properly carry out all of this work. Standard left little or no spare parts in inventory, in some cases did not properly winterize rides and a number of rides were left dis-assembled.”
Swirling Speculation
In his State of the County address last week, County Executive Ken Jenkins reaffirmed his commitment to reopening Playland for the 2025 season, “despite legal challenges tied to a previous administration’s contract with Standard Amusements”. Since Standard Amusements walked out on its 30 year contract in January, there has been a myriad of finger pointing by all sides, as the park once again assumes the mantle of political punching bag. All this is exacerbated by the upcoming fall election season.
In the meantime, what residents really want to know is if the park will actually open – or not. Frank Carrieri, who ran the park before Standard was in place, has returned as Playland General Manager. An analysis of the conditions of the rides seems elemental to any decision. Also critical will be hiring the staff to run the park. A few weeks ago, the County ran a job fair to staff the beach and pool. Noticeably, there has not been a hiring call by County Parks for park employees (ride operators, food service workers) or by Westchester Police for seasonal peace officers.
The smart money seems to be on something opening – at some point. The beach and pool seem most likely. Perhaps parts of the park such as kiddy land. There are lots of balls up in the air, very late in the game. Once thing is certain – the County seems very motivated to take the bag of lemons it was handed in January and turn it into lemonade.
Read the County Parks Emergency Order.
