Rye Playland--and the taxpayers funding it--reportedly lost $5 million this summer, despite promises in the spring from 12-year incumbent County Executive Andy Spano that "From this day forward there will be zero tax dollars going to the amusement section of Playland Park."

Playland has lost approximately $37 million in the past 10 years, under Mr. Spano's management, and attendance plummeted from more than one million visitors in 1999 to 779,000 visitors in 2007. Only 540,000 visitors were expected this year.

The four-point Astorino Playland Plan will bring the operations of Playland back to its roots-to the days when the County co-existed with and managed private entities. The Spano Administration has taken over more and more of the park from concessionaires in each of the past 12 years, losing millions doing it (The county has spent $8.2 million in ride acquisition costs since 2006 through Bond Acts 243-07 and 52-07).

Mr. Astorino's plan will:

1. Reverse the takeover of private business entities within the Park by selling and/or leasing Westchester's stock of rides to qualified and insured concessionaires;
2. Charge concessionaires a rental fee and a percentage of their profits;
3. Require concessionaries to indemnify the county for claims relating to rides and concessions, and
4. Eliminate the park entrance fee.

The Astorino Playland Plan will generate guaranteed revenue from concessionaires, while eliminating the risk of losses due to inclement weather, economic downturns, and other unforeseen eventualities. The County would also be indemnified from litigation relating the rides.

"There is nothing funny about what the Spano Administration did to this amusement park," Mr. Astorino said. "Mr. Spano thought he could run Rye Playland, and instead ran it into the ground. The $37 million we have lost could have gone into parks, workforce housing, or even back into our pockets."
Mr. Astorino said that the Spano Administration gambled and lost with taxpayer money by taking more and more control of park operations every year.

"No other government entity in America operates an amusement park and there is a reason for it," Mr. Astorino continued. "Amusement parks should be run by professionals who know what they're doing, not bureaucrats. Unfortunately, Westchester taxpayers have been taken for a ride at Playland under this administration. That ends next year."

Playland Costs