10/22/2006

To the editors:

The proposed deal between the Randalls Island Sports Foundation (RISF), a number of New York City private schools and the city Parks Department allowing continued privileged access to private schools on public land goes against the ethical mission of St. Bernard's, the private school from which I graduated in 1983 (news, October 22). Although my classmates and I were encouraged to compete and excel, we were also taught to recognize our obligations to each other, to our neighbors, and to our city.

St. Bernard's and other private schools have enjoyed privileged access to the Randalls Island ball fields for years. But why should our past ability to afford transportation to the hard-to-get-to fields blind us to the needs and rights of less fortunate New Yorkers? That Parks Commissioner Adrien Benepe and RISF - and Citizens Union Chair Richard Davis cite our historical privileged access to well-maintained public fields as justification for continuing inequity calls into question their grasp of their public obligations.

Public transportation to the island should be developed by our state and city governments and our city and state representatives should re-examine the special charters and allocation of public resources to so-called public-private partnerships facilitating parks privatization in the guise of expanding opportunities.

Robert Jereski
New York City 10017