Our Views: Haber raises good questions

The Island Now

No matter how he fares in next week’s Democratic primary, Adam Haber, who is running against former County Executive Thomas Suozzi in a Democratic primary for the right to challenge current County Executive Edward Mangano, has raised important issues that deserve serious consideration.

Last week Haber, who has received the endorsement of the Park Advocacy & Recreation Council of Nassau, criticized Mangano’s handling of the county’s parks.

“I don’t want parks privatized, I want them to be free and for everybody in the county to use and enjoy them and that’s not the path that we’re on right now,” he said. “We’re basically selling tennis courts and building ice skating rinks that are pay-to-play facilities and we’re being pushed for a public-private partnership on our greatest resource.”

We have raised similar concerns. 

There are tradeoffs when any corporation is given a contract to run a facility within a public park. 

A Mangano spokesman said the public-private partnerships have provided the county with world-class facilities without cost to taxpayers. “Park and pool attendance has soared with the addition of privately financed athletic fields, new indoor ice rinks, free concerts, the World War II tank museum, and restored veteran facilities.”

Whoever will go on to be the next county executive would do well to pay attention to the concerns raised by Haber, especially when it comes to the long-range effects of public-private partnerships.

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