COMMUNITY BOARD 4 384(B)4 CONDITIONS RESPONSES FROM NYCEDC

To: Paul Philps, District Manager, Bronx Community Board 4 From: City Economic Development Corporation (“NYCEDC”) Date: April 7, 2021 Re: Community Board 4 Draft Conditions for 384(b)4 Approval of New Lease Terms

NYCEDC appreciates the opportunity to respond to your inquiries about the proposed 384b4 request to sever the BPDC Lease into a Severance Lease and a Balance Lease and change the business terms of the BPDC Lease in those leases. At the outset, it is important to note that the current proposal only involves the lease severance and the change in business terms; it does not reduce available parking in the Parking System (the ”YSPS”), nor does it commit to any future development scenarios for the severed leases. Accordingly, Maddd Equities understands that any potential future development scenario that may be proposed for some of the severed parcels is subject to all applicable approval processes; unless and until it successfully completes those processes, the permitted use of the Balance Lease and Severance Lease parcels will be limited to parking (i.e., the permitted use will not change from the current permitted use under the BPDC Lease).

Therefore, while NYCEDC recognizes Community Board 4’s concerns pertaining to parking and transportation, as well as its interest in future uses of certain parcels, the Community Board will have the opportunity to raise those issues if a change in use is proposed in the future. For the purposes of the 384b4 process at issue, we include responses to your specific questions below and look forward to further dialogue to identify future opportunities for public benefits.

Community Board Four Conditions for Approval of New 384b4 lease terms

1. Residential Parking Permit Program: The City should establish a resident parking district for Community District Four. Currently there is an overabundance of parking garages and lots in and around Yankee Stadium with very low utilization. Reducing the number of spaces, the Yankees deem adequate to accommodate fans on game days does not alleviate the main issue which is the use of local streets by game day patrons. Fans who do not find free options sometimes double park. So many fans do this that it overwhelms NYPD's ability to enforce rules. Permit holders would need to be a resident and their vehicle insurance would need to be registered at the same address to qualify. This would be incorporated into the “Traffic Plan” and local streets would be blocked off and patrolled by the Yankee detail who would only permit eligible vehicles to enter the restricted areas. This program should be up and running prior to the start of the 2022 baseball season (Spring 2022)

Response: Neither NYCEDC nor Maddd Equities can institute this request, which would require State legislation in order to create such a program. However, NYCEDC and Maddd Equities will commit to working with the community and will raise the issue with relevant City agencies to look for solutions to address resident concerns. As noted above, the 384b4 request relates only to the lease severance and change in business terms, and does not affect the amount of parking in the YSPS.

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2. Affordable Parking for Area Residents: The garages and lots that are currently part of the Yankee Stadium Parking System are largely unavailable to local residents. YSPS should allocate 1,000 spaces to local residents at an affordable monthly rate. Currently they are not generating any revenue other than on game days, therefore any additional revenue is a bonus. For example, if YSPS charged $75 monthly for 1,000 spaces they would generate 900,000 annually. These spaces could be made available via a lottery system. Eligible registrants would need a qualifying Community District Four residence and the vehicle would need to be registered at the same address.

Response: We agree that there should be community benefits and are more than happy to work with CB4 to explore a program that addresses residents’ concerns. Currently, this request is outside of the scope of the 384b4, which seeks to change lease terms of the BPDC parking facilities only. The YSPS is governed by the BPDC Lease, pursuant to which all parking in the parking facilities must be available during events at Yankee Stadium. Any changes in the availability of the parking facilities for use other than for events at Yankee Stadium would require the approval of the Yankees. That said, any solution following the severance of the BPDC Lease must conform to the terms and conditions of the Severance Lease and the Balance Lease, under which the Yankees will have continuing rights to ensure that the parking facilities, which remains under YSPS control, are available for Stadium patrons during Stadium events.

3. 161 BXM Stop: Establish an express bus stop for: BXM1, BXM2, BXM3 and BXM18 at Rupert Plaza Garage. Buses could exit immediately to Rupert Plaza Garage and return to the Major Deegan on the service road. Akin to the ferry argument, we need to mitigate the additional traffic caused by the stadium as required by environmental review. The BXM stop is about 5 mins / a quarter mile closer to Highbridge residents than the subway station (a walk from Ogden or Anderson to the subway is about 10-15 depending on location). The BXM service would also provide access to jobs in Riverdale, further up the BXM route and closer to 5th Avenue on the east side where there is limited subway service, but lots of service jobs on Madison. See conceptual map attached.

Response: The current 384b4 approval requested only seeks to change the terms of the existing BPDC Lease pursuant to a severance of that lease into the Balance Lease and Severance Lease, without any change in use of the parking garages and lots currently in the YSPS, and therefore will not include a traffic analysis. Any project proposed in the future would include an environmental review as appropriate and would include a comprehensive review and analysis of the transportation network and evaluate what transit improvements are necessary.

4. Future use of Lot 13A (Block 2539, Lots 4 &10), Lot 13B (Block 2539, Lots 14, 504,193,191,29) and Lot 13C (Block 2539 Lot 22): Waterfront properties are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The community was not involved in any discussions related to what parcels were included as part of the previous lease agreement. If we had been consulted, we would never have approved the use of waterfront parcels for parking. That being said our approval is conditioned upon the following related to Lot 13A (Block 2539, Lots 4 &10), Lot 13B (Block 2539, Lots 14, 504,193,191,29) and Lot 13C (Block 2539 Lot 22):

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New York City Economic Development Corporation

a. We respectfully request that Lot 13A (Block 2539, Lots 4 &10) not be included in the new 384(B) lease agreement to fulfill the Yankee requirement of 5,611 spaces. Rather, the Bronx Terminal Market which has 2,800 spaces that are currently underutilized should be used to fulfill the requirement. In addition, there are no less than (4) other public parking garages within walking distance of the stadium with sufficient capacity.

Response: NYCEDC has had multiple conversations with Maddd Equities about the possibility of transferring 13A to the new Severance Lease and understand that this condition falls outside of the control of Maddd Equities and NYCEDC. The Yankees and Bondholders have determined that 13A would need to remain in the Balance Lease and the terms and conditions of available lots has been finalized and is not negotiable.

b. Furthermore we request the following related to Lot 13A (Block 2539, Lots 4 &10), Lot 13B (Block 2539, Lots 14, 504,193,191,29) and Lot 13C (Block 2539 Lot 22): These lots should be used to accommodate the following future uses: open space and recreation, recreational complex (similar to Chelsea ) youth and educational facilities and uses related to health and wellness. These properties should NOT be utilized for housing of any kind. In particular at some point down the line the Bronx Children’s Museum will want to expand as these parcels are adjacent to the site, these locations logically make the most sense. It should be noted that the Board will not approve any future plans with uses other than the aforementioned.

Response: We understand that the Community Board seeks to prioritize recreation and open space on the waterfront, however this 384b4 action only considers the proposed severance of the BPDC Lease into a Severance Lease and a Balance Lease and changing the business terms of the BPDC Lease in those leases, and does not allow any changes to parking use with respect to the garages and lots currently in the YSPS. Any future change in use at these sites would be discussed as part of a comprehensive planning process at that time. As mentioned above, the Yankees and Bondholders have determined that site 13A will remain in the YSPS. Regarding sites 13B and 13C specifically, a new disposition ULURP would be required if the use were to be changed from parking, pursuant to ULURP C 090153 PPX, and there will be a comprehensive community engagement process to inform uses on these two sites.

c. Additionally, we request that the revenues of the current Parks Department Concessions, including the Tennis Center, Children's Museum, Circus, etc. be redirected and dedicated to a fund for Bronx park maintenance. We request that a report be furnished annually to the Board from DPR detailing all revenues. This report should also be made available to the public.

Response: NYCEDC is not part of this concession agreement and it is not associated with the 384b4 approval. We will pass along the request to the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation. In accordance with the City Charter, concession revenue received by DPR goes to the City's general fund. Additionally, the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services provides an annual revenue report for all agencies that have concessions. Prior reports are available at this website: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/mocs/reporting/fcrc-reports.page

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5. Traffic Plan: Implement a traffic plan for stadium events. The current plan which entails elimination of the 153rd St exit may exacerbate traffic conditions at 161st St. The city & state cannot move forward with a plan that perpetuates or exacerbates already extremely congested traffic conditions. This plan should be made publicly available to residents and businesses and should be posted in prominent locations in and around the stadium. This plan would include demarcation of local streets available ONLY to residents via permit and designated areas for tour buses.

Response: As stated in our response to question 3, the current 384b4 approval requested only seeks to sever and change the business terms of the existing BPDC Lease, without any change to the use of the garages and lots currently in the YSPS, and therefore will not include a traffic analysis. To allay any concerns about any future proposals for the area, should there be a plan to change the use of the garages and lots, a comprehensive planning and environmental review process (including traffic analysis and planning) will occur at that time.

6. Block 2354 Lots 65 and 20 aka Lot D North and Lot D South

These properties were not part of the original YSPS and have been considered for a variety of other uses including housing and commercial. Currently we lack a community center or similar facility that offers free and affordable subsidized programming and services to area residents. We request that until these properties are included in a ULURP process for other uses that $100K be allocated annually to facilitate free community programming during the months of May-October annually. These events would be offered through RFP from local organizations (they must be Bronx-based and preferably Community District Four). Programming and activities could include overall health and wellness including but not limited to food access and nutrition, arts and entertainment including music, youth-related activities, sports, and community resources.

Response: Dependent on the approval of this 384b4, which would (after completion of BPDC bankruptcy) enable Maddd Equities to obtain, under the Severance Lease, site control of a portion of the lots and garages currently leased under the BPDC Lease, Maddd is willing to make Lot D North & South (which are not currently part of the YSPS) available for these programmatic uses. Maddd Equities will commit to fund $100,000 to help facilitate this request and will work with CB4 on these initiatives and are open to discuss how their team and NYCFC’s foundation can assist in creating successful activities for the community. Please note, however, approved programming will be subject to the terms and conditions outlined in the BPDC Lease and any existing use restrictions pursuant to existing zoning.

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New York City Economic Development Corporation