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Astorino Announces Agreement For Private Operator To Run Rye Playland

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino is proposing once again that an outside operator take over the management of 87-year-old Playland, the largest government-run amusement park in the country.

Astorino said at a boardwalk news conference the deal would mean taxpayers would escape millions of dollars of annual losses.  Under the tentative 15-year deal, Standard Amusements would invest nearly $23 million in the park in Rye.

"Standard will pay the county 2.25 million dollars to start.  They'll make annual payments to the county at $300,000 per year which increases with the cost of inflation, or 2 per cent."

The agreement has to be approved by the county Legislature.

A previous agreement with a nonprofit was scrapped last year.

  • Associated Press contributed to this report.
Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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