My name is John Kaehny, I am the Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, the advocates for bicyclists and pedestrians. The reason I am here today is to speak first hand of how our modest annual bike-a-thon, the NYC Century Bike Tour is charged to use a small portion of the northern most part of Central Park for part of one day. Our event starts and finishes in Central Park at Harlem Meer / 110th Street. Participants ride around the city and do not ride in Central Park. Our event grosses $100,000 and nets about $50,000.

We are not experts on the Park's Department's overall fee setting policies, nor where fees go after they are collected. However, we do have concerns that are shared by other groups using the park. I should note that few of these groups are willing to testify for fear of potential retaliation or of souring their relationship with the Parks Department. We endorse the practice of charging a fee for use of a public space and city resources. However, we make a strong distinction between non-profit --- especially public interest groups engaging in First Amendment activity, like ourselves --- and large commercial interests using the park to make money for their owners or advertise products.

We have two main issues regarding the Park's Department's fee for park use policy.

1. The amount of the fee we are charged and how it is set.
2. Possible political retribution for engaging in advocacy antagonistic to the mayor and Parks Commissioner.

Fee for using Central Park to start and finish the NYC Bike Tour near Harlem Meer. Our event is in its 9th year in Central Park. We are a known quantity to the Parks Department. Five years ago our fee for starting and finishing our event in Park, was around $2000. This year we expect to pay a fee of $6,500 to $7,000. We were told this is because the minimum for non-profit fundraising events in the Park has now been set at $7,500 and we are being brought up incrementally to this level.

To date there has been no fee schedule or itemized bill for the services the Parks service provides. As far as we can tell, we are charged for four things: First, use of the space --- which mind you is closed to the public only between 3am and 7am on a Sunday morning. Second, use of Parks Department barricades(many of which actually seem to belong to the NYC Road Runners and Central Park Conservancy. ) Third, the presence of a Parks Enforcement Officer for eight hours. Fourth, garbage removal after the event.

Our second overall issue is potentially facing retaliation for our advocacy for a car-free Central Park and other issues that might antagonize the mayor and Parks Department. Specifically, we could be denied a permit to use the park, or more likely face unaffordable fees. For us a $10,000 fee would be ruinous. Within both the current and recently proposed fee setting policy, the Parks Department has enormous latitude to set our fee. Without a fee setting process that is transparent to the public, and includes very specific fee guidelines for renting space --- including the amount of space reserved, the location within the park, and the time of day and public access --- groups like ours will remain extremely vulnerable to the whims of the mayor and Parks Department.

The new regulations proposed in yesterday's City Record are far too broad to afford these protections. We encourage the Council to pass legislation laying out very specific guidelines for the way the Parks Department charges fees, including a fee schedule, a history of fees and what groups are charged for specific fundraising activities. Additionally, their should be a public appeal process and a ombudsman to review fees and the rationale for their amount.