Rally to Save the Claremont Riding Academy
Gallop, Don’t Run! Claremont Riding Academy To Close this Week
Press Conference, Saturday (April 28), 1 p.m.
Spread the Word to Your Neighbors!
West Side elected officials and dozens of Claremont Riding Academy riders, parents and children will hold a press conference to condemn the sudden closing of the Claremont Riding Academy, Saturday (April 28), 1 p.m. at 175 West 89th Street. Concerned citizens are encouraged to join in. The media advisory from Council Member Gale A. Brewer’s office and an article from the April 24, 2007 New York Times are below.
Please attend the press conference and spread the word to your neighbors, friends and contacts in the equestrian community.
Claremont Riding Academy (formerly Claremont Stables) has been a fixture on the Upper West Side since 1892 and, through LANDMARK WEST’s efforts, was designated an individual landmark in 1990. Click here to read the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s designation report.
With Claremont’s closing, the future of horseback riding in Central Park is at risk. In addition to recreational benefits, the integration of carriage, pedestrian and equestrian circulation was one of the innovative concepts of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux’s winning Greensward plan for Central Park.
Yet Another Stable In Danger…
Meanwhile, the NYPD is moving forward with a disastrous proposal to alter (and fortify with bullet-proof glass) the diminutive, picturesque stable complex on Central Park’s 86th Street Transverse Road, near the Reservoir. LANDMARK WEST! has advocated that the NYPD and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation seek a better future for this beloved 1871 structure—by converting it back to a stable. Click here for LW’s 2006 testimony to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which ultimately approved this disastrous proposal.
Contact elected officials to voice your concerns about the Claremont Riding Academy and the future of the Central Park stable.
Contact Information for Elected Officials:
Call/email/fax Borough President Scott Stringer:
Phone: (212) 669-8300—Email: [email protected] —Fax: (212) 669-4900
Call/email/fax City Councilmember Gale Brewer:
Phone: (212) 788-6975— Email: [email protected] — Fax: (212) 513-7717
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
COUNCIL MEMBER GALE A. BREWER
CITY HALL
NEW YORK, NY 10007
TEL: 212-788-6975
FAX: 212-513-7717
www.nyccouncil.info
***MEDIA ADVISORY***
BREWER, STRINGER, AND DOZENS OF CLAREMONT RIDING ACADEMY RIDERS CALL FOR THE CLAREMONT RIDING ACADEMY, A NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, TO REMAIN OPEN
Contact: Bruce Lai
347-563-1295
(Friday only)
Rosalba Rodriguez
917-662-4481
(Saturday morning and at the event)
WHO: Council Member Gale A. Brewer
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer
Dozens of Claremont Riding Academy riders, parents and children, who will lose the opportunity to ride
Participants of the New York Therapeutic Riding Academy’s program, Equestria
WHEN: Saturday, April 28th, 2007 at 1:00 PM
WHERE: Claremont Riding Academy, 175 West 89th Street b/w Columbus Ave. and Amsterdam Ave.
Council Member Gale Brewer, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and dozens of Claremont Riding Academy riders, parents and children, who ride at the Claremont Riding Academy will hold a press conference to condemn the sudden closing of the Claremont Riding Academy. The Riding Academy is scheduled to close on Sunday, April 29th.
“It is heartbreaking that this important neighborhood institution will be unable to continue its good work,” said Council Member Gale A. Brewer. “With its potential closing, I greatly fear that our community will not only lose the last riding opportunities in Manhattan, but will also eventually lose another stable to the wrecking ball, as the site has been long coveted by developers. This is not to mention the many jobs that will be lost as its employees will be forced out.”
“For the past 51 years the Academy has been a morning part of my life that I love so much and that I will miss forever. It is simply irreplaceable,” said Richard M. Feldman, who has used the stables for over 60 years.
“I have also received calls from concerned parents who have already paid in full for classes through June. These parents must be compensated,” continued Council Member Brewer. “In the end, if we are not able to stop the closing, our next battle will be to ensure that the building itself is not destroyed. The coming days will be critical and I will do all that I can to ensure a satisfactory outcome to the situation. I am greatly disturbed that the owner of the Claremont Riding Academy has not worked to sell his business to an owner who wants to continue maintaining the stable.”
“In addition, horses owned by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation (PEP) are boarded at Claremont, and their lease does not terminate until August 2008. How will mounted PEP officers patrol Central Park without a convenient stable for the horses?” said Brewer.
The Claremont Riding Academy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claremont_Riding_Academy ) is the oldest continuously-operated stable in the country, the last riding stable in Manhattan, and an national historic site. Besides offering riding lessons to people of all ages, the Academy is home to the New York Therapeutic Riding Academy’s program, Equestria, which provides weekly riding classes for children and adults with physical, mental and emotional disabilities living in all five boroughs. Additionally, the Central Park Rangers, the mounted police unit of the parks, stable their horses at the Claremont Riding Academy.
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New York Times
April 24, 2007
New York
Manhattan: Riding Academy to Close
The Claremont Riding Academy on the Upper West Side will shut down at 5 p.m. on Sunday, the owner, Paul Novograd, said yesterday. The academy, which opened as a livery stable in 1892, has been a riding academy since the 1920s, Mr. Novograd said. He said the increased popularity of the park’s bridle path among pedestrians had made it very difficult for riders. The closing of the academy, which is on West 89th Street, was first reported in The New York Post. Homes will be found for the approximately 45 horses that are stabled there, Mr. Novograd said.