Westchester County Bicycle Sundays will continue next year – but with private funding. At a press conference Tuesday, County Executive Robert P. Astorino thanked Friends of Westchester County Parks and Consolidated Edison for teaming up to sponsor one of Westchester’s most popular programs.   

“I want to thank Friends of Parks and Con Edison for their partnership in helping us develop a new financial model that will save taxpayer dollars and allow us to roll Bicycle Sundays, a Westchester tradition for three decades, into the future,” said Astorino.

 

Approximately 60,000 bicyclists have peddled along a 6.5-mile stretch of the Bronx River Parkway on Sundays, with this area closed to cars for 37 years. Unfortunately, with a projected shortfall of $114 million in the county’s budget for 2012, many county-funded programs such as Bicycle Sundays, faced cuts in order to maintain essential services. Understanding the public’s concern, Astorino announced last month that he would seek funding through public and private partnerships in order to keep popular programs running.

Tuesday, Friends of Westchester County Parks and Con Edison announced they would split the cost to run this program; donating a generous financial contribution of $20,000 each.

Bicycle Sundays isn’t the only program that has undergone a new innovative financial agreement.  Hilltop Hanover Farms in Yorktown, which faced county funding elimination last year, created “Friends of Hilltop Hanover” in order to continue operating the farm. Just last month, the Astorino administration negotiated a new agreement for the production of “The Nutracker” at the Westchester County Center with the Westchester County Ballet Company (WBC). Under the new arrangement, the production company now assumes all profits or losses associated with the show and the county continues to provide marketing for the ballet.

Adding Bicycle Sundays to the list of new financial models is another success story for Westchester County residents. “To keep Westchester the place we want it to be requires more than money, it requires vision, creativity, collaboration and a community pride,” said Astorino. “The public private partnership we are celebrating today embodies all these elements and more.”

Bicycle Sundays will continue run in May, June and September, except for the Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends.