Transcript: Mayor Adams, NYC Parks Commissioner Donoghue Announce Selection of Legends Hospitality as new Operator of the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park

February 16, 2023

Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi, Operations: Thank you. Good morning guys. Hopefully people can hear me. Yes. All right. Good morning. Hi. I'm Meera Joshi, deputy mayor for operations and I have the honor and the privilege of having the Department of Parks and Recreation in my portfolio. So I just want to note that when this Boathouse closed in October 2022, there were stories of doom and gloom everywhere. “It'll never reopen again. Another New York classic shuttered.” It was amazing the amount of negativity with no regard to the expertise, perseverance, and deep love of parks — of our commissioner, Sue Donoghue, and her unparalleled team of parkies. And they were led by the nation's only get stuff done mayor. That's a lethal combination to be up against. So no surprise the naysayers lost.

Through diligence, smarts, and determination — in particular, the Parks Department, assistant commissioner for business development and special events, David Cerron, and his team in record time — they brought home the win. And with a partner accustomed to winning, Legends, they'll deliver for New York City with their extensive hospitality experience, deep commitment, and understanding that the service industry serves not only patrons but the men and women on the frontlines providing that service.
That's where you guys shout.

Audience: Yeah!

Deputy Mayor Joshi: All right, and so we'll begin this summer with a celebration as we open the Boathouse stores again, and I know leading that celebration will be our mayor, Eric Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams: Good to see you. Good to see you. I remember as a rookie cop, rowing the boats here and going on my free dates and just enjoying this beautiful park and all it has to offer, and the real partnership — Rich, you and H.T.C., and the owners here — just coming together and making sure we could allow this amazing landmark to stay open and think about a Central Park Boathouse will reopen this summer. Many memories. Many great memories, and it is part of the New York story, back from 1872. It was rebuilt in the 1950s and just a continuation of tourists and people who are from the city coming out and enjoying the beauty of dining outdoors and the beauty of renting boats and moving around this beautiful park.

On top of serving as a backdrop of some of the most classic movies of all time, it has been a landmark for generations in New York City. Folks have rented boats, got married, proposed, made tough decisions. It all is right here. Just enjoyed the summer nights right here. When it closed last year, we were all worried. I remember reading the stories and our teams coming together and saying that we cannot lose this landmark treasure. But we moved quickly. And I know she's not here today, but hats off to Sue Donoghue and the entire Parks team. It's coming back bigger and better than ever, but more than a scenic part of New York's landscape; 200 union jobs are returning back to this location as well.

Love it. We're making important upgrades and improvements to ensure New Yorkers and tourists would enjoy this beautiful location. We know it and everyone knows it. New York City is the center of America and the center of the universe and Central Park is the center of New York City. So everything cascades right out from this beautiful park. And they come from all over to enjoy it. And now they continue to enjoy it with this beautiful lakeside dining. So hats off to the entire team and we want to really thank Legends Hospitality for helping us bring the Boathouse back and investing in the future of this great city. I say over and over again, New York City is not coming back. New York City is back, and dining will be in Central Park. Thank you very much.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Thank you. We want to recognize a few important people with us today: Richard Porteus, regional vice president of Legends Hospitality; Rich Maroko, president of H.T.C.; Randy Levine, Legends Hospitality and president of the Yankees; and Betsy Smith, C.E.O. of Central Park Conservancy. Next we'll hear from one of the Parks powerhouses, our own first deputy commissioner, Iris Rodriguez-Rosa.

Iris Rodriguez-Rosa, First Deputy Commissioner, Department of Parks and Recreation: Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Adams. And thank you, Deputy Mayor Joshi, and representatives from the Legends Hospitality that are here today; and many of us that are joining here for this wonderful, exciting announcement here today. Central Park, the Loeb Boathouse, of course, is a landmark and we are delighted as New Yorkers and visitors to our great city for over 70 years. We knew that the work that was needed to be done had to be done quickly to ensure that this great attraction would not remain closed for long. And here we are, just over one month since the last event was held here in the Boathouse, thrilled to announce that this summer we will reopen with the management of Legends Hospitality.

And just to let you know that Legends Hospitality specializes in the delivery of world-class experiences for its patrons. Which employs over 200 New Yorkers. Something that we can all celebrate. We are confident that Legends will bring this facility the world-class hospitality and service that they are so well-known for. 

As part of the agreement, Legends has committed to well over $3.2 million in a capital investment in this Boathouse. We are including more than $250,000 for structural maintenance and improvement. I've heard that they are even planning to complete and refresh their menu. Looking forward to that. In addition, they will also be overhauling the iconic boat rental program, which is something that is legendary within the city and beyond. 

We look forward to working with Legends as the stewards of this beloved structure into the future. And we welcome also all the many employees that will be returning back to this Boathouse. So I want to say thank you to my mayor, Mayor Adams, and my deputy mayor, Joshi, and thank you to all of you for being here today. Thank you.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Next is our regional vice president from Legends Hospitality, Richard Porteus.

Richard Porteus, Vice President, Legends Hospitality: Thank you, mayor, deputy commissioner, and for supporting this important project. And most of all, thank you for the Parks Department as well. As everyone knows, Legends specializes in working with iconic venues. Yankee Stadium, One World Observatory in New York, A.T.&T. down in Dallas, SoFi Stadium out in L.A., and The Shard in London. And now we're honored, really honored, to add this to our list here. This is our hometown. Legends was born here. Legends was born with Yankees as one of our founders, and we proudly work with Legendary brands throughout the world. Our hospitality team has been known for a commitment to quality, commitment to excellence in every experience, from fine dining to premium clubs to stadium concessions. And we'll deliver that memorable experience right here at Loeb Boathouse. To achieve this, as mentioned, we're making a significant capital investment in this project to restore Loeb Boathouse to its beloved status.

In addition to the maintenance needs, we'll work on the boat rental program and provide a complete refresh of all menus and all concepts throughout the property. New York is known for its incredible food, iconic sites, and we expect the Boathouse to be among the best restaurants, event venues, and overall destinations in this great city. Legends works with unions at all our partners in New York, and we have a great working relationship with them, with the Hotel Trades Council. And we're delighted to work with everyone here to get this going. On a personal note, as a lifelong New Yorker, I've been here many times and can't wait to restore this iconic property. On behalf of Legends, thank you again. We're extremely honored of this incredible opportunity. Look forward to seeing everyone in the summer.

Mayor Adams: Thank you.

Porteus: Thank you, thank you.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Next we'll hear from president of H.T.C., Rich Maroko.

Audience: Yes. H.T.C., H.T.C., H.T.C.!

Rich Maroko, President, Hotel Trades Council: Thank you. Thank you. Good morning everyone. My name is Rich Maroko. I'm president of the Hotel Trades Council. The union for almost 40,000 hospitality workers in New York, including the staff of the Boathouse. The Boathouse has been an iconic institution in New York City for almost 70 years. It welcomes not only tens of thousands of visitors to Central Park every year. It's a lifeline to the almost 200 hardworking New Yorkers that are employed here. That group of workers standing behind me is among the toughest, the most determined and the most resilient I've had the privilege of knowing. Over 10 years ago, after a long and bitter strike, these workers finally won a contract guaranteeing them the good wages and benefits that transformed their jobs at the Boathouse into careers that could support their families. And since then, their hard work has kept that Boathouse going strong, ensuring that even after the pandemic decimated the industry, the Boathouse was able to reopen.

Sadly, after decades in operation, the Boathouse closed its doors last year. And while everyone, visitors and residents alike, mourned the loss of this iconic venue, no one suffered more deeply the workers who depended on it for their livelihood. Today, thanks to Mayor Adams and his team, we are one step closer to reopening the Boathouse and bringing these folks back to work. Now, Mayor Adams has been a tireless advocate for the recovery of New York City's hospitality sector from the day he took office. He has been an unparalleled champion for hospitality workers, not only helping us through the most difficult times in the pandemic, but ensuring that they have high quality jobs to return to.
And now Mayor Adams in this administration has found a way to save this incredible institution. And just important, do it in a way that ensures that these workers not only get to keep their jobs, but get to keep their hard fought union contract. So we look forward to working with Legends Hospitality to restore the Boathouse to its status as a premier destination. And I want to thank again, Mayor Adams for his leadership, all the team in the administration and Parks as well as Legends for helping to do their part to bring this corner of New York City back to life. Thank you everyone. Thank you, mayor.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: We'll take a few questions. Anyone?

Question: Looking at the press release, I noticed it says that the venue will hopefully be open to New Yorkers this summer. Can you talk about what that means, what we're expecting in terms of timeline?

David Cerron, Assistant Commissioner for Business Development and Special Events, Department of Parks and Recreation: Hi everyone.

Mayor Adams: Introduce yourself.

Cerron: Hi, David Cerron, assistant commissioner for business development and special events at NYC Parks. We're following the city's process for awarding these new concessions. We're so thrilled to have Legends here today. And thank you to Mayor Adams and to Deputy Mayor Joshi for all the support in getting to where we are. So the city's process is when we're going to have a public hearing on March 3rd. We're going to have an F.C.R.C. meeting on the eighth, and then we're going to send this contract to the city's comptroller's office to get it registered. We're going to be working with Legends every step of the way to get it opened as soon as possible. But the summertime is absolutely our goal.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Julianne?

Question: Yes. Was there a bidding process on this?

Cerron: There was a robust process, yes. Again, this is something through the city's rules. Back in August we began planning for this. We met with dozens and dozens of interested companies in the hospitality and restaurant industry. Each one of those conversations led to additional conversations, subsequently negotiations, and to where we are today. And we're really so excited to be working with Legends.

Question: What won you over to award to Legends?

Rodriguez-Rosa: I just have to say, when you talk about individuals that have such a background in hospitality, and they do the intrepid, they do the circle line, they do one observatory, they do. So they have quite an extensive background in what they provide in hospitality. So that's what won us over pretty much. And the commitment to be able to commit the capital dollars to refurbish this facility.

Question: Mayor Adams, can you tell us your most memorable moment here at the Boathouse that spell out? Can you guys let us know what can we expect? What will it look like? What will stay, what will be new?

Mayor Adams: My rookie years, I didn't have a lot of money, and nothing was more romantic than being able to rent a boat and being able to... I have an old picture of renting a boat on a boat house out here, and coming here. This was a great cheap date.

Question: Can you guys give us an idea of what it'll look like. What can we expect?

Porteus: Obviously we've already begun looking at it, but our approach is to restore it. To restore it to its natural grandeur. We are extremely white labeled. So from a Legend standpoint, we're going to work with everyone here to make sure that we're all aligned on what it overall looks like in terms of the cafe, the restaurant, the catering facility, and the outdoor deck as well. So obviously making sure that all of those outlets and all really kind of come together and restore to the natural glory.

Question: What about overhauling the boat program?

Porteus: With the boat program, what we are planning is advanced ticket sales on boats, the ability to use debit or credit cards as well. But certainly we've seen, you know, in visiting here, the lines here. So having put together a program that way you can book it in advance and obviously reserve boats in advance as well.

Question: And what does it mean to your organization getting this contract? I mean, this is so much as we've all talked part of the city's history and so much memories here.

Porteus: It's special to us. Like I said, Legends was born in New York, so it's special to us. It's an iconic property, much like One World and much like all the other brands that we work with, and most importantly the people behind us as well.

Question: Yeah. And Mr. Mayor, how important was it to have this location occupied and not have it deserted and feed on the narrative of things falling apart?

Mayor Adams: I often talk about after September 11th, the emotional trauma that our city experienced, but September 12th we got up and it was a symbol for the entire country. The resiliency of New York, and Covid wasn't terrorism, but it brought terror. And we need some substantial victories that we are seeing, but we also need symbolic victories. And having this Boathouse open would play the role of the symbolism of a city in recovery. Because people must not only see the numbers that say we are prospering, but they have to see the symbols of prosperity. And this Boathouse means a lot. I was joking about being able to rent a boat, and come here and eat, and socialize through the park, the tourism, the 56 million tourists that came to this city, we're predicting 65 million this year. We need to see the symbols of progress. And so the partnership with H.T.C. and the Legend organization is just adding to the symbolism that is needed.

And that's the combination. And so that's why I thank them. And we moved quickly. Sue is not here, but the Central Park Conservancy, the Parks Department, everyone was focused. We had to get this open. We could not allow this Boathouse to remain close. Because it would only give the appearance that this is not a city in recovery. And I see it every day and I'm excited about it. I'm excited about what the city has to offer. And no matter what anybody says, this is New York, we're resilient. We never surrender. We never give up. And I dare anyone to bet against us, they will lose. 

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