To the Editor:

I appreciate the openness the City Council has shown to further reviewing the current Nursery Field plan before more money is spent. I also appreciate the desire for more playable field space in Rye, and I think it’s amazing that families in this community are willing to financially support that goal. But I do not believe the answer is a synthetic field at Nursery. My hope is that the city strongly consider its next action be one that broadens the discussion to a more holistic approach to tackling our field space and open green space challenges. Here are some ideas of ways we can do that: 

The money the city has spent researching drainage at Nursery is extremely valuable and can be applied to a natural grass renovation of this field (as a reminder, this field has never been renovated since it was built unevenly over 20 years ago). A natural grass renovation is less expensive (now, and even more so in the years to come) and less controversial than a synthetic field, especially in this sensitive location. There is interest in our community in donating to this cause and, unlike a synthetic turf plan, there is also the opportunity for grant money from New York state — hundreds of millions in grants were offered last year for projects just like this one. 

I know a natural grass field will never give us quite the hours of a synthetic turf field (but it’s amazing how effective a renovated natural grass field, with improved drainage, can be); however, the city has made clear that is not the goal of the current Nursery Field Project. If this synthetic field were to be built, per the city, it would be scheduled just like the current natural grass field — the same exact amount of hours, “no increase.”  I do not understand the rationale of constructing a multimillion dollar synthetic turf field that will be scheduled this way. 

In addition, I hope the city conducts a complete field inventory to determine other ways to increase playable field time, looking at Rye Rec, Rye schools, private properties, and Westchester land, possibly working with our neighboring municipalities. I believe this approach, along with hearing from different members of our community, will help protect and expand our open green spaces, create more field time for our kids, and improve our city for years to come. I ask the City Council to unify this community behind common goals, and not divide us.   

– Dan Adler