by David Cruz 

Giddy-up!

There’ll be a change of leadership at the Van Cortlandt Park Stables in the near future, as the city Department of Parks vets a new concessionaire to oversee the sprawling stalls, with the current manager primed to ride off into the sunset.

The Riverdale Equestrian Center (REC) manages the riding stables for now, occupying roughly 21 acres of trails, an indoor riding arena, and a 1/4 mile exercise track.  But managers for REC decided not to renew their ten-year deal with Parks, which expires in 2015, following some pressure to re-focus their services to the community.  Now, through a Request for Proposal released in December, Parks brass took a tour of the grounds on January 8th, with prospective concessionaires getting a glimpse of the land.

“This has been a long time coming,” said Christina Taylor, President of the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, the park advocate group that believed REC could’ve done better to cater more to the neighborhood’s needs.

“We just saw they could’ve fulfilled a greater need for the community,” said Taylor.

Much of the group’s concerns lied in the kind of clientele REC attracted, mainly serious horse riders aiming to compete in the Olympics and not neighbors interested in taking a recreational ride around the trails.  Taylor remembered, “people from the community really didn’t use the stables” since the community-driven amenities REC offered were scant.  In most cases, an undertone of elitism would often be detected by neighbors after learning REC staffers would personally drive to Manhattan to pick up competitive horse riders, disregarding the same requests from cautious Riverdale parents.

“When I heard that, that was pretty much the last straw,” said Taylor.

The stables have been a source of enjoyment for neighbors since 1982 where children train with some of the mares, often riding them along the park’s bridle paths.  But Community Board 8 chairman Robert Fanuzzi has criticized managers, believing they’re not well-operated.

New Terms 

Under the new deal, Parks brass wants an operator that can offer riding lessons to the general public while also housing a pair of Parks Police steeds at least for six months each year.  They’re eyeing mostly prospective operators that provide after school programs, summer camps or therapeutic riding programs, services offered by REC.  The stipulations are in direct response to REC’s often floundering amenities for the community that also included the lack of trail rides for kids.

“But the horses they use on the stables are show horses…so they didn’t want to take them out on the trail on the chance they would trip on their hoof, or twist an ankle because the trails are honestly not in great condition,” said Taylor.  “I think it would be great for people to come and ride a horse on Van Cortlandt Park.”

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.