Battery Park City Is Privatizing Jobs Held By 45 Parks Officers

Up to 45 Parks Enforcement Patrol Officers working in Battery Park City will be replaced by private-security contractors, following a vote by the quasi-governmental authority that manages the 92-acre development, a move that was sharply criticized by the employees’ union.

The Battery Park City Authority, which spends about $2.5 million each year to fund the dedicated PEP Officers, said during an Oct. 27 board meeting and in a subsequent presentation to the community board that it would hire AlliedBarton. The $2.1-million, three-year contract will include foot and bicycle patrols that extend outside of the parks and into the surrounding neighborhood. The uniforms will be “bright, bright fluorescent blinding yellow” a BPCA official said during the most-recent board meeting.