Opening of NYC's 1st public observatory at risk due to last-minute regulations

The observatory would be placed in Jerome Park, near the Bronx High School of Science.

Red tape has stalled plans for the city’s first free, public observatory to be installed in a Bronx park, and its organizers now worry they may have to pull the plug on the project.

The dome's grand opening in Jerome Park, near the Bronx High School of Science, was planned for this spring. But in recent months the city has unexpectedly asked the Amateur Astronomers Association, which is spearheading the project, to take out $5 million in general insurance coverage before it can open. The group was also recently informed that the Law Department and Department of Buildings will need to review the project.

“We're putting a tin can a little bit bigger than a port-a-potty on a piece of grass that nobody uses,” said Bart Fried, executive vice president of the Amateur Astronomers Association. “It shouldn't take two-and-a-half years to circle back to where we were two-and-a-half years ago.”

Meanwhile, the association’s donors are asking about the holdup.

“We're starting to get questions from people that donated money. Like, ‘What's the status? What's going on? I gave you good money,’” Fried said.

The project originally was estimated to have a $100,000 price tag, and would have realized a long-held goal of the association: opening the first fully public stargazing facility. The 9.5-foot-high and 6.5-foot-wide metal dome had been at Nassau Community College until 2019. The structure will house a powerful Celestron Edge HD telescope capable of providing views of our solar system, including comets, asteroids, the sun, and all the planets, including the dwarf planet Pluto. The association plans to staff the observatory seven nights a week, with special programming for Bronx Science students.

“We are working with the association in good faith to finalize an agreement and will continue to follow City-mandated processes that must be completed before a contract can be finalized,” wrote parks department spokesperson Gregg McQueen via email.

That was a notable change from January, when McQueen wrote Gothamist that the agency expected construction for the project could begin in the spring, after an agreement was finalized and a contractor selected.

The observatory was previously at Nassau Community College.

But in March, parks staff requested that the astronomers association submit information on programming and operations, which it said it had turned in more than a year ago.

Earlier this month, Fried received the parks department’s 35-page draft agreement with the association that deals with operation and maintenance of the structure. Finalizing that document will take another couple months, according to Fried.

The agreement calls for requirements that came as a surprise to Fried, including a review by the city’s lawyers. The parks department is also asking the Amateur Astronomers Association to increase its insurance coverage from $1 million to $5 million. Fried said the association hopes to negotiate a compromise over that figure.

“We've never had a lawsuit in 97 years!” Fried said, adding that he was previously told the project would be fast tracked.

The parks department is also seeking a Department of Buildings review. The DOB takes an average of 19 days to approve applications, according to the most recent Mayor's Management Report.

Fried said such a review seems unnecessary, given that the observatory can be easily moved.

“It's just held down by a couple bolts. And there are no utilities. We can unbolt it and pick it up and take it off-site on a whim,” Fried said.

Fried said it would be a miracle if they broke ground in the fall. The most serious consequence of the hold-up is that they cannot obtain funds from the project’s biggest donor, the Jay Pasachoff Trust, until the agreement with the parks department is finalized.

The association was frustrated, but committed to seeing the project through – even if it meant finding a different site.

“I'm not going to die until this thing's built somewhere in this city,” Fried said. “After that, the bus can hit me. I don't care.”

This story has been updated with new data on how long it takes for the Department of Buildings to approve a project. An agency spokesperson says an online DOB dashboard is inaccurate.