Notice Details

In accordance with Section 1-14 of the Concession Rules of the City of New York (“Concession Rules”), the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (“Parks”) intends to enter into a significant negotiated concession for a license agreement for the operation and maintenance of food markets at various locations in Manhattan with the option for future Manhattan locations. These locations may include, but are not limited to: Worth Square, Washington Square Park, New Wave Pier, Andrew Haswell Green, East River Park (area underneath Williamsburg Bridge (E River Greenway & Delancey St), Thomas Jefferson Park, Marcus Garvey Park, Jackie Robinson Park, Randall’s Island Park and future Manhattan locations. Proposers may express interest in one or more of the sites. Additionally, there may be multiple awards/licenses as a result of this negotiated process. Any overlap in interest in certain proposal sites will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and the evaluation will take fee offer, operating experience & financial capability, planned operations, and integrated sustainability into account in order to get the best deal for the City. The size and scope of the markets will be subject to Parks’ prior written approval.

The term is not to exceed 5 years. The concession will be operated pursuant to a license issued by Parks; no leasehold or other proprietary rights will be offered. The 5-year term allows for continuity of service to the public, as Parks has received positive feedback at other food market concessions. The term is expected to commence in Summer 2026 (around June/July), unless otherwise approved by Parks.

At this time, it is neither practicable nor advantageous to award this concession by competitive sealed proposals or competitive sealed bids, as Parks has an opportunity to obtain significant revenue that would be lost if either competitive process were pursued. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup taking place in North America, there will be an increase in the number of tourists/visitors to the city. Additionally, this year marks the 250^th Anniversary of the founding of the country, which will also see an increase in tourists/visitors to the city. With these two major events taking place in the coming months, the negotiated concession process will allow for the city to capture a significant amount of revenue via food markets in multiple locations throughout Manhattan.

For this reason, it is in the best interest of the city to pursue a negotiated concession for this facility.  

Potential concessionaires that would like to express interest in the proposed concession and/or obtain additional information concerning the concession may contact Andrew Coppola, Deputy Director of Concessions for NYC Parks Concessions Unit, at (212) 360-3454 or via e-mail at Andrew.Coppola@parks.nyc.gov  (Office of the Concessions Unit, City of New York Parks, The Arsenal-Central Park 830 Fifth Avenue- Room 407 New York, New York 10065) by May 15, 2026. Thereafter, there will be a process for submission of proposals. Parks will evaluate the proposals on the bases of operating experience and financial capability; planned operations; fee offer; and integrated sustainability. Where applicable, Parks may condition the award of this concession upon the successful completion of PASSPort (the Procurement and Sourcing Solutions Portal) Questionnaires and review of that information by the Department of Investigation. In addition, any person or entity with at least a 10% ownership interest in the submitting vendor (including a parent company), may be required to complete PASSPort Questionnaires (Principal Questionnaire for any person and Vendor Questionnaire for any entity with at least a 10% ownership interest in the submitting vendor). This concession has been determined not to be a major concession as defined by Chapter 7 of the Rules of the City Planning Commission.

Please note that the concession award is subject to applicable provisions of federal, State, and local laws and executive orders requiring affirmative action and equal employment opportunity.

The New York City Comptroller is charged with the audit of concession agreements in New York City. Any person or entity who believes that there has been unfairness, favoritism or impropriety in the proposal process should inform the Comptroller, Office of Contract Administration, 1 Centre Street, New York, New York 10007, telephone number (212) 669-2323.

Please address any questions and/or correspondence relating to the potential concession award to Andrew Coppola, Deputy Director of Concessions at (212) 360-3454 or via e-mail at Andrew.Coppola@parks.nyc.gov  (Office of the Concessions Unit, City of New York Parks, The Arsenal-Central Park 830 Fifth Avenue- Room 407 New York, New York 10065).