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Rye Recreation with Rick McCabe · MyRye.com Conversations with Doug French

• MyRye.com, Doug French: Welcome to the MyRye.com podcast, Conversations with Doug French. I'm your host Doug French, former mayor of the City of Rye, and this podcast is about the issues and the people that impact Rye and our surrounding region. Our aim is to inform you so you can engage on the local issues that matter most to you. Today in conversation is municipal recreation. Are we keeping pace with the growing trends? How do we get more out of finite space? And what does the future of recreation actually look like and can we get there? Joining me is Rick McCabe, chairman of the Rye Recreation Commission. Rick, welcome to MyRye.com Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Doug, thanks so much for having me. I really appreciate it. MyRye.com, Doug French: So I guess people when they think about public recreation, the first thing that comes to mind is the TV show Parks and Rec. And they do a great job showing the window into recreation where they focus on the chaos and the bureaucracy and the big hearts of the people that recreation. So Rick, how does that feel? Does that sound like it's true? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: It's it sounds really spot on to me. You should I think I would want the I would want the the professional staff that works at the rec from Erin on down to to answer that as well. But it certainly appears the same thing to me. I think starting with the big hearts of the people that are there and the people that are involved day to day, whether that's long-term planning, it's the day-to-day execution, it's really putting the heart of the city into into every program that they come up with. I absolutely love parks and recreation. It's one of my favorite shows. Absolutely brilliant. I heard it once said that by the creator. He was a huge fan of the West Wing, which is also one of my favorite all-time shows. He MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: said if the West Wing was about high stakes meaning facing off against Russia and China, parks and recreation was meant to mean high stakes meaning who's gonna get the field, girls softball or men's softball, right? That kind of thing. And MyRye.com, Doug French: Exactly. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: and I think that's exactly right. And think, you know, you mentioned the chaos. I think it's chaos all for a good reason. And it's certainly managed perfectly by the rec staff. We're always, looking for, you know, new ways to bring new services to the city. when you look at the breadth of who that group serves, with a you know, a small but mighty team serving just about every age group in the city, they do they do an incredible job. So I think they're the best of they're the best of the best for sure. MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah, and by way of full disclosure, I am the former chairman of of the Recreation Commission. It was a great Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Absolutely. MyRye.com, Doug French: way to learn about government and the people, and I could not say more about the staff and the and the program as well. And we're and Parks of Recreation has a great tongue-in-cheek look at recreation for sure. So speaking of that, you mentioned that that recreation touches you know everybody. It is true, it touches nearly every demographic, if not every demographic in town. and it clearly adds to the quality of life here in Rye. There is renewed desire to be more active and connected, especially coming out of COVID. So let's sit on some of the biggest trends that are affecting recreation. The first is pickleball. It is the great equalizer, doesn't matter. Age, everybody's equal on the court. So what's the current state of pickleball here in Rye? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Well, I think as as we've seen across the country, it's grown it's grown by leaps and bounds the last couple of years. incredibly popular, as you said, with lots of different groups. Rec staff has tried to has tried to accommodate all of that growing audience and desire for court time and things like that. As we're talking right now, there's a rehabilitation project underway at rec park at the Damiano Center to to rebuild and rehabilitate six of the courts. So there'll be six new courts. probably by the time that that the podcast airs, there'll be there'll be new courts ready to go, which is a huge accomplishment. there was a point back in the spring when There was a a conversation at our rec commission, and and the commission, all the members of the commission are as you can imagine, folks that are just so passionate about the mission of the rec and the the quality of life in the city, as you said. And there was a conversation about the courts obviously needed some some work. And there was one option that was kind of a we can just sort of do this kind of very minor repair. It's probably gonna last a year or two and it's gonna cost a decent amount of money. And then there was a conversation that we had at the commission with Erin Mantz and then with Brian Shea. There was a second option to try and push it a little bit and do a much more robust rehabilitation that was gonna last in the neighborhood of five to seven years and really give us a much more a much more useful surface, a much more durable surface to accommodate this, you know, the growing popularity of the sport. So at the commission, that's one of the things that we try to do is if we can add any guidance in terms of let's make smart decisions, right? We're always going to have finite resources, finite space. Let's make some smart decisions. If it again, money's always going to be a factor in how we can fund those things, but if that option is there, let's think about how we want to do these things to create more opportunity, more availability and more access. MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah, no, it sounds sound spot on. there all is also this trend about recreation being a third space where there's you know, to combat isolation and build really community connection. Can you speak about some of the improvements you're doing in that area? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Yeah, and I think it's I think it's a key point. It's a heady concept, you know, third space meaning home first, work second, and and this kind of third space and where is it for you? And I think it's the entire you know ethos behind public recreation and our parks, right? That we that we all want but also need a place to to have a break from the day-to-day, from finding new things to try, new clubs, new activities, whether that's for a toddler or for our unbelievably robust senior program. and finding those opportunities, not just the places, which is an important part of this conversation, but also the new opportunities and the new ideas that the rec staff seems to bring every year with new new activities for kids, teens, seniors, different different activities at the different parks. but that has to be top of mind. You know, this is a this is a public trust in a lot of ways, like many of our many of our activities of our local government. And it's frankly, it's what what really what makes Rye Rye in so many ways is that this has always been historically it's always been a really important part of living in town. We're incredibly fortunate to be in a town that has some of the most beautiful private clubs in the world. And that's an incredible opportunity for many, many folks that live in town. This is a a second, maybe these are the the different kinds of third places, right? But I think the city parks and recreation access and availability remains a really important part of that conversation. MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah, no, I and it seems like it's intentional. and you did great work on the amphitheater at Rec Park. I know the skate park is now has a renewed interest. the restrooms alone at at Rec Park, it just keep people there, right? And the pavilions just look spectacular. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Yeah, it's a good point. And I think, all the all the credit goes to the the city staff for for knowing what to do when the opportunity is there, right? I would say that there no one's just kind of waiting for things to happen. I would say from Brian to Ryan Coyne to to Erin Mantz there's a there's a springloaded list of things that can get done when the opportunity is there. And I think if you look at Main Rec Park, and there was a chance a few years probably back five years ago now. where some funding became available. And they immediately were able to say, okay, here's what we can do for that finite amount of money. Two brand new shelters, which is which are just spectacular. The amphitheater, which we've never had in town before in any kind of in any kind of real sense, the bathrooms, all those things that would say in a lot of ways feel like they should be table stakes in a park like that, right? They should be that should be sort of how it's supposed to look in a place like Rye. They didn't. And and to have that opportunity to do that. So that the you the city staff. Not only the creativity, the execution, when you see what, you know, Ryan's team in terms of the the execution of these things, of putting together those shelters or those things, you know, certainly there's gonna always gonna be times when there need to be outside contractors and experts that are gonna help us do things like that. But the DPW staff MyRye.com, Doug French: Okay. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: and the rec maintenance staff have done a spectacular job at all of our parks in maximizing the opportunities when they come. So even Nursery Field is a good opportunity, putting the athletic field aside, which is spectacular and has accomplished, I think, all the goals that everybody hoped for. The surrounding areas around that that facility now, between picnic tables and plantings and, native species planting and things like that, they've just done an incredible job of of sort of finding what those what those kind of finishing touches and rounding out pieces of it really should look like. MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah, well said. and we're gonna get back to the Nursery Field in a second. But the other trend is aging in place. So the populations are are staying, you know, home longer. how's the senior program going? What what trends are you seeing in that area? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: The the senior program is it's a it's amazing, you know, year after year. I th there's more than four hundred members of the senior program, registered members of the senior program now. I think it's four hundred and almost four hundred and twenty. and and that really ranges. There are are folks in the program that take pl take advantage of every program throughout the course of a week, whether whether it's an exercise class or a game activity or a trip someplace, or in the summer, the partnership between Rye Golf Club and Rye Rec, giving the seniors the opportunity to be at The Rye Golf Club pool in the mornings. All of these things are just are absolutely incredible. And I think you're seeing a level of activity, a level of physical wellness, mental wellness that comes along with those opportunities. And and and I think the the senior program is one place where it just can, like I said, continues to grow. And there's, you know, it's always it's it's incredible to see kind of the the pockets of different things. There's the men's, there's the men's club breakfasts and things like that, where you know, it's not just one. broad stroke that takes care of everybody. I think the you the the rec staff and the senior coordinators always make an an an effort to find something for everybody, you know, in that in that activity. But that's that's one great example of when the opportunity is there, we know that citizens from around Rye absolutely want to take advantage of it and they and they will come out and they will do it. MyRye.com, Doug French: absolutely and the other the other a rising trend, youth sports. So I had the honor of attending the high school sports awards this year. And the common theme was wow, Rye has a tremendous set of athletes across a number of sports that play multiple sports. And it really starts with youth sports and and and and the leagues that we have, the specialization. and that's a big pressure point for recreation, is is balancing all of that. Can you speak to the growing trend of youth sports? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Sure. I think you're I think you're absolutely right. I think if if nothing else, we're seeing all the effort that goes into all of our youth sports organizations, from our volunteer coaches to the boards of each of those organizations, to the level of the growing level of expertise is probably a different word since it's a lot of moms and dads and folks that are out there sort of doing the coaching, but it's taken seriously. And we know that we know there's a certain level of specialization that goes on in sports for certain at certain youth athletes, but for the general population of kids growing up in Rye. They're playing in Ray Youth Soccer, Ray Little League, Rye Rugby, Ray Youth Rug Ray Youth Rugby, girls' softball, obviously, the registration just continue to grow and grow. And you're seeing that come to fruition now with five state championships, if not more, just in one, in one senior class, from you know, from football to hockey to field hockey to to just and you know absolutely incredible achievements by our young athletes. there's no question about the physical benefits for kids. There's very little question about. Mental health benefits for kids and in an age where from the classroom to home to them being socially always connected, it is really an incredible break for for them to be able to sort of to be sort of outside of that digital world that's endemic for all of us now. but I think registration for each of those groups continues to grow, which is fantastic. Full stop. It creates a little bit more pressure as time goes on in terms of how many fields do you need, how often how available are they? How often can you play? You know, those kinds of things. And that's a good problem to have, right? If you have if you have growing youth sports participation, it's great for the kids. It's incredibly I think it's I think it's helpful for for the community overall to walk through Disbro during a night when there's a Rye Girl softball game and a little league game going on at the same time and the high school team's playing in the back, or if you walk by the high school, there's always some kind of a game going on. I think that's that that's an important part of our community. It always has been. And I think It it contributes to I've I've read once in a book about something called local patriotism, right? It's part of that kind of idea that this is this is who we are as a as a town and as a city. MyRye.com, Doug French: Right. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Many other parts of that definition of who we are as a city. But I think, you know, that that participation, the level of volunteerism that goes into all those sports. You couldn't calculate the number of hours that goes into running those sports, as you know from when you were doing it. I think it's you know, the the the the participation just continues to to grow and grow. And Not just in the sort of traditional sports that we've seen, new groups come to us sometimes and say to the commission and say, We'd like to start, let's use raw youth basketball. A couple of years ago, a couple of parents came in and said, There are some programs around, we'd like there to be, and but so much of basketball in particular becomes specialized really quickly. And either you're good enough or you're not good enough to play at an elite level, to travel, things like that. These parents got together and said, This is a sport we know our kids love. There may not be as many opportunities to have a just Youth Participation League, full stop, right? Everybody gets to play, everybody gets on a team, everybody gets playing time. Right youth basketball has become one of the newer, faster growing user groups. They they they bring they bring kids in, you know, in in growing numbers every time. I just went in speaking with Aaron Mance recently, expanding the five, sixth, and seventh grade programs so that there's even opportunities for those kids in those in those grades. So it's for looking for those opportunities. Again, puts a little pressure on our facilities and our time and our staff, but I think it's a I think it's a good problem to have. MyRye.com, Doug French: I remember how Sally Roble, when I was chair, spoke so fondly of the youth basketball program, and it's great to see. And and just to your other point, the larger point is all the coaches at the award center spoke about the community, how supportive the parents and the community and the schools are to support the athletes. And it does generate community pride. So so well said on that. This is probably a whole of government approach, but people are walking, running, biking around town a lot more. I think the roads have greatly improved, though, so thank you to the council and the mayor for that and the staff. But are you ha do you have a whole of government approach? I just had Brian Dempsey on from the Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Commission. I mean, are you looking to incorporate some more accessibility for those types of activities? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: I think the city staff's done a great job with that. I think if especially let's just take the parks on their own, within each park. I think Aaron and Ryan have done an incredible job finding those opportunities. So Rec Park in particular, now there's sort of a continuous path around the whole park where you could use that as your walking trail. I think if you look at Gagliardo, some element of that hopefully gets incorporated into that park as it gets renovated. The connections between the parks and not just the parks, it's it's how do you connect all of those spaces to our schools? you know, to the library, to town. I think, you know, Ryan's done a great job, you know, the professional staff on its own. And I think, you know, Brian and the and the and the traffic commission have done an incredible job around town looking for those opportunities. That should include active recreation elements where it can safely, right? When you look at a bike lane on Forest Avenue, we all know the sidewalk issues and things like that that are gonna get taken care of over a long period of time. But those those biking greenways and things like MyRye.com, Doug French: Mm-hmm. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: that, designating them in a way it's safe. For the participant, it's not totally obtrusive for what we know is a lot of traffic around town. but any anytime that you can find a a safe and productive way to incorporate those into a park or just on our streets, and how do you connect them? Right. There's that, there's that I know that that's always something that they're looking at to say if a young person needs to go from Osborne to the wreck after school, or if they need to go from the middle school to Milton for a practice, or you see every afternoon, you see a parade of Middle schoolers and high schoolers getting from the high school down to Disboro. That's that's that's more just that's their transportation more than it is their exercise. But I think being able to the connect the thread between all those facilities and parks is also an important part of that conversation. MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah, ex exactly. The secret sauce is really you can go from the schools to rec to the art center to the nature center to downtown. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Correct. MyRye.com, Doug French: It the the connectivity is is is is great. It's it's awesome quite frankly. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: It's important it's important. MyRye.com, Doug French: It's important. any other trends that we may have missed that you're seeing? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: I think the I think the I think if you look at the, you know, even just as we're talking today, the fall brochure from from the rec came out last night or this morning. And if you just look at the breadth of opportunities that the staff is providing, I think that's that's it's the trend being people have an interest in doing a real variety of things. And I think, you know, Aaron and the team have taken they've taken a wide swath of what you would maybe consider parks and rec programs or not. But I think they're looking at it as we have the facilities, we have the programming expertise, we have the scheduling capabilities. Why can't these don't have to just be sports activities, right? These can be gaming activities. MyRye.com, Doug French: Yes. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: These can be, you know, the they do an incredible job with the school holiday camps and things like that, obviously. But I would say the what they've been able to do in terms of expanding the offering, and you and I talked about this briefly, technology plays an important role in that, right? We sort of think about parks and rec activities and and it provides us sort of a relief from the technology that's so endemic in our lives. I think the technology's played an important role in helping the rec staff and the participants schedule with ease, register with ease, all these things which are are pretty somewhat simple and and sort of expected at this point. But I think it's a I think it's an important it's an important part of what of what they've been able to do as well. MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah, it does really enhance the user experience. So let's move to to a different block here. Let's talk about facilities and finite space, field space and and facilities. the public private model seems to have worked pretty well at nursery field. Can you give us an update on that? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Yeah, I think there's no question that it worked. it worked incredibly well. I was lucky to join the rec staff and some folks from some members of the board of Let the Kids Play. Back in June, the Westchester Recreation and Parks Society, which is all the professionals from around the county, they do an annual luncheon and there's a an award for the lots of awards, and the passion in that room for parks and recreation is beyond anything you could possibly imagine. It was a a lovely it was a lovely gathering and a lovely lunch. Let the kids play. won the it was the volunteer service award for a group. There's one for an individual and one for and one for a group. And they were sort of held up as the example of a private group that supported municipal recreation. And I think let the kids play and that model was an incredible opportunity for something that everybody agreed was a top priority in the city and and you had a facility that was so inconsistent and and so hard to plan against the availability of it. And I think After lots of let's let's let's say it nicely vigorous debate and discussion, as we always should have, the the decisions were made at the council and and and elsewhere that we found the right path in terms of the type of field, the surface, the things like that, all which are which are are safe and appropriate for for that space. This spring, which was our first full spring of of having availability for the field, there was not one cancellation of an event due to field conditions. Were there some really bad rainy cold days that maybe A game was called offshore, but not one cancellation has been due to the surface and to the field condition, which is unheard of. They were having 50% cancellations on that field two years ago. So MyRye.com, Doug French: Fifty percent, yeah, exactly. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: that's an example of not only how you get there, but that opportunity only came to do it that way because of a public private partnership. And I think it's something we have finite space. We're always going to have finite resources, especially financial resources. We're going to have to really be smart about being flexible. Right. I think the most the the most important thing that any of us can bring to any conversation, and this goes well beyond parks and rec. We can't be locked into an old model. We can't be locked into one way of doing business. If we're gonna move forward and and have these facilities, these programs, these opportunities at a level that we all agree rye should have, that may come through private public partnerships, that may come through county municipal, that may come through different ways to look at it. And I think let the kids play, being that agent for that is a is a perfect way to look at that. I think. When we look at other facilities around town, we've had a long conversation at at the commission. This maybe even goes back to your time on the commission as chair, Doug. What's that what's the what's the sort of permanent model that can help facilitate those facility reconstructions program developments? What's the, you know, we see Friends of Rye Town Park, of which I'm a proud board member. We see Friends of Rye Nature Center. We see these organizations and these boards that are not the commission, they're not the private, they're not the public staff. But they are friends groups, literally, as the definition goes. What what's the definition and what's the structure of that for rye recreation? And I think if you look at individuals around town, if you look at our local businesses, if you look at larger national businesses that have a footprint in town, there probably is an opportunity for us to say, what is that? What is that ongoing kind of, you know, sort of permanent friends group where we're not always saying, we need to do this one specific thing. How do we find the money, raise the money, get the volunteers? There's something in place where you can then just you can kind of turn that function on and you can turn that passion on and you can turn those connections on to try to get those things done, you know, in a in a sort of an ongoing way. MyRye.com, Doug French: In a small way we had started Friends of Rye Recreation, but I think that that was years ago. We need to dust it off and look at that type of approach, yeah. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Yeah, exactly right. And you see and you certainly see it. You know, that that's that's one way to look at it. Our partnerships with the Lions Club, the Chamber of Commerce, all of our the school district is probably the biggest partner, certainly, for Rye Recreation and an incredible partner. You look at our rec our relationships with our churches, with our private clubs, all of those things are gonna be an important part of how we move forward if we want to keep that sort of flexible mindset and and do things in a way that we think Rye deserves. MyRye.com, Doug French: Well speaking about flexibility, let's talk about coordination with some of those other providers because there are a lot out there, the schools, the Y. how is the coordination going with any the sports leagues, the coordination going and working together, identifying opportunities and shared services? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: I it it my my from my vantage point, I think the cooperation's never been better. I think and that all that credit goes to Aaron and the professional staff and the staffs of those different whether that's the from the A D on down at the high school and through the school district or from the from the entire administration of the Y, it's an incredibly cooperative relationship. You know, are we we're s on some level competing for the same eyeballs and and participants in programs and things like that. But it never manifests itself as a competition. It manifests itself as as cooperation. And I think when you look at, let's use Rye Youth basketball as an example. That was a group that wanted to get started. We don't have one kind of natural rec gym, right? We always talk about it as something that would be on our long-term list. Say, where's our field house? Where's our where's our multi-sport fieldhouse that could be an indoor facility that could could accommodate those things? We don't have it yet. Maybe we'll get there, hopefully, at some point soon. You have middle school you have the high school, the middle school, our elementary schools. And and and other institutions in town that have Rye Country Day, Resurrection, have facilities that we can tap into, those always seem to be cooperative conversations. There may not be a solution there. There may be a schedule of conflict that can't be moved or or just that can't be solved that way. But I don't think there's any question that each organization, you know, looks at the opportunities for their own membership only blossoming in cooperation with the rec or the other organizations in town. MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah, no, and there's only one taxpayer ultimately, so the more you Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Correct. MyRye.com, Doug French: can line across the services. You know, I was at the Port Chester Village Hall the other day. They're building a gym in the basement of the village hall there. Not to say City Hall's gonna be a gym, but anyway, I digress. other ways Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: We'll find we'll find we'll find it somewhere. We'll find it somewhere for sure. MyRye.com, Doug French: Rick, let's talk about extending capacity of fields and facilities. I know you know lights are a sensitive topic and rightfully so, and I know but there are options like turfing other fields or putting in lights or making some of the fields more multi-purpose as as opposed to single use. What are your thoughts as far as that's concerned? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: It's a great it's a great point. I think so many of our parks are directly adjacent to residential property and major thoroughfares and things like that. So it's always something that that needs to be talked about. It goes back to that point about flexibility, right? There's gonna be places where things like a different surface potentially lights might be appropriate, but there's definitely gonna be places where it's not gonna be appropriate for a variety of reasons. The flexibility is what's really key. And a and a good natured conversation in the community, as it was at nursery field about that surface and and that availability, that needs to be part of this process for sure. It's yes, it's about the commission and the professional staff, but the community in a town like Rye has a voice and wants a voice when those kinds of decisions are being made. and I think that's that's gotta be an important part of the process. Those those things can help with that, right? It's how do you expand, knowing that we don't have a lot more land to find new spots to put new fields. We can try to be as creative as possible, but It's really about maximizing what we have and then looking at those partnerships that are going to help us expand capacity as well. I think, you know, those those kinds of things are going to be helpful. Nursery being the good example in terms of no cancellations all spring due to field conditions. That's just a an easy, that's an easy, an easy example of it. I think partnerships with Rye Country Day and and other organizations that have facilities now or will have facilities in the future are the agreement, I believe, with the city that Rye Country Day has that there's always been a a carve out there for some some amount of the field time being available for municipal use, I think for Rye and for Porchester, that'll be a huge boon for us to be able to have access to that. And those fields may have a different durabil you know, availability in terms of time of day, surface, lights, things like that. but that's but that's always a question for the community as well. MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah. And also, you know, playland keeping that in consideration, even though it would be a multi municipal field. There's an opportunity given our proximity for us to kinda talk to talk to the county about that, just to keep that in mind. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: No no doubt about it. MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah. let's move to capital priorities. walk us through the current capital projects picture. I know Gagliardo's been a popular topic these days. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Sure. I would say Gagliaro probably the one at the top of the list, certainly the one that people have talked the most about in the last you know six months or so. it's a gem of a park that everyone not everyone in town is familiar with. It's certainly if you had you know if you had had kids in youth baseball and Rye Liddley, you certainly got you got your time at Gagliaro for sure. But it does tend to be a bit of a in terms of a destination, it's a neighborhood park. I grew up down the hill off of Central Avenue on Walnut Street, and it was certainly one of our one of our neighborhood parks for sure that was in walking distance. I think it's certainly probably at the top of the priority list. I know it's in the capital improvement plan that'll be debated and talked about over the next couple of months. I think the public feedback has been incredibly helpful. Not overly surprising, but I think really helpful to have confirmation in terms of the level of interest and the types of the types of things that people want to see there. No surprise that the the the vast majority of people just want to see what's there updated. kept in good condition and and and the park keeping clean. I think the city staff does a great job keeping the park in as good a condition as it could be in. It needs an upgrade. We can all be honest about that. And when we had a great meeting at the REC on May 14th, great public turnout. I think there were 60 or 70 people there. It's on the city website if anyone wants to go watch it. It was a great conversation with the community to say here's what here's where we are. There's a survey coming the survey was done by 220 people who gave their feedback about what we think the priority should be. In terms of the use of the park, in terms of the actual elements of the park, the apparatus. Everyone seems to agree that the baseball field historically and currently is a is a great thing to have there. The rest of the park needs some help, right? It needs playground help. It needs the shelter, the sport court, the bathrooms. Those are the things that are there. They just need to be updated. And I think Ryan and Aaron are talking with different vendors about playground apparatus. And there's certainly there's going to be a there's going to be a more specific plan. There'll be a meeting sometime in the fall at the park. With the community again and the council. So it'll even be a you know a a more in-depth conversation with potentially some more detail around it. but that's certainly a you know a big priority, a big priority for for for rec moving forward. I would also say there's always things at Disbro that could be looked at. I think Ryan and Aaron are always sort of surveying all of our properties to think where could we go with this? Where could we improve the experience for our users? Disbro's a good example. Those tennis courts at Disbro should be at the top of almost any list in town of things that from a recreation standpoint need to be prioritized. They're they're they're at the point now where vendors are telling us, don't take our we're not going to take your money to fix them anymore. When you when you're ready to replace them, let's talk. And I think that's MyRye.com, Doug French: Right. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: got to be that's going to be a priority. Tennis and that would that's always been a tennis facility, but with the new courts at pickleball at the rec, there's a there's a growing list and a waiting list for people to be able to play tennis in an affordable place, which the rec certainly is, those courts would afford not only everyday users, but our high school teams as well. An opportunity to have, you know, the the kinds of the kinds of places, the kinds of courts that we that we deserve for a sport that's as popular as it is in Rye. certainly rec park playgrounds, the two playgrounds at Rec Park are due for for renovation. Many of the main facilities, but the main building, the front part of the main building, is is on it is is is is not exactly a modern facility. You could use upgrades to the bathrooms and to the reception area and things like that. And the back building, which we all think of as new, right? Those of us who have been around for a while, they we think about that's the new part of the rec. That's twenty years old. It's still in great MyRye.com, Doug French: Right. Yeah. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: condition and kept so by the city staff. But I think those are things that I would say are are are on the commission's mind and on the wish list of of the professional staff for sure. MyRye.com, Doug French: My wish list is is to paint Damiano. I think that he needs a new co new car. Yeah, yeah, let's go. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You and me, we'll g yeah. Yeah, that's right. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Let's go. Hand me a b hand me a brush. Hand me a brush. MyRye.com, Doug French: So I'll let you take a pause and take a break. And let me just remind our listeners if you have a topic or a person you'd like to hear on the MyRi.com podcast, conversations with Doug French, just email me at French at MyRite.com or let me know around town if you see me. We are on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, and YouTube weekly. So you could find us also at MyRi.com. Please share, like, or subscribe, and leave a comment. It really helps us grow this local podcast. I do want to mention if you're a new a regular listener or a viewer, we have the MyRye.com poster here in the studio as well as a picture of Purchase Street. and there's a Yankee chair on the old Yankee Stadium. And I also want to kudos again to our our theme song, Mr. Mr. Rye, and for putting that together. It's a great theme song. So we will get back to the show. And let's go to the let's talk about the future of public recreation, kind of looking ahead. We talked a little bit about technology, but I really think technology is a way that you can enhance that user experience, take out the guessing, know when to schedule and it know when what's available, able to maybe find other players potentially, right? So what what's your thoughts on technology going forward? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: I think it's I think you're exactly right. I think the you know the the ease of scheduling, the ease of of not only just for for a user to schedule where can I play tennis or where can I where can I get field space, how can I rent the amphitheater, can I rent the shelters for an event, but from a from a the youth sports organizations and that scheduling standpoint it becomes really helpful for the professional staff at the rec to be able to manage that. that's quite a challenge, is scheduling those the limited fields that we have and there's somebody that wants them almost all the time. That technology becomes an important part of that process as well. But I think I would I would say it's it's it's probably had a larger impact immediately on the daily user experience and being able to schedule fees are taken care of. There's no, you know, there you remember this back in the old days, there was cash being handed over at the tennis courts and things like that. It would just the the all of this for over a long period of time, and not a a lot of this is not new, but the technology continues to help us streamline that and and create efficiencies. You know, we talk about rec. having a different model than let's say the golf club or the marina, there's a certain amount of the costs that are recouped and I think that helps the staff you know, find areas to maximize that and and and and the technology is an important part of that. MyRye.com, Doug French: And what about stronger alliances with other providers? I know there are a lot of ph rec facilities in town, but many sit dormant at different parts of the year, different parts of the day. Is there a way to align more with the Y or the golf club or the private clubs for some of their facilities and vice versa? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: I think there are, and I think this the staff is always looking for ways to maximize those. Everyone kind of knows what we know what the rec inventory is of space. Then you look at sort of more broadly than that, they can easily go outside of that for some of these great cooperative partners that we have, the school district, the Y. like you said, you know, some of our our churches have facilities that are available to us either for camp or for basketball leagues or things like that. those ends up being, you know, a a great cooperative relationship, both for folks that are coming to things through the rec or for the members of those organizations themselves. Private clubs is not one that we've I think spend you know, a lot of time exploring, but I would say if there are facilities at some of the clubs and the clubs would be willing to to have those available during certain blocks of time, it's not something that I I don't think that the professional staff or the commission would you know would would say no to for sure. MyRye.com, Doug French: And what about cost sharing? I know that the camps is a huge program, has grown, you know, right, right. Is there a way to share costs across the camps for entertainers or s you know, sp special coaching or something that you could share the cost of that and the person could hit all the camps, those types of ideas of shared services? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: I know that for certainly for the rec programs, they're always looking for ways to maximize those those vendors. Whether it's whether it's an individual vendor who puts on a magic show or if it's, you know, a a bigger organization that runs scores of sports programs, youth sports programs on a on a on a given day. I think they're always looking for ways to to maximize that. I don't know how much they've actually participated, how how much we've said to let's say the that the private club camps or other organizations, hey, we're having this person come. Could we could we do that? But I think that's a that's a smart thing to think about if it's if it's just gonna be for the benefit for everybody in town. MyRye.com, Doug French: Cost recovery. I know a lot of work is spent in balancing the taxpayer contribution versus user fees and the and the team does a great job. Just talk to us little about the about the success in that and and your thoughts. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Sure. to mean to be to be real specific about it, the the the cost recovery benchmark has always been about forty percent. That's always been the number that's kind of when when the professional staff, city manager, and and when they look at w what's reckon it what's what what's reckon to recover from these programs, we all agree it's a public trust and it's and it's a huge part of of living in town, but there is a there's a financial reality to anything that we're doing. that's always been that benchmark and the t the team's done an incredible job to keep it. kind of in the mid-40s, if not a little bit higher, the last couple of years, it fluctuates year over year. As you can imagine when we have something really significant like COVID, you're talking about a different scenario, but that's citywide and statewide and federally. When you're talking about weather sometimes can affect obviously the the scheduling and and the and the you know the cancellations of certain things. But I think you know Aaron and the team have done an incredible job, both thinking about what the right level of fees can be for let's say it's camp or let's say it's the rental of a shelter or the amphitheater. And how that you know, how how it's a f it's a fair but probably better than you're going to get at any other kind of private facility, right? If you need to if you need to rent a place like that, you're gonna get a better deal at the wreck than almost than almost anywhere else, for sure. For sure. MyRye.com, Doug French: I don't know if you're aware, but originally rye golf and the boat basin were part of recreation. So you had those three pieces together along with municipal recreation. They separated those off as enterprise funds and Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Yeah. MyRye.com, Doug French: then public rec was supposed to stand on its own. 40 to 50 percent is a great model. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: And if you look at j just the one the one thing I would add to is if you look at, you know, you look at the senior program, which I think by by most estimates is a it's a modest program in terms of fees and and what comes back, the the return on that investment is spectacular. And camp is another good example of that, right? Camp is always traditionally and remains the biggest moneymaker for Rec throughout the course of the year. This year, that we grew the they grew the camp registration yet again, which you almost feel like how could you do that? How how much space could there possibly be left? And the revenue for camp is gonna be over a million dollars this year. for and MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: for a small a relatively small parks and rec program, that's a that's a massive that's a massive MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: influx. But I don't think anybody would say any camper, and I know any parent, myself included, didn't get their their money's worth from any program MyRye.com, Doug French: Yeah. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: that their kids went to this year for sure. MyRye.com, Doug French: No, and I know the satisfaction surveys are through the charts. Ha ha yeah, always and Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Always. Always. MyRye.com, Doug French: all right, so let's tie in priorities to comprehensive plan. So the comprehensive plan is coming out with the city, REC should be first and foremost to that because it's ties with all the quality of blood. You know, what's your approach in terms of the priorities that you want to make sure get incorporated in the planning process? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Well, I think, you know, the the great part is we have a we have a supportive mayor, we have a supportive council and and certainly professional staff. As that plan and and and as they make progress on that rec and the commission is certainly going to have a voice in that progress in that process. I think there are look, we we always say this we're we're all fun and games at the rec commission, but we take it really seriously, right? So MyRye.com, Doug French: Mm-hmm. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: we know there are massive priorities that need to be addressed in the comprehensive plan. and and some things that are far more existential than recreation and parks program, but we also know how important this is for for everyone that lives in town or people that don't live in town yet. There's certainly when when folks are looking to move to a place in Westchester, whether you're coming up from the city or whether you're moving over from Europe for work or whatever your circumstances, I think one of the things that people are looking at is yes it's schools and yes it's safety and it's all these really important things. But what am I gonna be able to how am I going to be able to enjoy this town? Yes, it's gonna be Purchase Street and taking a stroll at night after dinner, but are my kids gonna have great opportunities to play sports? Are there gonna be beautiful fields and parks for them to play in? And those things need to be an important part of the comprehensive plan conversation. I know it will be. MyRye.com, Doug French: Alright, so let's move to the lightning round. Thank you for that. And let's keep one word answers only. and some guests don't don't comply, but hopefully you'll Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: One word answers. Doug, I'm a recovering politician. How do you expect me to do this with one answer one word answers? I'm kidding. I'm kidding. MyRye.com, Doug French: All right, one word that best describes Ryrech. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Joyful. MyRye.com, Doug French: Favorite special event? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Turkey Trop. MyRye.com, Doug French: Did you do it? Okay, okay, okay. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Tours. I I walk it. We walk it. I'm not a never never have been runner and I'm not gonna start now, but we're definitely a walker. We've done and we've done it with our dog. MyRye.com, Doug French: the the bit the biggest surprise that since you've joined the board Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: This shouldn't have been a surprise, but the passion that people in town have for our parks and recreation. I mean, having grown up in town, I knew it, but when you see it up close and people coming to meetings or fifty or sixty people showing up at a meeting in May about just about Gagliardo, you can you can see it, you know, in in the in the day to day work for sure. MyRye.com, Doug French: Well your passion also comes through in on this podcast. I mean yeah. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: It has to. Look, this is this is an easy thing to be passionate about, I think. And it's not just for me. It's all the commission members, like I said, are we are just the we're the most pa as we always say to people when they come to us to make requests, I wanna start this program, I wanna see if we can do this. Our first answer is you're you're preaching to the choir here. We all wanna do all of these things, but it's also MyRye.com, Doug French: Right. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: becomes a matter of of priorities and balance too. MyRye.com, Doug French: All right. Let's get back to one word answers. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Sure. Like I said. MyRye.com, Doug French: What improvement you could make tomorrow if you could? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Gagliardo. MyRye.com, Doug French: Most popular but unexpected program. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Seniors. MyRye.com, Doug French: One more vision for Ryber Creation. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Flexibility. MyRye.com, Doug French: what's your best coffee spot? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: I like a good cup of coffee at Poppy's. MyRye.com, Doug French: And do you ever suggested topic or guests that you'd like to see? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: I don't remember and I've I was l I've obviously watched many of the podcasts, but I think having some of the professional staff from the city in in in ways that they would feel comfortable or potentially a panel of them at the same time when you're talking about different topics, I think would be really interesting. I think it's easy for us to we know who our elected officials are, but I think there are some brilliant, passionate people working in in really important jobs throughout the city. So whether that's Aaron or Ryan or Brian, I think those would be again, not a one-word answer, but I think those would be I think those would be fascinating conversations for people to hear. MyRye.com, Doug French: And if people want to get involved, just go to the city white website at the recreation page at recreationorai new York.gov. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Correct. Tuesday, second Tuesday of every month, 6 p.m. at the rec. We're there, and the first thing on the agenda is citizens wanting to be heard. MyRye.com, Doug French: Any final thoughts? Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: no nothing more than we've talked about. I just I appreciate the fact that you brought rec and parks and recreation into this conversation. again, it's a it's a it's always been an endemic part of of of living in Rye. and we've got really dedicated people working on the teams, on the commission and across the community that want to see our facilities and our programs, you know, only get better and better as time goes on. MyRye.com, Doug French: Well Rick, I gotta thank you. Your passion really comes through. It was great to speak with you and get your insights. And also thank you for your long service to the community. Hopefully it continues. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: My pleasure. MyRye.com, Doug French: To our listeners, you can find the full episode, transcript, and local news and more at MyRye.com. If you enjoyed this podcast, please follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Thank you all for listening to the MyRye.com podcast Conversations with Doug French. We are weekly, so we will see you next week. Thanks all. Rick McCabe, Rye Recreation Commission: Thanks, Doug.