The proposed Randalls Island water park just got flushed.
In an embarrassing admission of failure, the Parks Department late yesterday said it was yanking a contract with the Aquatic Development Group to build a 26-acre water park on the site because the company had failed to come up with financing by a second deadline.
Critics, led by city Comptroller Bill Thompson, had warned last year that the $168 million proposal was shaky from the start.
“At this point we will not go forward with the planned water park,” said Parks spokesman Warner Johnston.
He said his agency and the Randalls Island Sports Foundation would work with local community boards and elected officials “to explore other options, including community recreational uses” and “retaining the existing festival and concert grounds” on the island’s western shore.
The decision represented a victory for Thompson, who in a letter to Mayor Bloomberg this week had demanded that the contract be rescinded.
“It was a terrible idea and a terrible precedent from day one,” said Geoffrey Croft, of NYC Park Advocates.