Mayor Bloomberg is confirming a Post report last Sunday that taxpayers may get stuck with the bill for completing the Ferry Point golf course in The Bronx.
The private developer who began the project seven years ago decided to walk away after costs skyrocketed.
Two new bids were deemed unsatisfactory and rejected.
“I think when they started this years ago, I don’t think anyone quite envisioned how difficult this would be,” Bloomberg said, explaining that the site is an old municipal landfill.
He said a park would be even more costly to build because of remediation issues and pointed out that homes were constructed in the area in anticipation of the golf course.
“While we probably don’t have any legal obligation to build one, there’s some kind of moral obligation, I suppose,” the mayor added.
The hit to taxpayers is estimated at $20 million to $50 million.
Ferry Point would join a surprisingly long list of golf courses in the densely populated borough. The Bronx is already home to the Pelham, Split Rock and Van Cortlandt Park courses. Van Cortlandt also holds the distinction of being the nation’s first public course.