The opening of the first public observatory in New York is at risk due to last-minute regulations

Red tape has thwarted plans to install the city’s first free public observatory in a Bronx park, and its organizers now fear they may have to abandon the project.

The grand opening of the dome in Jerome Park, near the Bronx High School of Science, is scheduled for this spring. But in recent months, the city unexpectedly asked the Amateur Astronomers Association, which is spearheading the project, to purchase $5 million in general insurance before the facility opens. The group was also recently told that the Department of Law and the Department of Buildings would need to review the project.

“We set a can that’s a little larger than a potty on a patch of grass that no one is using,” said Bart Fried, executive vice president of the Amateur Astronomer Association. “It shouldn’t take two and a half years to get back to where we were two and a half years ago.”

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

“We’re starting to get questions from people who donated money. For example: “What’s the status?” What’s going on? I gave you good money,’” Fried said.

The project was originally estimated to cost $100,000 and was intended to fulfill the association’s long-awaited goal: opening the first fully public stargazing facility. The 30-foot-tall and 6.5-foot-wide metal dome was located at Nassau Community College until 2019. The structure will house a powerful Celestron Edge HD telescope that will be able to provide views of our solar system, including comets, asteroids, Sun, and all the planets, including the dwarf planet Pluto. The association plans to operate the observatory seven days a week, providing special programs for Bronx Science students.

“We are working in good faith with the association to finalize the agreement and will continue to follow the city-mandated processes that must be completed before the agreement can be finalized,” Parks Department spokesman Gregg McQueen wrote in an email.

It was a noticeable change from January, when McQueen wrote to Gothamist that the agency expected construction on the project could begin in the spring, once a contract was finalized and a contractor selected.

But in March, parks officials demanded that the astronomical association provide information on programming and operations, which they say it provided more than a year ago.

Earlier this month, Fried received a 35-page draft of the parks department’s contract with the association that operates and maintains the facility. According to Fried, it will take another few months to finalize this document.

The agreement requires meeting requirements that surprised Fried, including: inspection by city lawyers. The parks department also asked the Amateur Astronomer Association to increase its insurance coverage from $1 million to $5 million. Fried said the association hopes to negotiate a compromise on the issue.

“We haven’t had a lawsuit in 97 years!” Fried said, adding that he had previously been told the project would be fast-tracked.

The Parks Department is also seeking input from the Department of Buildings. By DOB’s own estimates, it takes an average of almost nine weeks to get a project approved in the Bronx. Fried said such an overhaul seemed unnecessary given that the observatory could be easily relocated.

“Only a few screws hold it in place.” And there is no media. We can unscrew it, lift it and take it off site at any time,” Fried said.

Fried said it would be a miracle if they were able to launch in the fall. The most serious consequence of the holdup is the inability to obtain funds from the project’s largest donor, the Jay Pasachoff Trust, until an agreement with the parks department is finalized.

The association was frustrated but committed to seeing the project through to completion – even if it meant finding another site.

“I’m not going to die until this thing is built somewhere in this city,” Fried said. “Then the bus might hit me. I do not care.”