For decades, RCDS has hoped to acquire the nine-acre piece of New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA) land across Boston Post Road. This purchase is now closer to reality than ever before. In November, Governor Cuomo signed into law an amendment to the 2017 legislation enabling the Thruway Authority to sell the Boston Post Road property to RCDS. Sponsored by Assemblyman Steve Otis and Senator Shelley Mayer, the amendment supersedes the requirement in the 2017 legislation of a shared use agreement between the School and the City of Rye and establishes instead a requirement for the School to offer public user groups rental access to recreational facilities there for 29% of usable hours.

While the RCDS Board of Trustees attempted to negotiate a shared use agreement with the City of Rye in good faith for 22 months, a consensus could not be reached because the City Council sought shared control of the property. The amendment will enable the School to continue its pursuit of acquiring the property.

The School envisions building a track, field, parking, and eventually a field house on the property (one idea is to move to the ice rink to the Thruway property, reconstructing it anew with energy-efficient features and freeing up 25,000 square feet of buildable space in its place). RCDS has just 10,000 square feet of buildable space remaining on the current campus. The acquisition of the Thruway property would allow further expansion of facilities on the existing 26-acres. We intend to offer the facilities we build on the Thruway Property for rent to Rye-based youth sports organizations when the School does not need them, which has long been our practice regarding our athletic facilities. We are excited by the long-term benefits of this acquisition for the School, as well as for the Rye community.