§ 555. Selection of site. Notwithstanding any provisions of any other
statute, the authority in conjunction with the commissioner of parks of
the city or his successor, the commissioner of parks and recreation, and
with the approval of the board of estimate of such city and with the
separate approval of the mayor thereof, is hereby authorized to select
sites in the boroughs of the Bronx and Queens of the city for the
Whitestone bridge project and parkways connecting therewith, which sites
may be in or through existing public parks, and to select sites for new
public parks contiguous to such project or contiguous to the roads,
streets, parkways or avenues connecting with such project. A site or
sites may be selected for any or all of the aforementioned purposes and
thereafter the use thereof shall be allocated by the commissioner of
parks and recreation as herein provided. The property so selected solely
for such project, not already owned by the city, shall be acquired at
the sole expense of the authority in the manner provided for under this
title. The property so selected solely for new public parks shall be
acquired by the city at its sole expense. The cost of the property so
selected for such project, combined with any other aforementioned
purposes the use of which is to be thereafter determined, shall be
divided between the city and the authority as may be determined by a
contract or contracts hereby authorized to be entered into between the
city and the authority, subject to the approval of the board of estimate
of the city. So much of the sites so selected and acquired or such
easements or rights of way therein as may be necessary or convenient for
the corporate purposes of the authority may be assigned by the
commissioner of parks and recreation of the city to the authority for
its use so long as its corporate existence shall continue.