Longtime Chief of BPC Parks Said to Be On Her Way Out

Tessa Huxley, executive director of the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy, in a 2012 file photo. Huxley has headed the parks agency since 1988. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

Tessa Huxley, executive director of the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy who has overseen the 36 acres of immaculately maintained parks and gardens from their very beginning in 1988, is reportedly leaving her post.

The New York Post reported [1] Monday that Huxley is being “pushed out” by Battery Park City Authority Chairman and CEO Dennis Mehiel, and “negotiations over terms are underway.”

The Trib has independently confirmed the story though no other details were available. A person answering the phone at the authority said that Mehiel and Huxley, as well as Robin Forst, the authority’s spokeswoman, were unavailable.

The news was met with dismay by those who have long admired Huxley and what has been described as her “fierce” dedication to the parks. She and her staff are credited with rapidly and tirelessly restoring the parks after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

“Because of her leadership, we are privileged to enjoy our community’s greatest asset, our extraordinary parks,” Rosalie Joseph, a community leader in Battery Park City, said in a mass email intended to rally support for Huxley. Joseph said she is hoping that people will speak out at a Community Board 1 meeting Tuesday evening, July 28, at 6 p.m. at DC 37 (125 Barclay St.) and, on Wednesday, July 29, will attend a noon public meeting of the Battery Park City Authority board of directors (200 Liberty St., 24th floor.)