Taxpayers are on tap to pay a cool $375,000 — just to install two water fountains in Manhattan’s Riverside Park.
The eye-watering cost of the project includes specialized excavation through tree root zones, installing new pipes and fencing for constructions of the two fountains, according to the city’s Parks Department.
A broken fountain and an outdated one will both be replaced with the new fixtures, which will have dual stainless steel bowls to comply with disability laws, parks project manager Gordon Shum said at a Manhattan Community Board 7 meeting in October.
The installation will take place next year, and will also include implementing new backflow prevention boxes that follow the city’s Department of Environmental Protection rules to protect water supply, Shum said.
“The bulk of the costs for both of these new installations is meeting current DEP requirements,” said Margaret Bracken, the chief of design and construction for the Riverside Park Conservancy.
“Something that sounds as simple as installing a drinking fountain actually is a very, pretty expensive endeavor,” said Bracken, who also works for the Parks Dept.
The two fountains being swapped out are about 90 years old, Bracken said at last year’s meeting.
The shocking pricetag — and the bureaucratic nitty-gritty and red tape that caused it to balloon — were highlighted in a Washington Post op-ed on Wednesday arguing government costs are out of control.
“Individually reasonable requirements add up to unreasonable outcomes,” wrote John Schochet, a member of the Manhattan community board.
The budget, supplied by Councilwoman Gale Brewer’s office, was initially supposed to fund five new bottle re-filling stations, but it was later changed to the two fountains, he wrote.
“Replacing two drinking fountains in Riverside Park costs $375,000 and takes three years from funding to completion, with the system working as designed,” Schochet argued.
“This is an institutional culture problem, not something a statutory fix or department reorg can easily solve. The parks department should be able to deliver the five hydration stations the community voted for, on budget and in less than three years.”
The Parks Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.