How to Become a Concessionaire

At NYC Parks, we help many small business owners achieve their dreams each year. If you are interested in working with us, our project managers will help you every step of the way – from learning about an opportunity, to developing your proposal, to, once selected, launching your concession. Here’s what you need to know.

Step 1: Getting Started

Whenever we’re looking for vendors who can apply to a project, we share a document that includes information about the project, such as the history of the project, the terms of the concessions, and the guidelines for the proposal. This document is known as a solicitation.

The best way to hear about an upcoming project is to sign up for our Solicitation Mailing Lists. By expressing your interest in our business opportunities, you’ll be among the first to hear about an opportunity once a solicitation is made public.

Step 2: Respond to a Solicitation

At Parks, we offer two types of solicitations that you can respond to. Find out what you need to prepare for each type of solicitation.

Competitive Sealed Bids (RFBs)

When responding to a Request for Bids, or RFB, the only thing we evaluate is the highest fee offer. We award the bid to the highest responsive and responsible bidder, and we don’t use additional criteria to evaluate the bid.

Competitive Sealed Proposals (RFPs)

When responding to a Request for Proposals, or RFP, we’re looking for the proposal that meets the best interests of the City. That means that we don’t just look at the highest fee offer, but we also use our expert judgment to evaluate each proposal based upon its quality. Review the guidelines of the solicitation carefully, and make sure that your proposal responds to each question raised.

Step 3: Submit Your Bid or Proposal

We ask that you follow the instructions included in the solicitation and make sure that you send in your bid or proposal before the due date. Some proposals also include a proposer meeting and site tour, where you can meet the project manager at the site and learn more about the project and the location. We strongly recommend that you go!

If necessary, we may schedule interviews with you after you’ve submitted your bid or proposal to help us with our evaluation.

Step 4: After the Selection

If your bid or proposal is selected, then congratulations! We look forward to working with you. At this time, we’ll ask you for all our required documents. These include, but are not limited to, insurance documents, your W9 form, and security deposit.

Step 5: Finalizing the Concession Agreement

If your proposal has been selected, at this point, we will work with your team to negotiate an agreement. Once all parties involved have agreed to terms, the concession agreement will be signed. At this point, we will send the agreement to the Office of the New York City Comptroller to be registered.

Upon registration, you’re ready to begin life as an NYC Parks Concessionaire! Our project managers will check in with you and help you as you set up your business. We look forward to working with you!