BPOC Part of Successful Campaign to Increase NYC Parks Budget by $44M

May 28, 2019

The New York City Council voted to allocate an additional $43 million for the Parks Department.  The total marks the largest increase to the department’s expense budget in 23 years.

BPOC is a member of Play Fair Coalition, a group of 144 organizations led by new Yorkers for Parks, that successfully campaigned for the increase.

The New York City Council voted to allocate an additional $43 million for the Parks Department.  The total marks the largest increase to the department’s expense budget in 23 years.

BPOC is a member of Play Fair Coalition, a group of 144 organizations led by new Yorkers for Parks, that successfully campaigned for the increase.

The additional funds include almost $20 million for park maintenance workers; a combined $9 million for additional urban rangers and parks enforcement patrol officers; and $8 million for community gardens, among other improvements. Parks will also see a litany of infrastructure improvements across the five boroughs, with some receiving renovations like lighting upgrades, playground updates and new tree plantings.  Finally, the increase also includes almost $2 million to extend New York City’s pool and beach season for an additional week.

At a celebration of the successful campaign at Queensbridge Park, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said, “For too long parks have been seriously underfunded, and the New Yorkers who depend on them have had to suffer the consequences.”

The Center for an Urban Future released a report about the increasingly decrepit and sometimes hazardous state of the city’s parks in 2018, noting that staff were significantly underfunded and that the average city park last underwent a renovation in 1997.