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Home , Fresh Kills, Pelham Bay Park, Tappen Park

West New Brighton, New Brighton, St. George, Stapleton, Rosebank, Grymes Hill, s t a t e n i s l a n d Clifton, Fox Hills, New Brighton, Silver Lake, c i t y Westerleigh, Port Richmond, Mariner’s Harbor, c o u n c i l 2009 d i s t r i c t 49 Arlington, Port Ivory, Graniteville

Parks are an essential city service. They are the barometers of our city. From Flatbush to Flushing and Morrisania to Midtown, parks are the front and backyards of all New Yorkers. Well-maintained and designed parks offer recreation and solace, improve property values, reduce crime, and contribute to healthy communities.

s h o w c a s e : Bard Avenue Street-End New Yorkers for Parks’ Com- munity Design Program enables New Yorkers in areas under- served by green space to take ownership of their local parks and open spaces. Neighbor- hood groups engage in a design process to create or renovate parkland, reflecting the unique goals of their own communities. New Yorkers for Parks col- laborated with the North Shore Waterfront Conservancy and Markham Playground, Park members of the Livingston Civic Association to create a concep- The Bloomberg Administration’s physical barriers or crime. As a result, tual waterfront access plan for PlaNYC is the first-ever effort to studies show significant increases in the Bard Avenue Street-End. Visit sustainably address the many infra- nearby real estate values. Greenways www.ny4p.org for more informa- structure needs of City, are expanding waterfront access tion on the Community Design including parks. With targets set for while creating safer routes for cyclists Program. stormwater management, air quality and pedestrians, and the new initia- and more, the City is working to tive to reclaim streets for public use update infrastructure for a growing brings fresh vibrancy to the city. population while addressing envi- ronmental concerns. Through ambi- ’s population is tious goals to increase access to parks projected to increase by one million and open spaces, New York’s fiscally new residents by 2030, and demand prudent administration affirms that for our 29,000 acres of parkland investing in parks is good business. will only grow. It is imperative that creative efforts to expand our open Park innovations have flourished in spaces continue—but perhaps more recent years. The creation of Hudson importantly, existing parks must be River Park and the revitalization of protected, maintained and adequate- allow access to areas ly funded to best serve current and that were previously off-limits due to future New Yorkers. City Council District Profiles City Council District Profiles Citywide

Citywide Parks by the A New Master Plan for Parks Numbers Significant steps have been made toward PlaNYC’s parks and open space targets, which include ensuring 29,000 that every New Yorker lives within a 10-minute walk Acres of parkland of a park and planting 1 million trees. Important 1,700 projects like the development of regional parks and Parks the “schoolyards-to-playgrounds” initiative, which opens schoolyards after hours to the public, increase 1,000 recreation space, thus resulting in an even greater Playgrounds need for maintenance funds.

2,300 PlaNYC shows the City’s commitment to Greenstreets improving open space and recreation opportunities. 12,000 Now, we must take the next step and create a master Acres of natural areas plan for New York City’s parks, which does not exist today. A master plan would respond to particular 600,000 neighborhood and regional needs and outline how Park trees best to expand the park system to serve current 2 million and future residents. Street trees Any expansion to the parks system requires 14 maintenance funding. Most city parks rely on Miles of public funding, but this is not a predictable source as evidenced by the current economic recession. 800 While spending on park maintenance increased by Athletic felds 50 percent under Mayor Bloomberg between 2003 50 and 2008, a gloomy economic forecast can be expect- Recreation centers ed to result in cuts to the Parks budget in 2009 and beyond. Public-private partnerships will be affected 66 by the recession as well. Innovative funding streams Pools —as well as improved management strategies— can help ensure that the parks system will 6 weather these storms. Top: Breininger Playground, Ice rinks Above: , 22 Historic house museums Historical City Funding for the Parks Department (Adjusted) 1,000 $500 Monuments, sculptures and $400 historical markers d o l l a r s $300 o f

$200 m i l l i o n s $100 in

$0 ’89 ’90 ’91 ’92 ’93 ’94 ’95 ’96 ’97 ’98 ’99 ’00 ’01 ’02 ’03 ’04 ’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10*

f i s c a l y e a r *2010 = Projected budget By the Borough:

STATEN ISLAND Park Park Inspection Program Ratings: Parks by the Staten Island vs. Citywide (% rated acceptable) Numbers Staten Island’s moniker is “the borough of parks” Staten Island Citywide due to its tremendous natural areas and large open 100% 4,742 spaces comprising 7,500 acres. Once constructed, Acres of natural areas the crown jewel of its park system will certainly be 90% Fresh Kills Park, which will become the City’s second 56 largest park, behind in . Playgrounds 80% At its completion Fresh Kills Park will span 2,200 acres and promises water access, including kayak 40 70% Comfort stations launches, sports fields, and play spaces for children. 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

The Parks Department conducts 5,000 park inspections annually 174 Five non-profit partner groups fundraise for through their internal rating system, the Park Inspection Program. Drinking fountains Staten Island parks, in addition to 10 groups that raise money to support parks citywide. 37 Athletic felds 48 Basketball courts 300 Greenstreets 8 Pools

Staten Island Park Staffing 17 Gardeners & Assistant Gardeners 102 City Parks Workers At left: , West Brighton & Associate Park Above: South , South Beach Service Workers 19 Staten Island has the 2nd highest percentage of land devoted to parks of the fve boroughs. Park Supervisors Staten Island Citywide Park acreage 7,474 29,000 15 Recreation Directors & Percent of borough devoted to parks 20% 14% Specialists Staten Island has the lowest number of residents per acre of parkland of the fve boroughs. 7 Total population 444,000 8 million Playground Associates Residents per acre of parkland 59 276 17 Staten Island has the greatest tree canopy coverage of the fve boroughs. Parks Enforcement Patrol Tree canopy (trees on public and private land) 34% 24% (PEP) Offcers & Rangers Number of street trees per mile of sidewalk 49 41 00.5 1Miles

Alice Austen House and Park, Rosebank staten island City Council District 49

District Statistics UPPER a c r e a g e o f c i t y p a r k s Total district acreage 8,397 CARR OLL PL Total parkland acreage 794

Percent City parkland Parks & playgrounds acreage 249 AN BUREN ST V of total district acreage Percent parkland 9% VAN KULL 15 31 33 Arlington Marsh 16 32 St. George Citywide 14% 11 AV Port Ivory 10 30 34 Ranking of City parkland p o p u l a t i o n AV 1 AV 14HENDERSON acres/resident T RICHMOND12 Randall Manor Population 157,316 Howland Hook 5 17 35 (1=highest, 51=lowest) Marine Terminal WELL POR Population under 18 43,377 GOETHALS BR CASTLETON AV Tomkinsville

TREAD 13 Percent under 18 28% AV Arlington AP * Port Richmond 23 Acres parkland per 1,000 residents 5 Ranking of City parks & WESTERN PY OOK XFORD PL 4 O 29 playgrounds acres/child Acres parks & playgrounds per 1,000 kids 6

2 WBR 18 AV TLANDT ST MORRISON 28 TROSSACH RD 49 19 BEMENT HO

COR 21 WILLO W 36 l a n g u a g e a c c e s s CD 49 Citywide * ARD Mariner's Harbor 20 AV Most common foreign language spoken at home Spanish Spanish 3 7 AV 8 37 Percent of homes speaking this language 11% 18% Elm Park 9 AV AV W STARR AV XHOLM Grymes Hill O OOD EDGEW 6 W RD W c i v i c e n g a g e m e n t CD 49 Citywide 22 NOR 10 AV A WILLO Silver Lake TER ST Bloomfield RO Registered voters 72% 76% OOD Graniteville Y AL O Number general parks-related GLENW

AK RD AV Westerleigh 38 311 calls per 1,000 residents 13 10 GLEN ST LANDER T 41 42 43 AV AR * Bulls Head AV 23 27 Number of parks-related 311 calls for maintenance Sunnyside REYNOLDS ST STEW per 1,000 residents 1 1 SOUTH JARDINE Castleton Corners AV 39 40 NARR Q ORY BL Shore Acres VICT 24 OWS RD N p a r k r e s o u r c e s CD 49 Citywide Park Hill TE RD 25 SEA GA Does not include capital funding allocated to multiple districts or citywide. 26 Emerson Hill NARRO District-specific capital funding, 2004–2009 $9.3 million $4.2 million Concord WS RD S

* GANSEV CROAK AV p a r k s i n s p e c t i o n p r o g r a m r a t i n g s

AV Results of the Parks Department’s internal inspections.

4 B ST OOR

CAMERON LAKE FY 2004 FY 2008 U ST U T BL 100

PER 80 95% 97% OLD Grasmere 88% TOWN RD AR Arrochar 86% New Springville 50 AV Sea View THUR Chelsea Hospital and Home 60 South Beach 40 AV COLONIAL rated

cent parks Con Edison * DELAW * 20 “acceptable” * ARE r Pe 0 AV Old Town 51 CD 49 Citywide SOUTH BEACH Travis Heartland Village W S o p e n s p a c e CD 49 Citywide ND RD Dongan Hills H C t MO Number of community gardens per 1,000 acres <1 4 From Staten Island Community Board 1: Vacant lot acreage 616 8,512 LEGEND nn DPR community gardens Parks, playgrounds Percent vacant 7% 4% 1/2 Mile nn Other community gardens and beaches Council District Border nn DPR beaches h e a l t h Number of hospital admissions per 10,000 residents: CD 49 Citywide Restoring Eib’s Pond Park; 1 Mariner’s Marsh Park 23 Clove’s Tail nn New York City Department of nn State and federal parkland Parks and Recreation (DPR) Asthma 27 31 2 Harbor Herons State Wildlife 24 Sports Park nn City-owned vacant land ‘‘ Management Area parks, playgrounds and Diabetes 12 11 developing the North Shore 25 Toad Hall Playground Q DPR schoolyards-to- greenstreets 3 Graniteville Swamp Park 26 Deere Park playgrounds sites Greenway and Greenbelt; and nn DPR natural areas e d u c a t i o n CD 49 Citywide 4 Grandview Playground 27 Terrace Playground (Schoolyards-to-playgrounds is a citywide PlaNYC initiative Percent fourth graders meeting standards in math 79% 81% requiring parkland development 5 Mariner’s Playground 28 Silver Lake Park to open schoolyards to the public during afterschool hours.) Percent fourth graders meeting standards in reading 60% 63% as part of the new Port Ivory 6 Jennifer’s Playground 29 Hero Park 7 Graniteville Quarry Park 30 Skyline Playground Department of Sanitation facility 8 Markham Playground 31 Mahoney Playground are among CB 1’s parks needs. 9 Northerleigh Park 32 Davis Playground 10 Westerleigh Park 33 Lieutenant Nicholas Lia 11 Faber Park Playground 12 Veterans Park 34 Liotti Ikefugi Playground Statement of Community Board Chair, 2009 13 Levy Playground 35 George Cromwell 14 Lawrence C. Thompson Recreation Center ’’ Memorial Park 36 15 Walker Park 37 Stapleton Playground 16 Sailor’s Snug Harbor 38 Sobel Court Park Tools for Action 17 Allison Park 39 Luis Lopez Playground Let your elected officials know how important parks are to you. 18 McDonald Playground 40 Eibs Pond Park City Council Member: Kenneth Mitchell [email protected] 19 Prall Playground 41 De Matti Playground 20 Clarence T. Barrett Park 42 Kaltenmeier Playground Staten Island Community Board 1 (718) 981-6900 Staten Island Community Board 2 (718) 317-3235 21 PS 45 Playground 43 and Park City of New York 311 or www.nyc.gov 22 Clove Lakes Park State and Federal Representatives www.elections.state.ny.us New Yorkers for Parks www.ny4p.org Clove Lakes Park, West Brighton Mahoney Playground, St. George

b o a r d c h a i r p h o t o g r a p h y Supporters About New Yorkers d a t a s o u r c e s Catherine Morrison Golden David Silverstein, Manager Altman Foundation for Parks All data is from 2008 unless noted. “Citywide”: Parks by the Numbers - NYC Department of Arthur Ross Foundation Parks and Recreation (DPR); Budget chart - Adopted Budgets, NYC Office of Management and e x e c u t i v e d i r e c t o r District 49 Photographer: New Yorkers for Parks is the only Greenacre Foundation Budget (OMB), FY 1989-2009, Preliminary Budget, OMB, FY 2010. “By the borough”: PIP Ratings, Christian DiPalermo Mark Sanders independent watchdog for all the By the numbers & Staffing - DPR; Trees -“Trees Count!” Street Tree Census report, 2005-2006, DPR; Henry and Lucy Moses Fund city’s parks, beaches and playgrounds. This page: Population - Census2000; Language access - Infoshare.org; Civic engagement - NYC Board Ben Carlson d i s t r i c t p r o f i l e s s ta f f John N. Blackman, Sr. Foundation The city’s oldest and leading inde- of Elections and NYC Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DOITT), Bill DesJardins Cheryl Huber, Director Abby R. Mauzé Trust pendent expert on park conditions, FY 2008; Park resources and PIP ratings - DPR: Community Gardens - Council on the Environment of Tim Francis NYC; Vacant land - MapPLUTO copyrighted by the New York City Department of Planning, BYTES Alyson Beha The Armand G. Erpf Fund efficiency and funding, New Yorkers Christine Kaelin of the BIG APPLE; Health - NYS Department of Health, 2006 via Infoshare.org; Education - NYC and Andrea Marpillero-Colomina The Dana Foundation for Parks has worked for 100 years Susan McCartney NYS Departments of Education, 2007-2008, analysis by the Annenberg Foundation. The Rhodebeck Charitable Trust to ensure greener, safer, cleaner g r a p h i c d e s i g n e r Laura Napier Norman and Rosita Winston parks for all New Yorkers. m a p d a t a Michael Bierman David Silverstein Foundation NYC Parks properties - DPR; State parks - NYS Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; National parks - , 2006; Council District boundaries - BYTES of the Big Apple, DCP, 2005; Schoolyards-to-Playgrounds - DPR. The Future of New York City Parks

With the promise of Fresh Kills Park parks, the money is directed to the City’s in Staten Island and the completion of General Fund. New Yorkers for Parks has regional parks citywide, New York City’s long advocated for City Hall to allow the park system will expand over the coming Parks Department to retain a portion of decades in a manner not seen since the this revenue to offset maintenance costs 1930s. With planning and sufficient throughout the system, as is done in other funding, our park system will flourish. cities such as .

Although the City has an obligation to Property Taxes: Business Improvement fund parks, we have seen that in times of Districts have a long history of funding fiscal crisis, parks suffer. We must ensure park maintenance through tax revenues, that all parks—particularly those that with Bryant Park as the lead example. cannot rely on private funding—receive Friends of Park is pursuing adequate public support. this structure. Such arrangements place some of the costs of park maintenance While “friends of” groups and the robust on businesses or residents whose property volunteer program administered through values benefit from a well-maintained park. Partnerships for Parks have a positive im- pact on park maintenance, more dollars are Public-Private Partnerships: More than needed. Park advocates have long debated 30 park-specific non-profits around the how to ensure funding streams outside of city fundraise for specific parks—such as the city budget to maintain our parks in all Conservancy and the Riverside fiscal climates. The funding mechanisms Park Fund. Groups typically raise money below have been successful in New York for capital projects or ongoing park main- City and elsewhere. Now is the time to tenance; however, this strategy has worked carefully examine these strategies to plan only in high-income areas. for the future. Zoning Bonuses: Developer incentives Concessions: More than $50 million is to improve open space can produce earned annually from concessions such as successful results. In West Chelsea, the food stands and ice skating rinks operated City passed a special zoning amendment on City parkland. Some public-private that allowed developers to build higher in partnerships are allowed to keep a portion exchange for contributing to an ongoing of concession revenues earned in particular maintenance fund to benefit the new parks through unique agreements with public Park. This structure the City. But in the vast majority of should be explored citywide.

New Yorkers for Parks The Arthur Ross Center for Parks and Open Spaces 355 Lexington Avenue, 14th Floor New York, NY 10017

Tel: 212-838-9410 / Fax: 212-371-6048 Top: Madison Square Park, Manhattan Middle: Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens www.ny4p.org Above: Vidalia Park, Bronx