Comparing Park Space of the North Shore of Staten Island to New York City

Source: http://beh.columbia.edu/images/articles/parks.jpg

Overall, the borough of Staten Island has by far the greatest area of parkland per capita when compared to the other boroughs of NYC. The North Shore of Staten Island, by itself, also rises above. This may be attributed to the low population. However, in terms of the percent of park space, the North Shore is beat out by Manhattan and the Bronx. It is also less than Staten Island overall, and is even less than the lower parts of the borough. When compared to the lower parts of the borough, the North Shore has approximately 4% less park space. We can see this even by simply looking at a map. The lower parts of Staten Island have far more park space than the North Shore, and even though the population of the lower parts is much greater, the acres of parkland per capita is still greater in the lower parts of Staten Island than in the North Shore.

Borough Area (acres) Park Area (acres) % Park Space Population Acres of Parkland per Capita Queens 69,913.6 4,674.09 6.68% 2,306,712 0.0020 Brooklyn 45,190.4 3,697.84 8.18% 2,567,098 0.0014 Staten Island 35,507.2 4,175.34 11.76% 491,730 0.0085 Manhattan 14,694.4 2,290.87 15.59% 1,629,054 0.0014 Bronx 26,899.2 5,841.63 21.72% 1,397,287 0.0042 North Shore 8,600 745.513 8.67% 90,939 0.0082 Rest of SI 26,907.2 3,429.83 12.75% 400,791 0.0086

Sources: New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, U.S. Census Bureau (2009 Data) (Note: Borough areas are U.S. Census Bureau 2000 estimates) Comparing Park Space of the North Shore of Staten Island to New York State

Source: http://www.budget.state.ny.us

Before even looking at any data, many would assume that green space per person in New York State outside of the five boroughs would be much greater than within the five boroughs, including Staten Island and the North Shore – and they would be correct. The total area of NYS is 30,216,825.6 acres (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000), which would be 30,024,620.8 acres not including the five boroughs. The total population of New York State is 19,541,453 people, 8,391,881 of which are located in the five boroughs (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009). This means that 11,149,572 people live outside of the five boroughs. Thus, particularly upstate, much less area is occupied by people, leaving a lot of open space – much of which is set aside as National Parks or simply natural parkland. As a comparison, the total acreage of parkland is approximately 20,679.77 acres within the five boroughs, 4,175.34 acres in Staten Island, and 745.513 acres in the North Shore (New York City Department of Parks and Recreation). Just a few of the largest state parks outside of the five boroughs, and their areas, are listed below:

Willowemoc Wild Forest 14,800 acres Sterling Forest State Park 17,953 acres West Kill Wilderness Area 19,250 acres Minnewaska State Park Reserve 21,096 acres Delaware Wild Forest 27,800 acres Sundown Wild Forest 29,500 acres Big Indian Wilderness Area 33,500 acres Slide Mountain Wilderness 47,500 acres Harriman-Bear Mountain State Parks 52,000 acres Catskill Park 292,000 acres

Source: NY–NJ Trail Conference, 2011