QUEENS Whitestone, Fort Totten, Bay Terrace, Clearview, CITY College Point, Murray Hill, Auburndale, COUNCIL 2009 DISTRICT 19 Douglas Manor, Douglaston, Little Neck 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. SHOWCASE : Bayside Fields The 2008 Spotlight on Recreation is a new project of New Yorkers for Parks award-winning Report Card on Parks. This report exam- ines the conditions of athletic fields, courts, and playgrounds in a random selection of neighbor- hood parks. Each outdoor recre- ation feature was inspected on three separate site visits, once each in June, July, and August to show the performance of these specific features over the course of the summer. Bayside Fields was surveyed for this project. Francis Lewis Park, Whitestone The athletic fields’ rating re- The Bloomberg Administration’s physical barriers or crime. As a result, flected a need for improvement. Visit www.ny4p.org for more PlaNYC is the first-ever effort to studies show significant increases in information on the Spotlight sustainably address the many infra- nearby real estate values. Greenways on Recreation: A Report Card structure needs of New York City, are expanding waterfront access on Parks Project. including parks. With targets set for while creating safer routes for cyclists 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- New York City’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- Bryant Park 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 beaches 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 fields 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, Queens Ice rinks Above: Central Park, Manhattan 22 Historic house museums Historical City Funding for the Parks Department (Adjusted) 1,000 $500 Monuments, sculptures and $400 historical markers DOLLARS $300 OF $200 MILLIONS $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* FISCAL YEAR *2010 = Projected budget By the Borough: Queens QUEENS Beaches and Lifeguards Park Inspection Program Ratings: Parks by the Queens vs. Citywide (% rated acceptable) Numbers Queens offers a diverse array of parks and open Queens Citywide spaces. From small urban playgrounds to the seven 100% 2,090 mile long Rockaway Beach, Queens residents can Acres of natural areas enjoy a variety of open space opportunities. Rockaway 90% Beach on the Atlantic Ocean provides recreation and 260 a reprieve from the summer heat for residents across Playgrounds 80% New York City. As described in The Report Card on Beaches, New Yorkers for Parks’ independent evalu- 180 70% Comfort stations ation of City beaches, maintenance poses a unique 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 challenge to the Parks Department due to heavy usage The Parks Department conducts 5,000 park inspections annually 776 during the summer months. Unlike parks, beach through their internal rating system, the Park Inspection Program. Drinking fountains operations require strict safety precautions such as lifeguards. Although the Rockaway Beach community 244 has struggled with the continuing lifeguard short- Athletic fields age that leads to closed areas of the beach, the Parks 316 Department recruited a record number of lifeguards Basketball courts in 2008, nearly hitting their target. 805 Four non-profit partner groups fundraise for Greenstreets Queens parks, in addition to 10 groups that raise money to support parks citywide. 10 Pools Queens Park Staffing 20 Gardeners & Assistant Gardeners 236 City Parks Workers At left: Austin Playground, Jamaica & Associate Park Above: Astoria Park, Astoria Service Workers 61 Queens has the 2nd lowest percentage of land devoted to parks of the five boroughs. Park Supervisors Queens Citywide Park acreage 7,321 29,000 19 Recreation Directors & Percent of borough devoted to parks 11% 14% Specialists Queens has the 3rd highest number of residents per acre of parkland of the five boroughs. 5 Total population 2.2 million 8 million Playground Associates Residents per acre of parkland 305 276 28 Queens has the 2nd lowest tree canopy coverage of the five boroughs. Parks Enforcement Patrol Tree canopy (trees on public and private land) 20% 24% (PEP) Officers & Urban Park Rangers Number of street trees per mile of sidewalk 49 41 Clearview Park, Bay Terrace QUEENS CITY COUNCIL0 0.4 0.8DMilesISTRICT 19 Clason Point District Statistics 13 18 13 ACREAGE OF CITY PARKS Total district acreage 7,584 WHITEST Total parkland acreage 760 Parks & playgrounds acreage 623 ONE BR Percent City parkland of total district acreage Percent parkland 10% 8 Citywide 14% CLINT P PO ARSONS BL 6 AV WELLS CO LITTLE BAY POWELL’S 154 PL VE BL ONVILLE ST 11 Ranking of City parkland POPULATION 1 COVE 11 AV 10 acres/resident Population 154,903 Malba 15 (1=highest, 51=lowest) 9 AV 9 AV 14 AV 14 Population under 18 29,741 4 Beechhurst CROSS ISLAND P Percent under 18 19% ARKWAY 14 AV CR 10 Acres parkland per 1,000 residents 5 131 ST 11 Nassau County Ranking of City parks & 2 3College Point 215 ST OSS ISLAND PY 15 AV 6 Bay Te rrace playgrounds acres/child Acres parks & playgrounds per 1,000 children 21 College Point 12 13 LITTLE NECK BAY Industrial Park 9 16 160 ST Whitestone20 AV AV 5 23 LANGUAGE ACCESS CD 19 Citywide WILLETS PT BL 17 WEST DR Most common foreign language spoken at home Spanish Spanish ONE EP 19 COLLEGE POINT BL 18 Percent of homes speaking this language 8% 18% AV WHITEST 27 MANOR RD 7 Y ST BELL BL WESTMORELAND ST CIVIC ENGAGEMENT CD 19 Citywide MURRA 19 23 FOREST RD 29 AV 29 Registered voters 81% 76% Little Neck 120 ST AV 21 22 BAYSIDE 24 30 143 ST Number general parks-related 148 ST 20 169 ST Douglaston 154 ST 311 calls per 1,000 residents 26 10 F AV ARRINGT 41 123 ST CLEAR Number of parks-related 311 calls for maintenance LEA Bayside 254 ST ITM VITT ST per 1,000 residents 2 1 VIEW EXPRESSW ARS BL ON ST 25 FLUSHING CREEK AV 170 ST ALE ON AV DEEPD 41 AV CROCHER PARK RESOURCES CD 19 Citywide 37 AV Auburndale 28 256 ST Does not include capital funding allocated to multiple districts or citywide. UNION ST 31 Flushing AY 193 ST District-specific capital funding, 2004–2009 $2.9 million $4.2 million A 26 UBURND THERN BL NOR OAKLAND LAKE CLO V AV AN 47 PARKS INSPECTION PROGRAM RATINGS ALE LA 27 VERD WYCK EP Results of the Parks Department’s internal inspections. ALE BL 167 ST FY 2004 FY 2008 21 JASMINE 208 ST AV AV 53 100 65 AV Flushing HOLLIS COUR 39 AV GRND CNTRL PY SR E 20 Cemetery 80 93% 88% KISSENA BL 50 AV GRAND CENTRAL PY 88% 86% T BL FRANCIS LEWIS BL 60 LITHONIA AV DOUGLAST COMMONWEAL 40 AV rated cent parks OSE R KISSENA AV 23 r 56 20 Oakland Gardens “acceptable” LAKE Pe ON PY 215 ST Corona WRENCE ST 59 AV 0 TH BL LA CD 19 Citywide 69 AV 62 RD 80 RD 59 AV CR O OPEN SPACE CD 19 Citywide REEVES 9 24 ER BL 7 AV S 77 AV T Number of community gardens per 1,000 acres <1 4 From Queens Community Board 11: Vacant lot acreage