m a n h a t t a n c i t y Upper West Side, , c o u n c i l 2009 d i s t r i c t 8 Mott Haven, Port Morris

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 : Park New Yorkers for Parks’ award- winning Report Card on Parks project was designed in 2002 and is the only independent, annual survey of the maintenance of parks in all fve boroughs. It tells New Yorkers how their parks are doing in key service areas, like bathrooms, playgrounds, and pathways. Every summer New Yorkers for Parks inspects park properties across the city to ad- vocate for improvement. Thomas Playground 103, East Harlem Jefferson Park received a grade of D on the 2007 Report Card The Bloomberg Administration’s physical barriers or crime. As a result, on Parks. Its drinking fountains, PlaNYC is the first-ever effort to studies show significant increases in sitting areas, passive greenspace, sustainably address the many infra- nearby real estate values. Greenways and active recreation space structure needs of , are expanding waterfront access scored poorly. Visit www.ny4p including parks. With targets set for while creating safer routes for cyclists .org for more information on stormwater management, air quality and pedestrians, and the new initia- the Report Card on Parks. 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- 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 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: Manhattan

MANHATTAN Public-Private Partnerships Park Inspection Program Ratings: Parks by the Manhattan vs. Citywide (Percent rated acceptable) Numbers Manhattan’s parks are well-loved and well-used. Manhattan Citywide When New York City’s fiscal crisis of the 1970s 100% 671 resulted in a decline in park conditions, a new Acres of natural areas movement of private support through public-private 90% partnerships was born. Manhattan’s parks have ben- 209 efited significantly from groups like the Central Park Playgrounds 80% Conservancy and Madison Square Park Conservancy, which have brought innovative management and 130 70% Comfort stations additional funding to the parks. Every park along 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Fifth Avenue from Central Park to The Parks Department conducts 5,000 park inspections annually 576 benefits from private support and funding. through their internal rating system, the Park Inspection Program. Drinking fountains

Twenty-three non-profit partner groups fundraise 160 for Manhattan parks, in addition to 10 groups that Athletic felds raise money to support parks citywide. 215 Basketball courts 317 Greenstreets 22 Pools

Manhattan Park Staffing 33 Gardeners & Assistant Gardeners 237 City Parks Workers At left: Bennett Park, Washington Heights & Associate Park Above: Bryant Park, Midtown Service Workers 57 Manhattan has the 3rd lowest percentage of land devoted to parks of the fve boroughs. Park Supervisors Manhattan Citywide Park acreage 2,711 29,000 34 Recreation Directors & Percent of borough devoted to parks 19% 14% Specialists Manhattan has the highest number of residents per acre of parkland of the fve boroughs. 28 Total population 1.5 million 8 million Playground Associates Residents per acre of parkland 567 276 54 Manhattan has the lowest tree canopy coverage of the fve boroughs. Parks Enforcement Patrol Tree canopy (trees on public and private land) 13% 24% (PEP) Offcers & Urban Park Rangers Number of street trees per mile of sidewalk 49 41 Thomas Jefferson Park, East Harlem

00.5 1Miles

manhattan / bronx City Council District 8

OO E A T A LLO ST V AYETT N A DW ST D RR AV AF AV L Y GA E 144 ST UL E 155 ST W AV KELL CA AV E 152 ST H HUDSO TERRA W 137 ST CE PL MANID COLLEGE E 151 ST AV DRAKE BECK ST SPOFFORD

A ST E 140 ST FOX ST AV E 143 ST GRINNELL F E 135 ST AILE ST LEGGETT Hunts PointALL AV RAND PL WHI AV District Statistics TIMPSON PL 7 TTIER USTIN PL CLAREMONT 17 A W 121 ST E 147 ST OA W 129 ST a c r e a g e o f c i t y p a r k s HUDSON RIVER ST

DEEGAN EP COSTER ST AV UCKNER BL AV 5 E 1 BR DRAK AV 1 OAK POINT 2 B Total district acreage 2,678 WHarlem 125 ST ARRETT SR 3 Columbia 3 Y AV E 142 ST EAST BA Total parkland acreage 1,257 ALEXANDER O ST University AV Amtrak Freight Yard * 4 VIEL Parks & playgrounds acreage 1,238 W Percent City parkland 8 CKSON 9 E 132 ST 8 JA of total district acreage Percent parkland 47% 5 Mott Haven A AV E 134 ST RYAW AV AV E 125 ST X 10 6 W 115 ST MT MORRIS PK WILLIS Citywide 14% 9 E 137 ST AV LENO 2 7 11 12 E 132 ST 7 MORNINGSIDE DR * E 124 ST Ranking of City parkland p o p u l a t i o n AN CT BRONX 18 V 18 AV 19 SYL 14 KILL acres/resident AN Port Morris Population 160,741 19 TT (1=highest, 51=lowest) CENTRAL PK N 13 AV W 112 ST 2 Population under 18 40,844 20 MANHA * Amtrak Railyard 17 W 100 ST Percent under 18 25% Manhattan Valley * 15 E 116 ST 16 21 AV 5 Acres parkland per 1,000 residents 8 H HUDSON PY EN SB 17 Ranking of City parks & 22 East Harlem playgrounds acres/child Acres parks & playgrounds per 1,000 children 30 W PLEASANT 24 E 114 ST H HUDSON PY ET SB W 96 ST 8 E 110 ST Randalls CENTRAL PK 25 Island l a n g u a g e a c c e s s CD 8 Citywide 26 28 23 27 Most22 common foreign language spoken at home Spanish Spanish Riker's Island 8 E 105 ST Percent of homes speaking this language 34% 18% 29 HAZEN ST E 98 ST 31 AV

32 RIKERS IS BR c i v i c e n g a g e m e n t CD 8 Citywide Upper West Side E 98 ST 33 E 102 ST 30 WEST END W 85 ST 34 35 Registered voters 75% 76% RESERVOIR E 96 ST Carnegie Hill AV Number general parks-related W 81 ST 2 H HUDSON PY EN NB 36 311 calls per 1,000 residents 7 10 Y HUDSON PY Wards RIKERS ISLAND CHANNEL RIVERSIDE DR AV

HENR 37 Island Number of parks-related 311 calls for maintenance LUYSTER CREEK per 1,000 residents 2 1 6 COLUMBUS

W 74 ST p a r k r e s o u r c e s CD 8 Citywide E 90 ST MILLER HY ET NB EAST RIVER Does not include capital funding allocated to multiple districts or citywide.

Upper East Side E 85 ST District-specific capital funding, 2004–2009 $9.5 million $4.2 million

FREEDOM PL W 72 ST RIVERSIDE BL Yorkville BO WERY BAY MILLER HY 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 W 64 ST W 67 ST E 80 ST Steinway Results of the Parks Department’s internal inspections. WERW DR 63 ST WTO 62 ST HENDERSON PL E 22 FY 2004 FY 2008 MILLER HY Lincoln Square 100 GRA W 61 ST 5 CIE AV TE 94% AV 80 W 59 ST ORK 86% 88% Lenox Hill Y 86% ARK P 60 4 40 E 71 ST Astoria Heightsrated cent parks W 55 ST

20 “acceptable”

AV E 68 ST r Pe W 54 ST 9 CENTRAL PK S 5 0 W 53 ST St Michael’s CD 8 Citywide RooseveltRIVER MAIN IslandRD ST E 66 ST Cemetary

AV 3 8 21 W 49 ST Astoria o p e n s p a c e CD 8 Citywide W 47 ST 25 O BR ET 26 E 60 ST Ravenswood Number of community gardens per 1,000 acres 21 4 E 59 SBOR S From Manhattan Community Board 11: QN Vacant lot acreage 29 8,512 Parks, playgrounds LEGEND nn DPR community gardens Percent vacant 1% 4% 1/2 Mile nn Other community gardens and beaches Council District Border nn DPR beaches h e a l t h District 11’s population is unusually young. 1 Brook Park 19 Anibal Aviles Playground nn New York City Department of nn State and federal parkland Number of hospital admissions per 10,000 residents: CD 8 Citywide Parks and Recreation (DPR) Asthma 71 31 2 People’s Park 20 Bloomingdale Playground nn City-owned vacant land ‘‘The youth population aged 20 and under is parks, playgrounds and Diabetes 21 11 3 Saw Mill Playground 21 Frederick Douglass Q DPR schoolyards-to- greenstreets 30.6%. This is a strong indication that there 4 Ranaqua Park Playground playgrounds sites nn DPR natural areas e d u c a t i o n CD 8 Citywide is a need for additional parks, playgrounds, 5 Pulaski Park 22 Happy Warrior Playground (Schoolyards-to-playgrounds is a citywide PlaNYC initiative Percent fourth graders meeting standards in math 75% 81% 23 Central Park 6 Millbrook Playground to open schoolyards to the public during afterschool hours.) and recreational activities… An increase in Percent fourth graders meeting standards in reading 55% 63% 24 Peter Minuit Park park personnel will keep our playgrounds 7 Playground One Thirty-Four 8 Alice Kornegay Triangle 25 Thomas Jefferson Park clean and safe for our children and families. 9 Park 26 Mae Grant Playground 10 Crack is Wack Playground 27 White Playground 11 Dream Street Park 28 Poor Richards Playground 29 East River Playground Statement of Needs for Fiscal Year 2008 12 McNair Park 13 Wagner Playground 30 Ward’s Island Park ’’ 14 Cuvillier Park 31 Blake Hobbs Park 15 James Weldon Johnson 32 Sunshine Playground Playground 33 Cherry Tree Park 16 PS 155 Playground 34 Metro North Park Tools for Action 17 Randall’s Island Park 35 Playground 103 18 Booker T. Washington 36 Playground 96 XCVI Let your elected officials know how important parks are to you. Playground City Council Member: Melissa Mark Viverito [email protected] 37 Stanley Isaacs Courts Manhattan Community Board 9 (212) 864-6200 Manhattan Community Board 11 (212) 831-8929 Bronx Community Board 1 (718) 585-7117 City of New York 311 or www.nyc.gov State and Federal Representatives www.elections.state.ny.us New Yorkers for Parks www.ny4p.org Central Park, Manhattan Brook Park, Mott Haven

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 8 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 Tim Francis 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 Christine Kaelin 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 Susan McCartney 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 Laura Napier 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 Mark Sanders 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 - National Park Service, 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 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 sound planning and sufficient throughout the system, as is done in other funding, our park system will flourish. cities such as Chicago.

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 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 the Battery 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