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Home , Alley Pond Park, Baisley Pond Park, Brower Park, Bushwick Inlet Park, Carl Schurz Park, Concrete Plant Park

THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF

March 12, 2021

Honorable Mayor of the City of New York Hall New York, New York 10007

Dear Mayor de Blasio:

In the last 12 months, we have seen the conditions and public safety in our city’s plummet while New Yorkers rely on parks in record numbers and parks employees serve as frontline workers during a historic pandemic. These conditions are a direct result of the significant budget cuts and decreased staff capacity the agency sustained in the FY21 budget. Today, we are writing to respectfully request your assistance to restore $78.9 million dollars in the upcoming New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) FY22 expense budget to ensure that our parks are safe, clean, and accessible for all New Yorkers, especially as the city gears up for another summer of increased demand and need for open spaces.

We believe it is unsustainable to encourage New Yorkers to use their local parks as a safe means of recreation and socializing, while keeping the agency’s staffing level at the bare minimum. We urge you to #PlayFairNow and restore the NYC Parks budget for FY22.

The (The Council) is joined in this request by the Play Fair Coalition – a citywide coalition of over 300 organizations which was co-founded by the City Council Parks Committee, New Yorkers for Parks, New York League of Conservation Voters, and DC 37.

The Council and the Play Fair Coalition share your commitment to providing the resources necessary for all New Yorkers, regardless of income or zip code, to lead safe, healthy lives. We also share your pledge to continue New York City’s leadership in the fight against climate change. Almost a year into the pandemic, we know that the communities that have been hardest-hit by the COVID-19 are also those that lack access to large parks and open spaces. The need to better maintain and staff our parks in these communities has never been more urgent. We believe that investments in our parks will help meet these goals.

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Additionally, in a city that is experiencing an acute economic downturn and massive unemployment, the ability to create hundreds of stable, green jobs presents an opportunity to address many urgent issues at once. Targeted investments in the FY22 budget would allow for job creation, as would policy changes at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to roll back the hiring freeze currently in place for NYC Parks. While we understand that all agencies are playing a role in addressing the budget crisis, we also believe that asking NYC Parks to be subject to such an onerous hiring freeze has made their critical maintenance and operations work even more difficult for their already lean agency staff.

During your administration, great strides towards parks equity have been made through the Community Parks Initiative and funding for Anchor Parks, coupled with additional investments from the Council and our Borough Presidents. However, we remain concerned that these capital improvements will deteriorate quickly and lose their value if they are not properly cared for in the short term.

This is why we are asking you to #PlayFairNow and restore $78.9 million to the FY22 NYC Parks budget. We would like to see this funding applied as follows and will be discussing this at the upcoming budget hearings.

• Baselining $10M to make permanent 100 City Workers and 50 Gardeners, and create secure, stable jobs. • $30M to restore the critical Seasonal staff budget for maintenance and operations workers citywide. • $3M to restore the Parks Opportunity Program and provide a pathway to full-time employment. • $4.5M means that NYC’s natural forests, wetlands, and trails will receive the proactive care and maintenance they need to remain healthy and resilient in our changing climate, and as they receive unprecedented use by New Yorkers. • $15M to restore critical parks forestry contracts for tree pruning, stump removal and sidewalk repair, and invasive species control. • $4M to restore the Parks Equity Initiative, and support park stewardship organizations citywide. • $3.4M to restore 15 GreenThumb staff, and expand access to plant materials, resources and tools for community gardeners citywide. • $3M would mean 50 Rangers could be hired to connect New Yorkers with the nature that surrounds us, and help ensure our parks remain safe and accessible for all. • $6M would ensure that parks are safe by restoring 80 Parks Enforcement Patrol officers citywide.

We know that you are aware of how integral parks are to our city. 14% of the land in this city is parkland, and our public open spaces are seeing more use than ever during the pandemic. We

2 believe our parks are critical infrastructure, more so now than ever, and we urge you to fund them as such in the FY22 budget.

The Council and the Play Fair Coalition urgently call for a $78.9 million restoration to the FY22 expense budget for NYC Parks. Thank you for supporting our city’s parks, and we look forward to continuing to work together on a budget that Plays Fair for Parks.

Sincerely,

PETER KOO Chair, Committee on Parks and Recreation

Justin Brannan Council Member, Parks and Recreation Committee Member

Darma Diaz Council Member, Parks and Recreation Committee Member

James F. Gennaro Council Member, Parks and Recreation Committee Member

Mark Gjonaj Council Member, Parks and Recreation Committee Member

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Robert Holden Council Member, Parks and Recreation Committee Member

Mark Levine Council Member, Parks and Recreation Committee Member

Francisco Moya Council Member, Parks and Recreation Committee Member

Kevin Riley Council Member, Parks and Recreation Committee Member

Carlina Rivera Council Member, Parks and Recreation Committee Member

Eric Ulrich Council Member, Parks and Recreation Committee Member

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Adrienne Adams Council Member

Diana Ayala Council Member

Inez Barron Council Member

Margaret Chin Council Member

Costa Constantinides Council Member

Vanessa L. Gibson Council Member

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Barry S. Grodenchik Council Member

Ben Kallos Council Member

Karen Koslowitz Council Member

Alan Maisel Council Member

I. Council Member & Chair, Committee on Civil Service and Labor

Keith Powers Council Member

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Antonio Reynoso Council Member

Rafael Salamanca Council Member

Paul Vallone Council Member

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THE PLAY FAIR COALITION 10th & Stuyvesant Streets Block Association Coastal Preservation Network 142nd St. Dog Run Cobble Hill Association 18th Street Block Association Common Ground Compost 300 West Block Association Friends 52 People for Progress Beautification Project 6BC Conference House Association A Patch of Inspiration Garden Conservancy Inc. A. Philip Randolph Square Neighborhood Alliance Cortelyou Road Merchant Assocation (CORMA) Abraham Lincoln Neighborhood Development Cosmopolitan Jr. Soccer League Association Court Square Civic Association AIA New York Davey Resource Group, Inc. Museum DC37 Retirees Association Alley Pond Environmental Center Design Trust for Public Space Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park Different Directions Alliance for Kips Bay DLANDstudio American Society of Landscape Architects, New Douglaston Local Development Corporation York Chapter (ASLA-NY) Downtown Alliance Alliance Downtown Brooklyn Partnership Block Association Downtown United Soccer Club Bedford Mosholu Community Association Drew Gardens Bissel Gardens BX Drew Gardens Educational Recreation Boerum Hill School for International Studies Dunbar Garden Council Mall Association Earth Avengers Bronx Coalition for Parks & Green Spaces Earth Matter NY Inc. Bronx Community Board 8 Earth Ministry of the Church of the Mediator Bronx Community Health Network East NY 4 Gardens Bronx Council for Environmental Quality Edgemere Coalition Community Garden Bronx Land Trust Edso Sports, Inc. East Community Association El Garden Bushwick Alliance El Jardín del Paraíso Bronx Roots in Motion El Puente Brookfield Civic Association Elite Learners, Inc. Brooklyn Greenway Initiative Ellington on the Park Brooklyn Parks & Open Space Coalition Elmhurst Supporters of Parks Brooklyn Land Trust Fieldston Rd. Association Buenavista Futbol Club Inc. Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Conservancy BUFNY II/ Tenants Association Fort Four Playground CABS Home Care Conservancy Cadman Park Conservancy/Brooklyn War Trust Memorial Forth on Fourth Avenue Park Conservancy Fresh Creek Nature Association Neighbors Friends of 29th St Park Conservancy Friends of 4 Parks Alliance Chelsea Waterside Park Association Friends of Abe Lebewohl Park Citizen Gardeners Friends of Citizens Climate Lobby Friends of Amersfort Park City Island Rising Friends of Anibal Aviles Playground City Parks Foundation Friends of Aqueduct Walk Clean Bushwick Initiative Friends of Art Park Alliance Cleveland-Pitkin Block Association Friends of Astoria Heights Park Clinton Garden Friends of Bellevue South Park

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Friends of Bennett Park Havemeyer Garden Friends of Brookville Park Health Essential Association Friends of , Inc. Hellgate Hill-Highgate Community Association Friends of Brownsville Parks HerpDigest Friends of Tennis Friends of Carroll Park Historic House Trust of New York City Friends of Corlears Hook Park Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York Friends of Park Friends Friends of Crocheron & John Golden Park Hunters Point Civic Association Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza Hunters Point Parks Conservancy Friends of Ewen Park Restoration Project Friends of & Waterways Conservancy Friends of Inwood Rotary Club Friends of Francis Lewis Park Jackson Heights Beautification Group Friends of Jacob H. Schiff Playground Neighborhood Friends of Inwood Hill Park Association Friends of John Hancock Park -Rockaway Parks Conservancy Friends of MacDonald Park Jardín La Roca Friends of Morningside Park Jenny's Garden Friends of Mosholu Parkland Kelly St. Garden Friends of Kissena Corridor Park Conservancy, Inc. Friends of La Petit Versailles Friends of Raimonda Park Le'alani S. Boykin Consulting Friends of Lenru Coop Friends of Sherman Creek Conservancy Less AIDS Lesotho Friends of Lewis Latimer House Friends of St. Andrew's Playground Lily Auchincloss Foundation Friends of Little Green Garden Friends of Sunset Park City Partnership Friends of the Lott Street Block Association Friends of Tompkins Square Dog Run Love Our Pool Friends of Transmitter Park Loving Friends of Tremont Park Lower Ecology Center Friends of Whalen Park Madison Square Park Conservancy Friends of Park Alliance Forest Hills Green Team Dog Run Pack Fort Greene Tennis Association (FGTA) Marine Park Alliance GallopNYC Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center Garden Train Melrose New Generation Genesis Community Garden Miracle Garden Girl Scout Troop 3205 Morris-Jumel Mansion Girl Scouts of Greater New York Morris Park BID Good and Green Morton Street Block Association Conservancy Municipal Art Society Green Bronx Machine Myrtle Ave BID Green Guerillas Nancercize Green Map System National Parks Conservation Association Green Park Gardeners NYC Natural Areas Conservancy Greenbelt Conservancy Inc. New York Botanical Garden Greenpoint Citizens Club New York Climate Save Guerinos Against Graffiti New York Junior Tennis & Learning Harlem Grown New York League of Conservation Voters

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New York Restoration Project Target Bronx Community Garden Alliance Team Spartan Spades North American Climate, Conservation and The Bronx is Blooming Environment (NACCE) The Brotherhood Sister Sol North Brooklyn Parks Alliance The Connected Chef North Brooklyn Neighbors The Alliance NYC Audubon The Kensington Stewards NYC Community Garden Coalition The Kingsbridge Heights Community Center NYC H2O The League: A Distinguished Gentlemen's Paedergat Bay Condo II Movement, Inc. Parent Child Relationship Association The Movement Creative Park Clinton Gardening The Musical Seeds Project Prime Produce The Nature Conservancy in New York Project Harmony, Inc. The New York Landmarks Conservancy Alliance The Old Stone House and Gardens Prospect Park Community Committee The Trust for Public Land Prospect Pl/New York Ave Block Association Alliance Q Gardens Community Farm Tinker Tree Play/Care Queensboro Dance Festival Total Equity Now Harlem Randall's Island Park Alliance Transportation Alternatives Red Hook Conservancy Trust for Governors Island Red Hook West Resident Association, Inc. UFT/UCS Red Shed Community Garden Union Square Partnership Richmond Hill Historical Society United Athletic Association RING Garden United Nations International School River Garden United We Stand Garden Riverside Park Conservancy UP-STAND Rockaway Initiative for Sustainability and Equity Upper Green Side (RISE) Uptown & Boogie Bicycle Advocacy Row New York Alliance Rude Grooms Verna L. Judge Garden Rutgers Resident Association Volunteers for Safe Zone Cross Culture Youth Volunteers for Springfield Park, Inc. Samaritan Daytop Village W 181st St Beautification Project Sara D. Roosevelt Park Coalition Warren Community Garden Sedgwick Park Friends & Neighbors Conservancy Seton Falls Park Preservation Coalition Washington Square Park Eco Projects Conservancy Waterfront Alliance Sidewalk Labs WE ACT for Environmental Justice Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden We Run Brownsville Economic Development Corporation West 400 Block Association 21st, 22nd & 23rd Staten Island Partnership for Community Streets Wellness West 80s Neighborhood Association Staten Island Women Who March Wetherby-Pembridge School Stewards of Brust Park Wildlife Conservation Society Street Trees Super Steward Women of Woodlawn Survivor I Am / Friends of Bufano Park Woodlawn Taxpayer Association Sunset Spark Yorkville Sports Association Sutton Place Parks Conservancy Young Buck Sports SWIM Coalition NYC

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