b r o o k l y n Carroll Gardens, Columbia, Park Slope, c i t y Gowanus, Windsor Terrace, Kensington, c o u n c i l 2009 d i s t r i c t 39 Ocean Parkway, Borough Park

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 : Prospect Park Until 2006 the City did not spe- cifcally track crimes occurring on city parkland, and therefore no data was available to tell citizens about the safety of their parks. New Yorkers for Parks worked with the City Council and Mayor to pass legislation mandating the tracking of crime in the 20 larg- est parks, with the eventual goal of including every park. Prospect Park is one of the initial 20 parks, and in our report, “Tracking Crime in NYC Parks”, we offer details on crime data collected J.J. Byrne Memorial Park, Park Slope in the park. Since 1987, this park The Bloomberg Administration’s physical barriers or crime. As a result, has beneftted from the support of the Prospect Park Alliance. PlaNYC is the first-ever effort to studies show significant increases in Visit www.ny4p.org for more sustainably address the many infra- nearby real estate values. Greenways information on park safety and structure needs of New York City, are expanding waterfront access public-private partnerships. 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 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, 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 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: Brooklyn

BROOKLYN Waterfront Reclamation Park Inspection Program Ratings: Parks by the Brooklyn vs. Citywide (Percent rated acceptable) Numbers Brooklyn’s Prospect Park was Frederick Law Brooklyn Citywide Olmsted’s self-declared masterpiece. But until 100% 973 recently, Brooklynites have been sorely lacking in Acres of natural areas recreational opportunities along the waterfront. 90% Thanks to several large waterfront projects new 291 attention has been brought to Brooklyn’s coast. Playgrounds 80% The expansive Brooklyn Bridge Park will offer unprecedented access to the water, and the 172 70% Comfort stations Bloomberg Administration’s rezoning of the 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront promises The Parks Department conducts 5,000 park inspections annually 852 new recreational opportunities and greenspace. through their internal rating system, the Park Inspection Program. Drinking fountains

Five non-profit partner groups fundraise for 246 Brooklyn parks, in addition to 10 groups that Athletic felds raise money to support parks citywide. 343 Basketball courts 480 Greenstreets 16 Pools

Brooklyn Park Staffing 20 Gardeners & Assistant Gardeners 208 City Parks Workers At left: Herbert Von King Park, Bedford Stuyvesant & Associate Park Above: Lieutenant Joseph Petrosino Park, New Utrecht Service Workers 66 Brooklyn has the lowest percentage of land devoted to parks of the fve boroughs. Park Supervisors Brooklyn Citywide Park acreage 4,481 29,000 30 Recreation Directors & Percent of borough devoted to parks 10% 14% Specialists Brooklyn has the 2nd highest number of residents per acre of parkland of the fve boroughs. 13 Total population 2.5 million 8 million Playground Associates Residents per acre of parkland 550 276 27 Brooklyn has the 3rd lowest tree canopy coverage of the fve boroughs. Parks Enforcement Patrol Tree canopy (trees on public and private land) 21% 24% (PEP) Offcers & Urban Park Rangers Number of street trees per mile of sidewalk 45 41 00.5 1Miles

Prospect Park, Brooklyn SPE W NASSAU ST

WA

Navy Yard VERL

ADMAN PZ PZ ADMAN C Y

TILLARY ST AV brooklyn BrCiooklyn Heightsty Council BQE District 39 EAST RIVER MONT JOHNSON ST SKILLMAN ST EAST RIVER AGUE ST HALL ST

W

ASHINGT

JORALEMON ST T Downtown AAFFE PL

ON WILLOUGHBY ST WA Clinton Hill From Brooklyn Community Board 6: VERL AV LIVINGST ON ST Y District Statistics AV a c r e a g e o f c i t y p a r k s 1 UM PL Total district acreage 2, 323 BOER

CUMBERLAND ST C

SCHERMERHORN ARL BA Fort Greene ON L CLIFT Total parkland acreage 563 Parks needs include construc- ST FELIX ST TIC ST T 1 ON ST Parks and playgrounds acreage 554 YT ST AV Percent City parkland ‘‘ HO tion of a new community of total district acreage Percent parkland 24% Cobble Hill Boerum Hill CLASSON Citywide 14%

BOND ST garden at the New York City 33 HANSON PL ST JAMES PL HICKS ST AV 13 Ranking of City parkland p o p u l a t i o n OMPKINS PL UNION ST TIMES PZ 2 T W PA Transit’s open lot adjacent to ARREN ST CIFIC ST acres/resident Population 150, 636 SMITH ST 35 (1=highest, 51=lowest) DOUGLASS ST CLA PRESIDENT ST NEVINS ST 36 Population under 18 35, 859 VER PL 3 ST MARK'S PL the substation at the south- SUMMIT ST Percent under 18 24% Y ST BUTLER ST IMLA BQE 5 11 Acres parkland per 1,000 residents 4 Ranking of City parks & west corner of Smith Street AP PA CIFIC ST PRESIDENT ST playgrounds acres/child Acres parks & playgrounds per 1,000 children 15 4 FLA V ISITA Carroll Gardens TBUSH TION PL P and Second Place… installaON - SA ARK PL UNION ST CKETT ST EER ST AV 2 ST l a n g u a g e a c c e s s CD 39 Citywide LUQUER ST tion of lighting at DiMattina 4 ST Prospect Heights Most common foreign language spoken at home Spanish Spanish BQE PROSPECT PL 6 LINCOLN PL Percent of homes speaking this language 11% 18% 2 ST HICKS ST AP HUNTINGT 7 C Ballfield to increase utility of CENTRE MALL ON ST ARR PRESIDENT ST WHITWELL PL OLL ST Red Hook 6 ST. BASIN c i v i c e n g a g e m e n t CD 39 Citywide GARNET ST 7 ST. BASIN 4 ST. BASIN open space by providing for CREAMER ST 9 ST Registered voters 76% 76% AV 3 ST 8 GARFIELD PL LINCOLN PL G OURNEY ST 1 ST Number general parks-related expanded hours of use for GOWANUS CANAL Gowanus 8 9 311 calls per 1,000 residents 14 10 MONTGOMER Number of parks-related 311 calls for maintenance * AV ON PL per 1,000 residents 2 1 local recreational needs. T Y PL AV 4

HAMIL 5 ST FRANKLIN p a r k r e s o u r c e s CD 39 Citywide PR OSPECT EP ET N Park Slope CARR Does not include capital funding allocated to multiple districts or citywide. AV OLL ST 10 ST 6 Statement of Needs for Fiscal Year 2009 10 District-specific capital funding, 2004–2009 $2 million $4.2 million

AV 7 8 ST B W 19 ST ’’ 14 ST 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 Results of the Parks Department’s internal inspections. OSPECT PK Parks, playgrounds PR FY 2004 FY 2008 39100 80 and beaches 86% 82% 88% 86% 60 1 Cobble Hill Park 9 J. J. Byrne Memorial Park 40 rated

2 Mother Cabrini Park 10 Prospect Park cent parks

20 “acceptable” 3 Harold Ickes Playground 11 Cuite Park r Pe

30 ST 23 ST 0 4 DiMattina Playground 12 ocean Parkway Malls 20 ST CD 39 Citywide 28 ST 5 Carroll Park 13 Greenwood Playground AV 10 6 Admiral Triangle/ Playground 14 Albemarle Playground o p e n s p a c e CD 39 Citywide * SHERMAN ST 35 ST 38 Number of community gardens per 1,000 acres 8 4 7 Saint Mary’s Playground 15 Rappaport Playground 33 ST 8 JHS 51 Playground 16 Jesse and Charles Dome Vacant lot acreage 24 8,512 O W Playground ANUS EP ET Percent vacant 1% 4% 34 ST PROSPECT LAKE

KENMORE PL WB 11 AV h e a l t h Windsor Terrace UFF 37 ST OODR Number of hospital admissions per 10,000 residents: CD 39 Citywide LEGEND nn DPR community gardens Greenwood Cemetery W P 36 ST ARADE PL * T ST AsthmaMAR 17 31 1/4 Mile nn Other community gardens 12 VANDERBIL DiabetesTENSE CT 7 11 Council District Border nn DPR beaches AV 43 ST nn New York City Department of State and federal parkland OOD nn E 16 ST AV e d u c a t i o n CD 39 Citywide Parks and Recreation (DPR) 7 GREENW 13 ON PL nn City-owned vacant land AV T parks, playgrounds and 6 CA Percent fourth graders meeting standards in math 90% 81%

greenstreets Q DPR schoolyards-to- AV Percent** fourth graders meeting standards in reading 75% 63% playgrounds sites CHURCH ALBEM nn DPR natural areas Prospect Park South E 8 ST (Schoolyards-to-playgrounds is a citywide PlaNYC initiative ALBEMARLE RD to open schoolyards to the public during afterschool hours.) 39 ST 14 ALBEMARLE RD MINNA ST

Sunset Park E 22 ST 40BEVERLY RD 37 ST

E 3 ST CLARACHESTER ST AV 8 E 4 ST E 8 ST

AV 9 Kensington AV AV STRA 6 YOU RD 38 ST * TEL 53 ST TFORD RD COR Q Ditmas Park R

E UGBY RD

AV 23

D E 19 ST

S AHILL RD MARLBOR DITMAS TON PY AV YOU RD E 2 ST CORTEL 55 ST 10 42 ST 51 ST FT HAMIL Tools for Action 54 ST 16 OUGH RD Let your elected officials know how important parks are to you. 57 ST *

E 7 ST AV City Council Member: Bill de Blasio [email protected] 15 DITMAS

E 21 ST Brooklyn Community Board 6 (718) 643-3027 AV 45 ST

Brooklyn Community Board 7 (718) 854-0003 58 ST AV Brooklyn Community Board 12 (718) 851-0800 11 AV AV AV F City of New York 311 or www.nyc.gov NEW UTRECHT FOSTER Borough Park WEBSTER 45 OOD RD State and Federal Representatives www.elections.state.ny.us GLENW * 49 ST AV New Yorkers for Parks www.ny4p.org9

SET Greenwood Playground, Windsor Terrace

63 ST ON PL 44 E 7 ST AV H 59 ST 56 ST D AHILL RD

b o a r d c h a i r p h o t o g r a p h y d a t a s o u r c e s Supporters About New Yorkers AV ELMWOOD O Catherine Morrison Golden VINGT David43 Silverstein, Manager Altman Foundation for Parks All data is from 2008 unless noted. “Citywide”: Parks by the Numbers - NYC Department of ON 67 ST Arthur Ross Foundation OLD NEW UTRECHT RD E 16 ST 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 DistrictAV 39 Photographer: AV New Yorkers for Parks is the only AV J 14 51 ST 48Budget (OMB), FY 1989-2009, Preliminary Budget, OMB, FY 2010. “By the borough”: PIP Ratings, Christine Kaelin Greenacre Foundation independent watchdog for all the Christian DiPalermo BA E 2 By the numbers & Staffing - DPR; Trees -“Trees Count!” Street Tree Census report, 2005-2006, DPR; 65 55 Y ST 7 R ST 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 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 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 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 Hudson River 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 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 High Line 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