q u e e n s c i t y c o u n c i l 2009 d i s t r i c t 22 Riker’s Island, Steinway, Old Astoria

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 : Astoria Athletic Field (Hellgate) 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 felds, 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 specifc features over the course Two Coves Community Garden, Astoria of the summer. Astoria Athletic Field (Hellgate) was surveyed The Bloomberg Administration’s physical barriers or crime. As a result, for this project. The feld’s rating PlaNYC is the first-ever effort to studies show significant increases in reflected a need for improve- sustainably address the many infra- nearby real estate values. Greenways ment. Visit www.ny4p.org for structure needs of New York City, are expanding waterfront access more information on the Spot- including parks. With targets set for while creating safer routes for cyclists light on Recreation: A Report Card stormwater management, air quality and pedestrians, and the new initia- on Parks Project. 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: 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 felds 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 fve 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 fve 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 fve boroughs. Parks Enforcement Patrol Tree canopy (trees on public and private land) 20% 24% (PEP) Offcers & Urban Park Rangers Number of street trees per mile of sidewalk 49 41 Ralph Demarco Park, Ditmars

Queens City Counc0 il Di0.5 str1 Miles ict 22

HARLEM RIVER Water Pollution Control Plant District Statistics Fish Market * 9 BRONX KILL 8 17 18 a c r e a g e o f c i t y p a r k s Total district acreage 3,723 Amtrak Railyard Total parkland acreage 118 * East Harlem 17 Parks & playgrounds acreage 95 * Percent City parkland HARLEM MEER of total district acreage Percent parkland 3% Citywide 14% Randalls POWELL’S COVE Island 34 Ranking of City parkland p o p u l a t i o n 8 6 AVacres/resident COLLEGE PL Population 162,597 22 (1=highest, 51=lowest) 8 AV Population under 18 28,311

Riker’s Island 10 AV Percent under 18 17% FLUSHING BAY 28 11 Acres parkland per 1,000 residents <1 Berrian’s Island Ranking of City parks & RESERVOIR playgrounds acres/child Acres parks & playgrounds per 1,000 children 3 College Point 14 Carnegie Hill 110 ST Wards ConEdison 15 AV 15 AV l a n g u a g e a c c e s s Island RIKERS ISLAND CHANNEL CD 22 Citywide

21 DR Most common foreign language spoken at home Spanish Spanish LUYSTER CREEK 19 Percent of homes speaking this language 18% 18%

PL AY 4 EAST RIVER SHORE BL BERRIAN BL 20 c i v i c e n g a g e m e n t CD 22 Citywide AV STEINW Upper East Side 5 WORLD’S FAIR MARINA COLLEGE POINT BL Registered voters 83% 76%

16 126 ST Yorkville 1 19 BOWERY BAY 22 AV Number general parks-related 17 311 calls per 1,000 residents 9 10 1 ST 27 6 LaGuardia Airport Number of parks-related 311 calls for maintenance AV 7 33 ST 27 ST 24 per 1,000 residentsULMER ST 1 1 8 AV 45 ST 28 AV 5 2 18 19 RD MAIN AV 9 23 19 119 ST 10 AV 1541 ST 81 ST p a r k r e s o u r c e s NEWT CD 22 Citywide

4 GRAND CENTRAL P 38 ST Does not include capital funding allocated to multiple districts or citywide.

O 78 ST Roosevelt WN ARKWAY 31 AV D 30 District-specific capitalO funding, 2004–2009 $4.5 million $4.2 million AV AV HIGGINS S Island 14 ST WNIN

DITMARS BLAstoria Heights 123 ST 3 11 23 AV 30 DR 25 ASTORIA BL S 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 AV BQE EAST ONE EP 87 ST T 31 DR 22 Results of the Parks Department’s internal inspections. HUMPHREY AV 27 GRND CNTRL PY ET EB FLUSHING FY CREEK 2004 FY 2008 St Michael’s 25 AV WHITEST 100 31 BOR Cemetery AV Astoria 45 ST ASTORIA BL S ST OUGH PL 80 10 ST 38 ST 28 86% 88% Ravenswood AV 76 ST 85% 86% 60 East Elmhurst AV 29 ST 34 72 ST 12 NEWT 37 40 13 rated AV AV 110 ST 30 84 ST cent parks

50 ST O 89 ST

20 “acceptable” 14 ST 36 21100 ST WN RD AV r Pe 20 BR 14 OA 0 DW 60 ST 109 ST CD 22 Citywide AY 91 ST

25 81 ST Q 34 AV 26 51 ST JUNCTION BL 90 ST 76 ST o p e n s p a c e QUEENSBOR CD 22 Citywide 49 ST W V AN OODSID Number of community gardens per 1,000 acres <1 4 41 39 WY O BR 60 PL AV 37 DR AV AV 37 103 ST 108 ST 64 S FLUSHING CREEK V VERNON BL From Queens Community Board 1: Vacant lot acreageCKA 42 8,512 Long Island City E A LEGEND F ST DPR community gardens ST T A E 43 7 nn 4 T 8 Parks, playgrounds AV Percent vacant 1% 4% 1/4 Mile nn Other community gardens and beaches Council District Border nn DPR beaches h e a l t h Number of hospital admissions per 10,000 residents: CD 22 Citywide We need better clean-up of parks. 1 Hellgate Field 10 Hoyt Playground nn New York City Department of nn State and federal parkland Parks and Recreation (DPR) Asthma 9 31 2 Hallets Cove Playground 11 Athens Square nn City-owned vacant land ‘‘ parks, playgrounds and Diabetes 5 11 The personnel previously laid off 3 Astoria Health Center 12 Sean’s Place Q DPR schoolyards-to- greenstreets Playground 13 Astoria Heights Playground playgrounds sites must be restored. nn DPR natural areas e d u c a t i o n CD 22 Citywide 4 Van Alst Playground 14 Saint Michaels Playground (Schoolyards-to-playgrounds is a citywide PlaNYC initiative Percent fourth graders meeting standards in math 85% 81% 5 Astoria Park 15 Ditmars Park to open schoolyards to the public during afterschool hours.) Percent fourth graders meeting standards in reading 68% 63% 6 Triborough Bridge 16 Woodtree Playground Statement of Needs for Fiscal Year 2008 Playground B 17 Steinway Playground 7 Triborough Bridge ’’ Playground C 18 Steinway Community Playground 8 Triborough Bridge Playground D 19 Grand Central Parkway 9 Triborough Bridge Playground E

Tools for Action Let your elected officials know how important parks are to you. City Council Member: Peter F. Vallone, Jr. [email protected] Queens Community Board 1 (718) 786-3335 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 Woodtree Playground, Steinway Astoria Park, Astoria Astoria Park, Astoria

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 22 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 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