Community Parks Initiative

The Community Parks Initiative (CPI) is New York City’s first equity-driven investment program through which Parks enhances greenspaces in underserved neighborhoods. Through this initiative, we are both using data-driven methodology and working with communities to create thriving public places.   

CPI works directly with New Yorkers to transform neighborhood parks. We are redesigning and reconstructing dozens of smaller, local parks through capital projects. We are supporting these improvements by enhancing public programming at sites across the city. Finally, we are building better partnerships with communities through outreach and engagement, and we are growing the capacity of local groups to care for and better use their parks. 

CPI is the recipient of the 2020 American Planning Association National Planning Excellence for “Advancing Diversity & Social Change in Honor of Paul Davidoff” and the 2020 American Planning Association New York Metro Chapter Meritorious Service and Achievement Award. 

CPI is the study of a CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy longitudinal study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study found that renovated parks can uplift neighborhoods. According to the Physical Activity and Redesigned Community Spaces (PARCS) study, renovations made through CPI made New Yorkers more likely to spend time in their local parks. New Yorkers living near a CPI-renovated park were 66 percent more likely to have visited their park than New Yorkers living near non-renovated parks. The CUNY study also found that all New Yorkers may benefit from having a CPI-renovated park in their neighborhood, not just regular park-users, thanks to quality-of-life improvements that uplift the entire neighborhood. 

CPI is committed to improving underinvested local parks that have not seen significant capital investment in a generation in high-need areas, including dense and growing neighborhoods. Through a thoughtful and community-centered input process, we are gathering ideas from the communities who use these parks and incorporating those ideas in our designs. 

Learn more about our new capital projects

Parks are at the center of active, healthy living. Through the Community Parks Initiative, we are enhancing sports, fitness, and arts programming in neighborhood parks for users of all ages.  Kids in Motion is designed to get kids into playgrounds and to introduce them to physical activity. Kids in Motion staff members lead four to seven hours of free activities for children per day, including organized sports, games, fitness demos, guided walks, board games, water games, and more. 

Find a Kids in Motion location. Kids aged 8-14 can recieve free training in a varieety of sports through the Summer Sports Experience, including baseball, basketball, flag football, futsal, lacrosse, soccer, speedminton, track, ultimate frisbee, and volleyball. 

See which programs are offered in Community Parks Initiative neighborhoods