Vital Parks: How It Works

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Do you have a question or comment about Vital Parks for All, or thoughts on what you would like to see added? Contact the Commissioner to share your feedback.

We know New York City’s parks aren’t just important…they’re vital. An investment in parks pays off far beyond a park’s boundaries, strengthening our city’s health, community, and environment. Below, you can find out more about our new Vital Parks for All plan, and check your park's "Vital Signs," the metrics that ensure that your park is contributing to a Vital Parks System.

Understanding Your Park's Vital Signs

In addition to helping you understand your access to each of these elements of a Vital Parks System, our goal is also to help inform you about how your park contributes to the system. To do so, we've selected a few key elements, and broken them down by park. At a glance, you can check your park's "Vital Signs" to determine whether it is clean and safe, green and resilient, and supported by engaged and empowered park goers.

About the Park Condition Score

The Park Condition Score serves as a broad indicator and offers insight into the overall condition of your neighborhood park. It is a comprehensive score ranging from 0 to 100 based on highly vetted underlying inspection data. The score encompasses various aspects that make parks feel clean, safe, and vital, including cleanliness metrics such as litter, structural elements such as play equipment, landscape features such as lawns and trees, and the state of amenities within restrooms.

For those who are looking to understand and derive the formula, you can download the Park Condition Score metric from our Github repository.

Find a Park's Vital Signs

Want to see how your park measures up? Find a Park below, and check out its Vital Signs.

Enter Park Name

 

Elements of a Vital Parks System

A vital park is one that is clean and safe, green and resilient, and supported by engaged and empowered New Yorkers. We identified a list of more than 20 measurable elements that contribute to a Vital Parks System. Each of these elements falls under at least one of these three pillars.

Clean & Safe

Clean and safe parks and facilities are well-maintained and free from litter. They support high levels of public use, improving safety and deterring crime. They offer amenities, and discourage negative activity. They keep New Yorkers safe from heat in the summer and are conducive to improving fitness and public health all year long

  • Sports courts, athletic fields, or skate parks
  • Drinking fountains or spray features
  • New or renovated amenities
  • Parks Enforcement Patrol coverage
  • Park Condition Score ≥ 95
  • Playgrounds
  • Pools or beaches
  • Public restrooms
  • Recreation centers

Green and Resilient

Green and resilient parks provide access to a variety of green spaces. These include waterfronts, wetlands, trails, community gardens, and greenways for biking and walking. Parks also offer abundant trees along streets, in active areas of parks, and within natural areas to better immerse New Yorkers in nature for stress relief as well as health and environmental benefits. These green spaces also help to combat extreme heat, capture carbon, and filter stormwater, and are designed to be resilient to rising seas and increasingly severe storms.

  • Community gardens
  • Forever Wild natural areas
  • Greenways
  • Tree canopy cover
  • Street trees
  • Trails
  • Waterfronts

Supported by Engaged and Empowered New Yorkers

Parks are cared for by dedicated staff who welcome all. In addition, parks that are supported by engaged and empowered New Yorkers offer enriching park programming, making the park active and vibrant. They must also have ample volunteer opportunities and embrace partner groups to help steward and advocate for their park’s present and its future.

  • Park partner groups
  • Nature centers
  • Public programs or special events
  • Volunteer and stewardship events
  • Dog runs

 

Vital Parks Explorer

 

The Vital Parks Explorer is the best new way to understand your access to the elements that make up a Vital Parks System. Browse the map to learn more about the many resources that we offer people across the city, in your community, and even on your block. 

Explore the System