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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 20, 2024
No. 22
www.nyc.gov/parks
NYC PARKS COMMISSIONER DONOGHUE RELEASES “VITAL PARKS FOR ALL” -- A $3.2 BILLION PLAN FOR INVESTING IN NYC’S LIVING INFRASTRUCTURE
NEW DIGITAL EXPLORER DEVELOPED TO ALLOW NEW YORKERS TO ANALYZE THE STRENGTHS AND GAPS IN ACCESS TO VITAL PARKS ELEMENTS
NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue today released Vital Parks for All: Investing in NYC’s Living Infrastructure – the agency’s $3.2 billion plan to protect existing park facilities, equitably deliver new resources to underserved communities, and equip New Yorkers with information to enjoy, celebrate, and support their parks. In conjunction with the plan, Parks also developed the Vital Parks Explorer, a digital map that empowers New Yorkers with data about access to critical components of a vital park system. For the first time ever, New Yorkers can compare their community’s access to parks with other neighborhoods in the city, answering the age old question: is the grass actually greener?
"Our parks work a host of different jobs. They are the lungs, backyards, watering holes, and cultural hubs of our neighborhoods," said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. "This initial $3.2B investment in our city's living infrastructure is a welcome sight for our city. Healthy trees, green spaces, and thriving communities will continue to make our city stronger and more resilient, helping safeguard our city's future. "
“Our public parks are essential to the success of our city, and our new Vital Parks initiative will ensure that all New Yorkers can enjoy the environmental, social, and health benefits of world-class public greenspaces,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue. “With a $3.2 billion initial investment in our living infrastructure, plus a brand-new digital tool that empowers everyday New Yorkers to advocate and care for their local parks, we’re taking a bold step forward in our mission of providing accessible, equitable, and well-maintained public greenspaces for all. This initiative won’t just make our city greener and more beautiful – it will help us tackle the most pressing challenges that our city faces, from combatting climate change to ensuring public safety.”
About Vital Parks:
New York City faces growing challenges that make immediate investment in our parks system imperative, including: increased usage of parks after the COVID pandemic; the loneliness crisis; the threats of climate change and extreme heat; declining life expectancy; and the current state of our aging park infrastructure. Vital Parks lays out the ways that NYC Parks is investing in our city’s living infrastructure: the public parks, greenways, pools, playgrounds, nature, recreation centers, and public programs that host the civic life of our city and make our communities healthier, safer, and more livable.
The vision for a Vital Parks system is one that is clean and safe, green and resilient, and supported by a community of engaged and empowered New Yorkers. By creating clean and safe public spaces, we can make our communities more secure, providing young people with accessible outlets for fun and active play while giving neighbors places to connect, swap stories, and build community. With green and resilient spaces, New Yorkers can experience all the health benefits—both mental and physical—of time out in the great outdoors, and our city will be better prepared to withstand the challenges of climate change. And by engaging New Yorkers in the care of our shared greenspaces, we can strengthen our civic community, counteract the loneliness crisis, and empower people of all backgrounds to advocate for the resources they need.
Through $3.2 billion of initial investments, NYC Parks is already making significant progress in providing Vital Parks for All. These strategic initiatives will strengthen and enhance our system, focusing on the communities most in need:
As part of this investment, Parks has already taken steps to improve access to restrooms in New York City. These efforts ensure that New Yorkers can stay at parks longer, which in turn supports community gatherings, recreation and local stewardship.
NYC Parks also announced Let’s Swim NYC a $1 billion capital investment in building, improving, and protecting our city’s public pools. This marks the city’s highest period of investment in swimming infrastructure since the 1970’s. The initiative promotes public safety, aids in keeping New Yorkers cool in the face of rising temperatures, and helps more New Yorkers learn life-saving water safety skills.
In addition to the expansion of bathroom access and public pools, Vital Parks for All is committing to additional investments in Tree Canopy Expansion, Growing Greenways, Public Safety, Grassroots program expansion, Recreation Center construction and much more.
About the Vital Park Explorer:
To ensure that everyone can benefit from all that our city’s living infrastructure has to offer, NYC Parks is putting the power of its data in the hands of everyday New Yorkers with this brand-new online tool. Search the map to find the level of access your Community Board has to more than 20 critical parks services ranging from dog runs and greenways to volunteer groups and Parks Enforcement Patrol visitation. Then, use our analysis report to see how that compares to the citywide average. Parks has also added a new Park Condition Score for every property, a comprehensive score measuring cleanliness metrics, which include litter, structural elements such as play equipment, landscape elements, and the state of amenities within restrooms.
Beyond Community Boards, the Explorer can also provide data on access within disadvantaged neighborhoods, and precincts identified by the City’s Gun Violence Prevention task force.
Using The Explorer’s accessible and digestible format, New Yorkers will be able to search neighborhood by neighborhood while accessing the same data used to target Vital Parks investments. The Explorer is a powerful tool for community board members and other stakeholders to advocate for strategic investments, New Yorkers who are looking to move and want information on park access in potential neighborhoods, and data enthusiasts who are interested in citywide trends.
“Our Borough of Parks has much to offer for those looking for recreation, green space, and public areas to explore and enjoy,” said Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella. “Maintaining and improving these parks is an investment in the beauty of our Borough, the well-being of our community and the enjoyment of our residents and parkgoers. Our parks are a beautiful part of the daily lives of thousands of Staten Islanders, so the Vital Parks Explorer makes a welcome complement to this investment for informing the public about our parks. We thank Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue and Borough Parks Commissioner Lynda Ricciardone for working tirelessly to improve our parks and provide the best for our parkgoers.”
"As the greenest borough in the city, our parks play a vital role in our communities by providing spaces for our residents to safely recreate without having to leave their neighborhood," said Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson. "This "Vital Parks for All" initiative outlines important investments in our green spaces with a focus on equity so historically underserved neighborhoods have the same amenities in our parks as any other community. I want to thank the New York City Parks Department for their work on this initiative and continued commitment to enhancing our city`s living infrastructure."
“Our parks and green spaces are vital infrastructure for healthy communities and our quality of life,” said Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. “These investments are important steps toward making our Parks more equitable, and will help us bring more green, including badly needed trees, to communities across the borough.”
“New York City parks are one of our most treasured resources — they clean our air, green our neighborhoods, and offer spaces for community to gather,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “Too many neighborhoods, however, don’t have easy access to safe, well-resourced, and green parks. Vital Parks for All will empower our communities to advocate for equity and enable our city to direct resources where they are most needed. I am so grateful that NYC Parks Commissioner Donoghue is championing equity and access to our green spaces and look forward to continuing to work with her and Brooklyn Commissioner Maher on behalf of our borough’s beloved park spaces.”
"Every New Yorker, regardless of ZIP code or socioeconomic status, deserves access to high-quality pack space right in their own community. I'm proud to have invested tens of millions of dollars into Queens' parks system, and I'm proud of the work the Parks Department is doing to ensure equity across our green spaces and build transparency along the way,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. "This massive investment in our living infrastructure represents a major step forward in that mission, and I look forward to working with the Parks Department in service to our communities.”
"As climate change heats our neighborhoods, as a lifeguard shortage exacerbates a drowning crisis, as many New Yorkers cope with an epidemic of loneliness and isolation, our public parks are more critical than ever,” said Council Member Shekar Krishnan. “The Vital Parks plan doesn't just acknowledge these challenges, it also commits real investment toward the solution: more parks, more trees, more pools -- and consistent maintenance. I fully support Commissioner Donoghue in this shared mission to build the NYC Parks that we all deserve."
“Parks are absolutely critical elements of our city's infrastructure, living facilities in every community that require ongoing care and support to remain vibrant,” said Executive Director of City Parks Foundation Heather Lubov. “At City Parks Foundation, we aim to offer all New Yorkers -- and especially those in under-resourced communities -- the tools and resources they need in order to both use their parks and also effectively advocate for their long-term support. The new "Vital Parks for All" explorer will make available crucial information that every community can use to identify where action is needed and what resources are available to them. Together, we can work to uplift our city's park system for the benefit of all.”
"Vital Parks is an important investment, and innovation, in New York's parks at a time when greenspaces have become even more vital to the health of New Yorkers and more critical to the city’s economic future,” said Executive Director of Center for an Urban Future Jonathan Bowles. “It will help the city's parks administrators and policymakers--and all users of parks--to identify the most pressing infrastructure and maintenance needs in our parks and playgrounds, providing real data to ensure resources are deployed smartly and equitably."
“New York City’s parks are a vital oasis to our community, providing clean and safe public spaces and recreation areas for New Yorkers every day of the year,” said Rob Simmelkjaer, CEO of New York Road Runners. “As a nonprofit, New York Road Runners works to build healthier lives and stronger communities through the transformative power of running, and we would not be able to do that without having access to parks across the five boroughs as the setting for many of our races and events.”
The Vital Parks plan and Explorer can be found online at nyc.gov/vitalparks.
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