November 30, 2016

We are excited to announce the release of New Yorkers for Parks’ 2016 Report Card on Parks: Spotlight on the Community Parks Initiative. The new Report Card provides community groups, park users and other stakeholders with an independent, comparative assessment of how neighborhood parks located within areas of the city targeted by NYC Parks’ Community Parks Initiative are performing. CPI addresses park equity by outlining 55 densely populated high-needs areas, and identifying 60 parks in those areas for reconstruction.

The Report Card analyzed parks that are larger in size than the 60 parks that CPI will reconstruct. These parks really strengthen a community, providing spaces for active play, sports, and family gatherings, as well as places to be quiet, contemplative, and connected to the natural world all at once. The Report Card found that many of these parks also in need of real renewal and reconstruction. It’s not a surprise that many parks in these growing, high-needs areas aren’t serving their communities well because they’re under-maintained, with aging infrastructure. Parks that had been constructed or renovated recently scored higher than their older counterparts.

When parks like the Lower East Side’s Sara D. Roosevelt Park receive low scores, it’s clear that there’s a mismatch between this park’s popularity, and the attention it’s getting for daily maintenance and long-term reconstruction. Our neighborhood parks citywide, and especially in the CPI priority zones, should be thriving.

New Yorkers for Parks produces its Report Cards on Parks series on an ongoing basis to ensure that there is transparency, accountability, public awareness, and efficient deployment of resources throughout the park system.