On April 19, 2021, New Yorkers for Parks and the Play Fair Coalition hosted a conversation with New York City Mayoral Candidates about the future of NYC parks and open spaces and what policies need to be created for a 21st century, equitable system. 

Over 3.5K New Yorkers tuned in via the Zoom webinar, livestream, and YouTube video to hear what front-running candidates had to say about parks and open spaces

Candidates included: Art Chang; Shaun Donovan; Kathryn Garcia; Ray McGuire.

The event was presented by New York Law School and was moderated by Juan Manuel Benítez, political anchor and reporter for NY1 News. 

Read a full recap from the Gotham Gazette here.

THE HIGHLIGHTS

• All candidates present committed to giving NYC Parks at least 1% of the city's total budget for operations and maintenance
• All candidates present said they supported the creation of a Director of the Public Realm to ensure cross agency collaboration
• All candidates committed to rectifying inequities in distribution of parks and parks resources across NYC

These commitments fall in line with our Five Point Plan for Park Equity, released March 2021.

To watch the event in its entirety, click here or view the video below.