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May 13, 2022
Honorable Eric Adams
Mayor of the City of New York
New York City Hall
New York, New York 10007
Dear Mayor Adams:
On the campaign trail, you earned widespread support from voters by publicly committing to fund the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) at 1% of the city budget. Stating that “an equitable parks system starts with funding for the agency and accessibility for New Yorkers,” you recognized the urgent need to reverse decades of underinvestment in our city’s parks system.
However, your FY23 executive budget fails to deliver on that promise. Instead, although you propose to baseline hundreds of new positions, for which we are grateful, you have proposed reducing the NYC Parks budget, which directly translates to a net reduction in agency staff working on our parks and cuts to critical operations. New Yorkers and our parks and open spaces deserve more.
Today, we implore you to make good on your commitment and allocate 1% of the budget for NYC Parks. The 400+ organizations of the Play Fair Coalition, co-founded by the NYC Council Parks Committee, New Yorkers for Parks, New York League of Conservation Voters, and DC 37, are joined by 25 members of the New York City Council (The Council) in this request.
Raising parks funding from 0.6 to 1% of the budget is the bare minimum required for adequate staffing, maintenance, and parks planning to ensure that our parks are equitable, safe, clean, and accessible for all New Yorkers. This is critically important as the city gears up for another summer of increased demand and need for open spaces.
Further, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the relationship between parks equity, public health and public safety—putting in stark relief what advocates have long understood: parks and open spaces are critical infrastructure and must be funded as such. New Yorkers of color are still significantly less likely to have access to parks and open spaces; 1% for parks is the first step toward park equity and a long-overdue 21st century parks system in New York City.
Thank you for supporting our city’s parks, and we look forward to continuing to work together on a budget that Plays Fair for Parks.
Sincerely,
Adam Ganser
New Yorkers for Parks
Julie Tighe
New York League of Conservation Voters
Henry Garrido
DC 37
and members of the City Council:
Shekar Krishnan
Chair, Committee on Parks and Recreation
Vanessa L. Gibson
Bronx Borough President
Mark Levine
Manhattan Borough President
Antonio Reynoso
Brooklyn Borough President
Donovan Richards
Queens Borough President
Alexa Avilés
Council Member, District 38
Erik Bottcher
Council Member, District 3
Gale Brewer
Council Member, District 6
Selvena Brooks-Powers
Council Member, District 31
Tiffany Cabán
Council Member, District 22
Carmen De La Rosa
Council Member, District 10
Eric Dinowitz
Council Member, District 11
James F. Gennaro
Council Member, District 24
Jennifer Gutierrez
Council Member, District 34
Shahana Hanif
Council Member, District 39
Robert Holden
Council Member, District 30
Farah Louis
Council Member, District 45
Julie Menin
Council Member, District 5
Christopher Marte
Council Member, District 1
Mercedes Narcisse
Council Member, District 46
Sandy Nurse
Council Member, District 37
Chi Ossé
Council Member, District 36
Keith Powers
Council Member, District 4
Lincoln Restler
Council Member, District 33
Kevin Riley
Council Member, District 12
Carlina Rivera
Council Member, District 2
Althea Stevens
Council Member, District 16
Rafael Salamanca
Council Member, District 17
Sandra Ung
Council Member, District 20
Nantasha Williams
Council Member, District 27
along with 400+ members of the Play Fair Coalition
10th & Stuyvesant Streets Block Association
142nd St. Dog Run
18th Street Brooklyn Block Association
300 West Block Association
52 People for Progress
6BC Botanical Garden
A Patch of Inspiration Garden
A. Philip Randolph Square Neighborhood Alliance
Abraham Lincoln Neighborhood Development Association
AIA New York
Alice Austen House Museum
Alley Pond Environmental Center
Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park
Alliance for Kips Bay
American Society of Landscape Architects, New York Chapter (ASLA-NY)
Astoria Park Alliance
Baisley Pond Park Block Association
Bedford Mosholu Community Association
Bissel Gardens BX
Boerum Hill School for International Studies
Broadway Mall Association
Bronx Coalition for Parks & Green Spaces
Bronx Community Board 8
Bronx Community Health Network
Bronx Council for Environmental Quality
Bronx Land Trust
Bronx Park East Community Association
Bronx River Alliance
Bronx Roots in Motion
Brookfield Civic Association
Brooklyn Greenway Initiative
Brooklyn Parks & Open Space Coalition
Brooklyn Queens Land Trust
Buenavista Futbol Club Inc.
BUFNY II/Harlem Tenants Association
CABS Home Care
Cadman Park Conservancy/Brooklyn War Memorial
Carl Schurz Park Conservancy
Carnegie Hill Neighbors
Central Park Conservancy
Chelsea Waterside Park Association
Citizen Gardeners
Citizens Climate Lobby
City Island Rising
City Parks Foundation
Clean Bushwick Initiative
Cleveland-Pitkin Block Association
Clinton Garden
Coastal Preservation Network
Cobble Hill Association
Common Ground Compost
Concrete Plant Park Friends
Coney Island Beautification Project
Conference House Association
Conference House Park Conservancy Inc.
Cortelyou Road Merchant Assocation (CORMA)
Cosmopolitan Jr. Soccer League
Court Square Civic Association
Davey Resource Group, Inc.
DC37 Retirees Association
Design Trust for Public Space
Different Directions
DLANDstudio
Douglaston Local Development Corporation
Downtown Alliance
Downtown Brooklyn Partnership
Downtown United Soccer Club
Drew Gardens
Drew Gardens Educational Recreation
Dunbar Garden Council
Earth Avengers
Earth Matter NY Inc.
Earth Ministry of the Church of the Mediator
East NY 4 Gardens
Edgemere Coalition Community Garden
Edso Sports, Inc.
El Garden Bushwick
El Jardín del Paraíso
El Puente
Elite Learners, Inc.
Ellington on the Park
Elmhurst Supporters of Parks
Fieldston Rd. Association
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Conservancy
Fort Four Playground
Fort Greene Park Conservancy
Fort Tryon Park Trust
Forth on Fourth Avenue
Fresh Creek Nature Association
Friends of 29th St Park
Friends of 4 Parks Alliance
Friends of Abe Lebewohl Park
Friends of Alley Pond Park
Friends of Amersfort Park
Friends of Anibal Aviles Playground
Friends of Aqueduct Walk
Friends of Art Park Alliance
Friends of Astoria Heights Park
Friends of Bellevue South Park
Friends of Bennett Park
Friends of Brookville Park
Friends of Brower Park, Inc
Friends of Brownsville Parks
Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park
Friends of Carroll Park
Friends of Corlears Hook Park
Friends of Cunningham Park
Friends of Crocheron & John Golden Park
Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza
Friends of Ewen Park
Friends of Ferry Point Park & Waterways
Friends of Forest Park
Friends of Francis Lewis Park
Friends of Governors Island
Friends of Inwood Hill Park
Friends of John Hancock Park
Friends of MacDonald Park
Friends of Morningside Park
Friends of Mosholu Parkland
Friends of Pelham Bay Park
Friends of Pelham Parkway
Friends of Raimonda Park
Friends of Seton Falls Park
Friends of Sherman Creek Conservancy
Friends of Soundview Park
Friends of St. Andrew's Playground
Friends of Straus Park
Friends of Sunset Park
Friends of the High Line
Friends of Tompkins Square Dog Run
Friends of Transmitter Park
Friends of Tremont Park
Friends of Whalen Park
Friends of Williamsbridge Oval
Forest Hills Green Team
Fort Greene Tennis Association (FGTA)
GallopNYC
Garden Train
Genesis Community Garden
Girl Scout Troop 3205
Girl Scouts of Greater New York
Good and Green
Gowanus Canal Conservancy
Green Bronx Machine
Green Guerillas
Green Map System
Green Park Gardeners NYC
Greenbelt Conservancy Inc.
Greenpoint Citizens Club
Guerinos Against Graffiti
Harlem Grown
Havemeyer Garden
Health Essential Association
Hellgate Hill-Highgate Community Association
HerpDigest
Highland Park Tennis
Historic House Trust of New York City
Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York
Hudson River Park Friends
Hunters Point Civic Association
Hunters Point Parks Conservancy
Hutchinson River Restoration Project
Inwood Hill Park Conservancy
Inwood Rotary Club
Jackson Heights Beautification Group
Jacob H. Schiff Playground Neighborhood Association
Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy
Jardín La Roca
Jenny's Garden
Kelly St. Garden
Kissena Corridor Park Conservancy, Inc.
La Petit Versailles
Le'alani S. Boykin Consulting
Lenru Coop
Less AIDS Lesotho
Lewis Latimer House
Lily Auchincloss Foundation
Little Green Garden
Long Island City Partnership
Lott Street Block Association
Love Our Pool
Loving the Bronx
Lower East Side Ecology Center
Madison Square Park Conservancy
Marcus Garvey Park Alliance
Maria Hernandez Park Dog Run Pack
Marine Park Alliance
Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center
Melrose New Generation
Miracle Garden
Morris-Jumel Mansion
Morris Park BID
Morton Street Block Association
Municipal Art Society
Myrtle Ave BID
Nancercize
National Parks Conservation Association
Natural Areas Conservancy
New York Botanical Garden
New York Climate Save
New York Junior Tennis & Learning
New York League of Conservation Voters
New York Restoration Project
Newtown Creek Alliance
North American Climate, Conservation and Environment (NACCE)
North Brooklyn Parks Alliance
North Brooklyn Neighbors
NYC Audubon
NYC Community Garden Coalition
NYC H2O
Paedergat Bay Condo II
Parent Child Relationship Association
Park Clinton Gardening
Prime Produce
Project Harmony, Inc.
Prospect Park Alliance
Prospect Park Community Committee
Prospect Pl/New York Ave Block Association
Q Gardens Community Farm
Queensboro Dance Festival
Randall's Island Park Alliance
Red Hook Conservancy
Red Hook West Resident Association, Inc.
Red Shed Community Garden
Richmond Hill Historical Society
RING Garden
River Garden
Riverside Park Conservancy
Rockaway Initiative for Sustainability and Equity (RISE)
Row New York
Rude Grooms
Rutgers Resident Association
Safe Zone Cross Culture Youth
Samaritan Daytop Village
Sara D. Roosevelt Park Coalition
Sedgwick Park Friends & Neighbors
Seton Falls Park Preservation Coalition
Seward Park Conservancy
Sidewalk Labs
Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden
Staten Island Economic Development Corporation
Staten Island Partnership for Community Wellness
Staten Island Women Who March
Stewards of Brust Park
Street Trees Super Steward
Survivor I Am / Friends of Bufano Park
Sunset Spark
Sutton Place Parks Conservancy
SWIM Coalition NYC
Target Bronx Community Garden
Team Spartan Spades
The Bronx is Blooming
The Brotherhood Sister Sol
The Connected Chef
The Freshkills Park Alliance
The Kensington Stewards
The Kingsbridge Heights Community Center
The League: A Distinguished Gentlemen's Movement, Inc
The Movement Creative
The Musical Seeds Project
The Nature Conservancy in New York
The New York Landmarks Conservancy
The Old Stone House and Gardens
The Trust for Public Land
Times Square Alliance
Tinker Tree Play/Care
Total Equity Now Harlem
Transportation Alternatives
Trust for Governors Island
UFT/UCS
Union Square Partnership
United Athletic Association
United Nations International School
United We Stand Garden
UP-STAND
Upper Green Side
Uptown & Boogie Bicycle Advocacy
Van Cortlandt Park Alliance
Verna L. Judge Garden
Volunteers for Isham Park
Volunteers for Springfield Park, Inc.
W 181st St Beautification Project
Warren Community Garden
Washington Square Park Conservancy
Washington Square Park Eco Projects
Waterfront Alliance
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
We Run Brownsville
West 400 Block Association 21st, 22nd & 23rd Streets
West 80s Neighborhood Association
Wetherby-Pembridge School
Wildlife Conservation Society
Women of Woodlawn
Woodlawn Taxpayer Association
Yorkville Sports Association
Young Buck Sports