Statement from the Play Fair for Parks Coalition on Mayor Adams’ FY’26 Preliminary Budget

New Yorkers are tired of the back and forth budget game on our parks. Mayor Adams’ preliminary budget is a step in the right direction for Parks – it includes needed investments in our city’s Second Shift maintenance services, the Swim for Life program, and Schoolyards to Playgrounds program – but it’s one step forwards after two steps backwards. Again.

We're nowhere close to where we need to be; a lot of work is needed to get our parks in shape to deliver New Yorkers an improved quality of life. Yet the Parks Department continues to rely on an austerity budget, while every other City agency saw significant increases last year. Parks, playgrounds, recreation centers and Natural Areas are not nice-to-have amenities; they are critical to quality-of-life and essential to the family-friendly city the Mayor is pushing for. The agency is working with the lowest number of Parks Enforcement Patrol officers in years, and Natural Areas staff -- charged with protecting and maintaining our city's forested areas -- were gutted the same year a lack of maintenance helped fuel dangerous fires in parks.

If the Mayor really wants to make New York City a “great place to raise a family” and deliver on his campaign promise, he must prioritize funding to restore and enhance the NYC Parks workforce and infrastructure. That means a $95 million investment for 1,000 positions that will support safe, clean, resilient and people-powered parks; drowning prevention; and heat relief. New Yorkers deserve a liveable city, and this is Mayor Adams’ opportunity to deliver.