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Parks Reports:

88 Percent Of Parks Score A Or B: Good News?
In its second annual report on the state of the city's parks, New Yorkers For Parks found that more parks scored an A or B. "On the face of it, this is encouraging news. But when you scratch below the surface and look at trends across park features, it becomes apparent that the Parks Department is caught in a property management version of 'Whac-A-Mole:' in order to address one problem, resources must be pulled from another area, causing a new problem to arise in that area. Bottom line: the Parks Department simply does not have sufficient resources to keep up with the endless demands of maintaining the City’s 29,000 acres of parkland — including the more than 3,600 acres spotlighted in this report." 2013-03-11

Infrastructure budget drops
According to an analysis by the New York Building Congress, 2010 was the capital investment peak of the Bloomberg Administration, with spending at $10.5 billion. Spending dropped to $9.5 billion in '11, and the city is on target to spend $9.1 billion in the current fiscal year. But the $7.2 billion of projected spending in '16 is a reduction of $3.3 billion from the '10 peak.  2012-07-17

Fewer smokers in parks
This study by the Health Department finds smoking in parks dropped two-thirds in the year after the city banned it. Smoking-related litter on beaches, such as cigarette butts, also declined by about two-thirds. 2012-05-29

Enhancing the Waterfront
The Planning Department recently released this draft report of recommendations on how to enhance the city's waterfront and waterways. It outlines goals and policies for the entire city and for individual segments.  2010-10-08

Grading Artificial Turf
The condition of artificial turf in many city parks declined between 2008 and 2009 according to the Report Card on Artificial Turf published by New Yorkers for Parks. After evaluating the condition of 48 of the ersatz grass field in 40 smaller city parks, the advocacy group awarded them an average grade of C minus for 2009, compared to B minus the previous year. The main problems apparently were the condition of the blades of the "grass" and loose seams. The report also found that in almost a third of the fields surveyed, sections of turf were either missing or detached. 2010-07-06

A Vision for Street Fairs
Artists, architects, urbanists, and developers opine on the future of the city's street fairs in this new report from the Center for an Urban Future. The report examines how the city could turn the city's staple, but "repetitive," street fair into an urban essential.  2010-06-22

An Index of Open Space
New Yorkers for Parks have released their "Index for Open Space" -- a report setting goals for the maintenance and creation of parks and recreation spaces. The report sets out goals for the city, which include making sure every New York City resident is within a five-minute walk of a neighborhood park and that there are 1.5 athletic fields for every 10,000 residents. 2010-04-16

Connecting Immigrants to City Parks
New Yorkers for Parks has issued a report that features recommendations on how the city can better connect recent immigrants to city parks. Some of their suggests include offering translation services for public meetings relating to parks and simplifying the permit application process.  2009-11-17

Water Plant Woes
The water filtration plant being built in Van Cortlandt Park is over cost and behind schedule, according to two audits released yesterday by City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. One audit found that in 2004 the Croton Water Treatment Plant was estimated to cost $994 million. Now, the comptroller's office says, the Department of Environmental Protection has awarded contracts for the facility totaling more than $2.1 billion. A second audit found the plant will not open by the Oct. 31, 2011 deadline, leaving the city subject to fines. A link to the audit on cost overruns is below. 2009-09-02

Report Card on Beaches
With warm weather finally here, New Yorkers for Parks has released its report card on New York's seven city beaches. The report found conditions improved somewhat since 2007 but said "New York City's 14 miles of public beaches still need additional maintenance attention." 2009-08-14

Letting the Mets Slide
An audit by city Comptroller Bill Thompson shows that the Mets owe the city $2.5 million in fees related to a rental agreement for Shea Stadium. The report states that the Parks Department has failed to collect the payments from the team. 2009-08-03

Yankees Owe Millions
A new report by Comptroller William Thompson Jr. found the Yankees underpaid the city $11 million in rent between 2003 and 2006. The team has agreed to pay the city back. During that same time period, the Yankees gross revenues totaled more than $1 billion, and it paid the city $17.1 million in rent. 2008-11-10

Rating Playgrounds, Courts and Fields
The city's playgrounds are in generally satisfactory shape, with little broken glass and their surfaces in acceptable condition, according to a new report by New Yorkers for Parks on city outdoor recreational facilities. The city's athletic fields did not fare as well with many "locked to the public without explanation." Many courts suffered from cracks and did not have the needed nets. 2008-08-04

New York’s Open Schoolyards Initiative: Will Artificial Turf Make it a Public Health Hazard?
In this paper, Tom Angotti, Paige Cowett and Shira Siegel consider the pros and cons of artificial turf and conclude that without evidence to confirm or deny the public health risks and cost effectiveness of artificial turf, the city could be endangering the health of New Yorkers. This is one in a series of working papers sponsored the Hunter College Center for Community Planning and Development. 2008-07-01

Yankees Parkland
City and state officials promised that the new Yankees stadium in the South Bronx would result in more parkland for the area. But according to a new report by NYC Park Advocates, the area will actually lose four acres of parkland. The report says that nearly 60 percent of the space the city claims will be replacement parkland was already mapped as parks. Also lost, it says, is the funds promised for upkeep of the replacement parks. 2008-05-23

Insider Baseball: Subsidizing the New York Yankees
Taxpayers are subsidizing the Yankees’ new $1.3 billion stadium project with direct payments and tax breaks worth more than $663.5 million, according to a new report released by the watchdog group Good Jobs New York. This puts the deal in the same league as former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s offer to go "halfsies" on a ballpark for the world's richest baseball team. 2007-07-20

Grading Beaches
New Yorkers for Parks has issued a report card on the seven Department of Parks and Recreation beaches. The advocacy group rated them in four areas – bathrooms, drinking fountains, pathways and shoreline – and concluded, “Overall, beach performance is poor.” Midland Park on Staten Island got the highest grades, while, under the report’s ratings, Coney Island/Brighton Beach and Wolfe’s Pond scored worst. 2007-07-18

A Report Card for Parks
According to a report released by the Citizens Budget Commission, parks in low-income neighborhoods are more likely to be in poor condition than those in wealthier neighborhoods. The study, which points to five other issues the Department of Parks and Recreation should address, also criticizes the department for its lack of a comprehensive strategic plan and for its failure to create objective measures for determining park efficiency. The commission outlines several recommendations, including bringing all of the city's parks up to good condition and funding routine maintenance costs. New Yorkers For Parks provided funding for the report. 2007-06-28

City's Air Quality
A report by the American Lung Association shows New York City's air is even more polluted than it was last year. Last year, New York City was ranked the 15th-worst region in the country for daily particle pollution. Pollution levels are even worse this year, according to the report. 2007-05-02

Park Plan
The city has issued a draft master plan for Fresh Kills, outlining ideas to turn the onetime landfill -- an area three times the size of Central Park -- into what it says will be “a world class park.” Plans call for the Staten Island park to offer an array of recreational activities, arts opportunities, the kind of amenities found in a neighborhood park, waterfront recreation and educational opportunities. 2006-05-01

Charging For Recreation
Increased fees for 20 city-owned recreation centers and for tennis permits has resulted in decreased attendance at those facilities, and revenues below what was expected, according to a report by the Independent Budget Office. “Fees At City Recreation Centers: More Pay, Fewer Play” also analyzes the plan by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to impose fees at the six recreation centers, all in low-income neighborhoods, that have remained free. Such fees, the report points out, pit two competing goals against one another – “recovering the cost of providing a service” versus “promoting healthy lifestyles.” The New York Times wrote an article about this as well. 2006-03-21

Preliminary Mayor's Management Report for Fiscal Year 2005
The Preliminary Mayor's Management Report for Fiscal Year 2005, according to City Hall, "provides an early update of how the City is performing four months into the fiscal year," offering "performance highlights and statistics for agencies, as well as data on inquiries received by the 311 Citizen Service Center." Also, Search by agency 2005-02-15