As Inside Climate News reported<\/a> last summer, chronic understaffing in the department led to the increased spread of invasive species, poorly maintained bathrooms, and weakened resilience to flooding and extreme heat.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is especially true for smaller parks in less affluent neighborhoods, which might not have well-funded conservancies to care for their green spaces\u2014unlike Central Park or Prospect Park in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n Now, as the city\u2019s mayoral race is in full swing, many parks advocates want to see more done by the next mayor to keep these areas healthy. Mayor Eric Adams is running as an independent<\/a> in this race but has struggled to reach double digits in the polls<\/a>, lagging far behind state Assembly member Zohran Mamdani, who won the democratic primary, and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.<\/p>\n The next mayor will set priorities for the city\u2019s budget\u2014and whether to meet the demands that many city council members and residents<\/a> have long been calling for: designating 1 percent of the city\u2019s budget to the Parks Department.\u00a0<\/p>\n Adams came to power in January 2022<\/a> at a pivotal moment as the city was recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, which killed thousands of New Yorkers and decimated countless local businesses. According to Adam Ganser, the executive director of New Yorkers for Parks, this time underscored the vital role of the city\u2019s parks.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was such a clear need for parks and open spaces to be accessible, well-maintained, and places of refuge for all of us who are living in the city,\u201d Ganser said. \u201cCOVID ended up really bringing attention to the deplorable conditions of so many of our city\u2019s parks and the lack of staffing and funding.\u201d<\/p>\n Read More<\/strong><\/p>\n \t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\tWith a Mayoral Election Coming Up, This Is Where NYC Stands on Climate Action\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\tBy Lauren Dalban<\/p>\n \t<\/a><\/p>\n The New York City mayor, a role often referred to as the \u201csecond toughest job in America,\u201d<\/a> sets the agenda for the city\u2019s massive budget. For this fiscal year, it is around $116 billion<\/a>, nearly as much as the budget for the entire state of Florida<\/a>. The mayor also vetoes or signs City Council legislation and appoints department heads for his administration.<\/p>\n Adams committed early<\/a> in his campaign to push for 1 percent of the city budget to fund the Parks Department\u2014part of a demand by the Play Fair for Parks coalition, a movement of hundreds of city organizations to address issues in local parks.\u00a0<\/p>\n So far, Adams has not delivered. During his administration, the Parks Department has accounted for about 0.6 percent of the city\u2019s budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s been, for a lot of us in this sector, one of the most disappointing outcomes of the past almost four years now,\u201d said Emily Walker, the senior manager for external affairs at the Natural Areas Conservancy, a nonprofit that advocates for the care of natural areas in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a commitment from him as a candidate on the campaign trail that never really ultimately came to fruition,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n At a June press conference<\/a>, Adams vowed to \u201ccontinue to increase the numbers in the Parks Department\u201d and that in his next term, \u201cwe\u2019re going to probably double that amount.\u201d<\/p>\n This story is funded by readers like you.<\/p>\n Our nonprofit newsroom provides award-winning climate coverage free of charge and advertising. We rely on donations from readers like you to keep going. Please donate now to support our work.<\/p>\n Donate Now<\/a> <\/p>\n Many conservation and parks advocacy groups have long fought for increased funding. They argue that allocating 1 percent, or slightly more than $1 billion, of the city\u2019s $116 billion budget, to the Parks Department would improve its operations. The additional money could help address staffing shortages, improve some infrastructure and bolster general maintenance.\u00a0<\/p>\n This fiscal year, according to the executive budget, the Parks Department has been allocated $667.3 million<\/a>\u2014more than last year, but only around 0.57 percent of the total budget.<\/p>\n In comparison to other large American cities, like Chicago, New York is woefully behind. Chicago\u2019s total budget for fiscal year 2025 was around $17.3 billion<\/a>. The Chicago Park District, which manages the 8,800 acres of the city\u2019s green space, was allocated $598.5 million<\/a> that year, which amounts to around 3.5 percent of the city\u2019s total budget\u2014proportionately almost 7 times more than what New York City gives for the care of its local parks.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though the Parks Department budget was already around 0.6 percent of the total New York City budget when Adams took over, he has struggled to increase its funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2023, as part of a program to address budget shortfalls<\/a>, Adams demanded cuts across agencies and eventually instituted a citywide hiring freeze. This had a significant impact on the Parks Department, leading to staff reductions and a decline in the quality and frequency of park maintenance.<\/p>\n By May 2024, the City Council was demanding<\/a> a restoration of $38.2 million for the Parks Department to bring back an estimated 659 positions that had been lost. The council\u2019s concerns largely went unaddressed in last year\u2019s executive budget, which showed a marked decline of more than $55 million in park funds<\/a> compared to the preceding year.\u00a0<\/p>\n The mayor releases the executive budget after a round of negotiations with the City Council. A final round of talks ensues before the adopted budget is passed\u2014though there could still be some spending adjustments made during the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last fiscal year, the second round of negotiations brought some gains for the department with an additional $15 million allocated for extra cleaning shifts<\/a>\u2014but it fell far short of the total $1 billion figure that New Yorkers for Parks and other organizations had pushed for.<\/p>\n This fiscal year, the mayor increased funding for the city\u2019s forestry service, urban park rangers and the GreenThumb program, which supports community gardening programs. Adams\u2019 budget expanded to include second cleaning shifts at 64 parks, and money to hire an additional 170 Parks Department employees<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite this, Ganser says the department remains understaffed, particularly in the forestry and general maintenance units.<\/p>\n \u201cThose are critical positions that make sure that parks feel safe and they are clean,\u201d said Ganser. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen real reductions in those numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the agency staffing dashboard<\/a> published by the city\u2019s comptroller, the Parks Department has 4,660 full-time employees as of August. That count is 432 employees below what the administration budgeted, a 8.48 percent vacancy rate\u2014higher than the total city government vacancy rate of 5.89 percent.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\tAbout This Story<\/p>\n Perhaps you noticed: This story, like all the news we publish, is free to read. That\u2019s because Inside Climate News is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We do not charge a subscription fee, lock our news behind a paywall, or clutter our website with ads. We make our news on climate and the environment freely available to you and anyone who wants it.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not all. We also share our news for free with scores of other media organizations around the country. Many of them can\u2019t afford to do environmental journalism of their own. We\u2019ve built bureaus from coast to coast to report local stories, collaborate with local newsrooms and co-publish articles so that this vital work is shared as widely as possible.<\/p>\n Two of us launched ICN in 2007. Six years later we earned a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, and now we run the oldest and largest dedicated climate newsroom in the nation. We tell the story in all its complexity. We hold polluters accountable. We expose environmental injustice. We debunk misinformation. We scrutinize solutions and inspire action.<\/p>\n Donations from readers like you fund every aspect of what we do. If you don\u2019t already, will you support our ongoing work, our reporting on the biggest crisis facing our planet, and help us reach even more readers in more places? <\/p>\n Please take a moment to make a tax-deductible donation. Every one of them makes a difference.<\/p>\n Thank you,<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2222298178-330x220.jpg\"\/)
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