REMARKS
Council Member Shekar Krishnan opens this portion of committee hearing on the Fiscal 2025 Executive Budget for the Department of Parks and Recreation
2:58:05
·
4 min
Council Member Shekar Krishnan expresses disappointment with the proposed $55.3 million decrease in the Parks Department's budget for fiscal year 2025, going against the mayor's previous commitment to increase parks funding to 1% of NYC's budget.
- He criticizes the lack of funding for essential services like the second shift program, exterminators in Brooklyn, and other maintenance needs.
- Krishnan emphasizes the importance of clean, well-maintained parks for residents' well-being and public safety.
- He calls for increased investment in parks and expresses hope for amendments to fund crucial programs like the second shift and lifeguard services.
- Krishnan thanks the council and committee staff for their work.
Shekar Krishnan
2:58:05
Good morning, everyone.
2:58:06
Thank you so much, Chair Brennan, and thank you to everyone here.
2:58:09
Welcome to the Parks department, commissioner Donahue, and her team for today's hearing on the fiscal 2025 executive budget for the Department of Parks And Recreation.
2:58:20
My name is Shaker Krishnan.
2:58:21
And I'm the chair of the Council's Committee on Parks And Recreation.
2:58:25
I would like to thank my fellow council members and colleagues who are present here today on this very important issue as Chip Rana already highlighted.
2:58:33
Today, we will be hearing testimony from the Parks department on its fiscal 2025 executive budget.
2:58:39
Which totals $582,900,000, a decrease of 55,300,000 since adoption last year.
2:58:48
This is most certainly less than 1% of the total city budget for fiscal 2024 and represents a shocking and very disappointing steady decrease in our budget for our parks department from a mayor in city hall that explicitly campaigned on increasing the city the Parks budget to 1% of our New York City's budget.
2:59:10
In other words, we are moving backwards.
2:59:12
Moving backwards, with administration that explicitly stated its commitment to increase the parks budget.
2:59:19
Yet another year where this has not happened.
2:59:22
The fiscal 2025 preliminary budget includes $700,000 in new needs for FY 25 for additional exterminators in Brooklyn.
2:59:32
Let me repeat that.
2:59:33
The only increase that we've seen since the preliminary budget or sorry, the decrease in the budget we've seen for the department, the only area of new needs identified was for exterminators in Brooklyn.
2:59:44
Only a handful and most certainly not enough to serve the millions of residents even in the borough of Brooklyn of Rome.
2:59:50
It is a decrease of $1,500,000 in other adjustments, and of course, There are pegs too.
2:59:57
We have seen the disastrous impact that the mayor's pegs have had in our city's parks.
3:00:03
And now that the 2nd shift has been eliminated, we will see further degradation.
3:00:07
The 2nd shift program was a program where 100 hotspot parks in the city would receive additional cleaning and maintenance on weekends and evenings.
3:00:17
This is especially urgent right now as the weather gets warmer More and more New Yorkers use their parks through the summer and the fall.
3:00:23
People see reduced cleaning shifts because of the loss of the 2nd shift program.
3:00:28
I hope to see a return and, in fact, an expansion of the 2nd shift program in the adopted budget next month.
3:00:35
I'm hopeful that in the coming weeks, the mayor will realize the importance of parks when negotiating the adopted budget.
3:00:42
But as of now, The numbers are gloomy and disappointing.
3:00:47
Not only is there a $55,300,000 reduction the parks budget since last year.
3:00:54
But let me also point out what the administration has done to meet the needs that we and the city council have identified in our budget response.
3:01:03
We called for a restoration of the peg of $38,500,000.
3:01:07
The amount in the executive budget, $0.
3:01:12
We called for $11,200,000 in funding for urban park rangers, tree stump removal, and the green thumb program restoration.
3:01:20
The amount in the executive budget, $0.
3:01:24
And we called for a restoration and expansion of the 2nd shift program in the amount of at least $10,000,000.
3:01:31
The amount in the executive budget, $0.
3:01:35
Our parks are crucial for our mental health, for our well-being, They are essential spaces, especially as the weather gets nicer in the warm months of summer.
3:01:46
We depend on clean parks parks that are cleaned every day.
3:01:50
We depend on parks where the bathrooms are cleaned every day, where the trees are maintained and not overgrowing.
3:01:57
Our parks contributes to public safety and to sanitation.
3:02:02
Two values in particular that mayor Adams has has identified as principles and values that are important to him.
3:02:08
If we want a city that's clean, we need our parks clean.
3:02:11
If we want our parks clean, then we need to invest in them and increase the budget, not be cutting from it.
3:02:19
The committee is excited to hear the money today related to the FY 25 executive plan, specifically the Parks Opportunity program, the 2nd shift program, and the lifeguards.
3:02:30
As we know pooling beach season is upon us too.
3:02:33
Before we begin with testimony, I would like to thank council staff for their hard work.
3:02:37
Our finance team of Chima Obi Shire, Jack Story and Michael Sherman, our committee staff, Christopher Star Tori and Patrick Mulvihill, and my own staff, Greg Clark and Chuck Park.
3:02:48
I will now ask the committee council to go over some procedural items and swearing the representatives from the Fox department.
3:02:54
Thank you.