TESTIMONY
Morgan Monaco, President of the Prospect Park Alliance, on the Vital Role of Parks, Impacts of Budget Cuts, and the Need for Adequate Funding
6:40:09
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161 sec
Morgan Monaco testifies on the essential partnership between the Prospect Park Alliance and the city in operating Prospect Park, and the negative impacts of budget cuts on parks.
- She highlights the increased visitation to parks during the pandemic and the resulting wear and tear.
- She notes the loss of 700 park staff and $55 million in funding due to the 5% budget cut, including the elimination of evening maintenance programs.
- She cites the chronic underfunding of parks, which comprise 14% of city land but receive only 0.5% of the budget.
- She advocates for restoring budget cuts, fulfilling the mayor's promise of allocating 1% of the budget to parks, and moving beyond a cycle-to-cycle funding model.
- She emphasizes the vital role of parks for public health, well-being, and social equity, referring to a Citizens Budget Commission survey on their contribution to quality of life.
Morgan Monaco
6:40:09
Good afternoon.
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I'm Morgan Monaco, President of the Prospect Park Alliance, the profit organization that operates Prospect Park in partnership with the city.
6:40:17
I'd like to thank the counsel for holding today's budget hearing and giving members of the open space community a chance to share our perspective on how the budget cuts impact our work on the public at large.
6:40:28
I'm here today to support the efforts of the play fair campaigns or store, 5% budget cut currently in place for NYC Parks and for the city to fulfill the mayor's campaign promise of 1%.
6:40:39
Of the city's budget for parks.
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Prospect Park is truly a public private partnership.
6:40:44
We rely on the city to help with day to day trash pickup and facility maintenance.
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This essential service is core to making Prospect Park a welcoming and accessible space for the diverse communities of Brooklyn.
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Since the pandemic, visitorship to cities parks has increased significantly.
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In Prospect Park, we've seen a record number of visitors throughout the year, which has created significant wear and tear in the park.
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At the same time, the city has not kept up with this record use in its funding of parks in the city budget.
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Now is the time where we need more and not less funding for our parks.
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Parks are not only essential living infrastructure.
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They are critical to our health and well-being and are the great equalizers of our society.
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The Citizens Budget Commission recently released a survey that made clear that neighborhood parks are part of what contributes to excellent quality of life for New Yorkers.
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NYC Parks have been operating within a austerity budget for more than 40 years.
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With only 0.5% of the city budget allocated to parks despite the fact that parks comprise 14% of city land.
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This chronic underfunding has been devastating to our parks.
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While we applaud the city for reinstating the parks opportunity program, which provides essential frontline maintenance staff, The current 5% budget cut represents a loss of 700 Park staff 55,000,000 in critical funding which includes the elimination of the tremendously successful 2nd shift program that brought evening maintenance care to the park as well as further reductions in the urban park rangers and parks enforcement officers, which is incredibly disheartening considering that currently there are only 2 parks enforcement officers 2 parks enforcement officers on duty in Central Brooklyn at any one time.
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We implore the council to increase funding for parks in this budget cycle In addition, we applaud the city council for recognizing Parks' essential infrastructure by not only restoring current budget cuts, but also moving beyond a cycle to cycle funding model.
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1% of our budget must be for parks.
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Parks saved our city during the pandemic.
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Now it's time to make sure they get their fair share of the budget.
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Thank you.
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Vanessa Butler, Speaking on behalf of Executive Director Heather Lubov of City Parks Foundation, on Advocating for Increased Funding and Staffing for NYC Parks
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Rosa Chang, Co-Founder of Gotham Park, on the Importance of Funding for Community-Led Public Spaces and Parks