Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
REMARKS
New needs and programs in the Parks Department's preliminary budget
0:06:24
ยท
87 sec
Council Member Krishnan outlines several new needs and programs included in the fiscal 2026 preliminary budget for the Parks Department. He expresses interest in hearing more about these initiatives during the testimony.
- The budget includes $23.5 million in new needs for FY 2026
- New programs include expansion of the second shift program and the swim safety program
- Funding is allocated for Shirley Chisholm Park positions and tree bed wrap mitigation
- Krishnan emphasizes the need to focus on the second shift program, lifeguards, and overall department headcount
Shekar Krishnan
0:06:24
The fiscal twenty twenty six preliminary budget includes $23,500,000 in new needs for FY 2026, '1 hundred and 73,000 other adjustments, and thankfully, no pegs.
0:06:37
But I will say again, we cannot be operating from this mindset of scarcity.
0:06:43
But we are here reflecting on the fact that we don't have cuts, where every budget fight we engage in is finding ways to replace cuts.
0:06:51
We are not moving forward.
0:06:53
We are actually moving backwards.
0:06:55
And so while there are no cuts to the department this year, the fact is the gigantic cuts over the prior years have set this department back out of the work it is able to do for our green spaces across the city, and that is no way our city should be managed or run.
0:07:12
Now there are several new needs in this plan, including expansion of the second shift program that we fought for last year, as well as an expansion of the swim safety program, which will improve our children's ability to safely use our beaches and pools.
0:07:29
There is also funding for the Shirley Chisholm Park positions as well as tree bed wrap mitigation.
0:07:36
The committee looks forward to hearing testimony about the f y twenty twenty six preliminary plan and in these areas in particular, second shift program, lifeguards, and most fundamentally, the headcount of workers in the Parks Department.