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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Gabby Perez, Representative from The Bronx is Blooming
5:19:24
·
143 sec
Gabby Perez, representing The Bronx is Blooming, testified in support of increased funding for New York City parks, emphasizing the importance of parks in the Bronx and the need for adequate resources to maintain them. She highlighted the organization's work in various Bronx parks and stressed the significance of parks as community spaces.
- The Bronx is Blooming works in about 12 parks, mostly in the South Bronx, with a focus on tree care, gardening, and cleanup efforts.
- Perez called for allocating 1% or more of the city budget to parks, particularly for those without private funding or conservancies.
- She shared a personal connection to the parks, having grown up playing in them and now working to maintain them, underscoring their role in community life.
Gabby Perez
5:19:24
Hello.
5:19:26
Hi, my name is, oh thank you, my name is Gabby Perez, I'm coming here representing another organization that's in the PLAYFAIR coalition and the Force Fraud NYC coalition called the Bronx is Blooming.
5:19:42
We do so much work in parks throughout The Bronx, we are in Soundview Park every single Saturday, we're in St.
5:19:52
Mary's Park every other Friday.
5:19:54
We're in Cortona Park every other Friday.
5:19:56
The list goes on and on.
5:19:57
We care for about 12 parks mostly in the South Bronx, and I've been doing this work since 2019 and I you know I see firsthand how much it takes.
5:20:10
We're a small team but we hire seasonally about a hundred SYEP young people to join us in the summer and it just it takes a lot.
5:20:26
We do the best we can, we mulch the young trees, we we weed in the garden beds, we remove invasive species, we clean up trash, but without you know adequate funding of 1% you know from from the city budget hopefully or hopefully even more, we it'll it'll just constantly feel like like filling a bucket with you know holes in it and we just I'm just here to echo everybody in saying that we need to show love to our parks and and I'm I'm specifically, you know, thinking about parks here in The Bronx that that not here in The Bronx, but parks in The Bronx that don't, you know, have conservancies and a lot of private funding and stuff like that and and also just like on a personal note you know these parks are you know people have said it before but like this is where life happens.
5:21:21
This is where family reunions are had.
5:21:23
This is where I grew up you know playing in Malali Park, 0 but now it's called Wendell T Reverend Wendell T Foster Park and then now I take care of that park and it's it's beautiful you know to have that that this relationship with parks and I feel like I'm rambling now but yeah just I'm here to support more funding for the parks as well.