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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Heather Lubov, Executive Director of City Parks Foundation, on Parks Budget
5:08:17
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134 sec
Heather Lubov, Executive Director of City Parks Foundation and member of the Play Fair Coalition, testifies about the inadequate funding for New York City Parks in the mayor's executive budget. She emphasizes the negative impacts of understaffing and disinvestment on park maintenance, security, and community programs.
- Lubov highlights how the budget crisis affects their ability to support local volunteers and maintain parks as community anchors.
- She stresses that increased funding for parks is crucial and not optional, as volunteers cannot substitute for adequate staff.
- Lubov calls for the mayor to step up and fund parks as an essential public service, noting that private fundraising efforts are not enough to meet the surging needs.
Heather Lubov
5:08:17
Hi.
5:08:19
Thanks chair Brennan, Krishnan, and Brooks Powers.
5:08:22
Oh, she left.
5:08:23
Sorry.
5:08:24
I'm Heather Lubov.
5:08:25
I'm executive director of City Parks Foundation and also a proud member of the Play Fair Coalition.
5:08:31
I'm here today because the mayor's executive budget fails New York City Parks and the New Yorkers who rely on them.
5:08:38
City Parks Foundation's programs rely on both private fundraising and also generous discretionary funding from city council members to reach neighborhoods that need those programs most.
5:08:49
But even with this backing, programs are directly affected by the city's overall disinvestment in parks.
5:08:56
When park maintenance and security are understaffed, we face dirty and unsafe conditions, shuttered restrooms, delayed event permits, and missed opportunities for thousands of children and seniors, the majority of whom live in environmental justice areas.
5:09:12
The budget crisis is not abstract for us.
5:09:15
It is tangible, immediate, and exhausting.
5:09:17
Every week, our partnerships for parks team, which has suffered from vacancies and the inability to hire any external candidates to fill these positions, is out in neighborhoods across the city supporting local volunteers who are determined to make their parks cleaner, safer, and more welcoming.
5:09:35
Crucial funding through the citywide Parks Equity Initiative is what allows us to offer year round coaching, leadership development, and seed grants to nearly 600 community groups.
5:09:45
Increased funding for parks is not optional.
5:09:48
It's the difference between an open space that languages and one that becomes a true community anchor.
5:09:55
Volunteers are substitute for adequate staff.
5:09:59
Without a significant increase in the budget, we simply cannot meet the surging needs created by this ongoing disinvestment.
5:10:06
We've done what we can, raising private dollars and redistributing that money through the New York City Green Fund, supporting volunteerism, offering free programs, even serving as a fiscal sponsor for other private funds to support the city.
5:10:20
Everyone is stepping up except the mayor.
5:10:23
Parks are not a luxury and they are not spaces we can take for granted.
5:10:27
It's time to fund our parks like the essential public service they truly are.