Implementing Innovative Ways To Fund Parks and Open Spaces

Implementing Innovative Ways To Fund Parks and Open Spaces Testimony - March 2024 Implementing Innovative Ways To Fund Parks and Open Spaces In this testimony before the NYC Council Committee on Parks and Recreation, CUF Senior Fellow for Climate and Opportunity John Surico makes the case for why, and how, city leaders can establish sustainable sources of recurring funding for parks. [...] The city is facing multibillion dollar deficits in the coming years, and the mayor has proposed cutting $53.8 million in city funding from the Parks budget to help close the gap. [...] One idea is to create an 80-20 split for all future revenue from new parks concessions, with 80 percent remaining with the park hosting the new concession and 20 percent allocated to a fund to support parks with the greatest needs, particularly those in lower-income communities. [...] The Center commends the City Council for consistently championing parks and open space, and advocating for funding to address the full scope of New York City’s  public parks’ needs. [...] Because despite growing consensus among New Yorkers that parks are vital to the city’s future, there has been little clarity over one crucial decades-old question: How to pay for it all? By getting creative about generating dedicated new revenues for parks, city leaders can deliver the healthy, vibrant parks and open spaces that New Yorkers need now, and for decades to come.