NYC Needs to Fund Its Parks Equitably for All New Yorkers

Join the PlayFair Coalition (see below) and New Yorker for Parks call to restore and upgrade NYC Parks funding.

City parks cover 14% of NYC but the NYC Parks budget is just 0.5% of the total City budget.

NYC’s parks are critical infrastructure that have been overlooked and underfunded for too long.

The pandemic laid bare the inequities in NYC’s park system and highlighted the dire need to fund and build more parks to ensure equitable access for all New Yorkers.

 

 

“NYC Parks suffered the second largest cut of any public agency last year resulting in the worst cleanliness conditions on record during a time of extreme need and demand for healthy public space. I am respectfully requesting that you and your colleagues restore the funds cut from the NYC Parks department to ensure we have safe, clean, and accessible open spaces throughout the rest of this pandemic.

I am proud to join the Play Fair Coalition in calling for a restoration of $78.9 million to the NYC Parks FY22 expense budget. This funding will restore critical seasonal staff, secure frontline parks workers’ jobs, and ensure our parks remain safe and accessible to all by bringing back Urban Park Rangers and Parks Enforcement Patrol. It will also restore vital care for the natural forests and wetlands that keep our city resilient and enhance community gardens citywide.”

 

The Play Fair Coalition

Our Coalition has over 300 organizations and groups.

Add your group or organization to the Play Fair Coalition!

 

The Play Fair Coalition includes:

  • 10th & Stuyvesant Streets Block Association
  • 142nd St. Dog Run
  • 18th Street Brooklyn Block Association
  • 300 West Block Association
  • 52 People for Progress
  • 6BC Botanical Garden
  • A Patch of Inspiration Garden
  • A. Philip Randolph Square Neighborhood Alliance
  • Abraham Lincoln Neighborhood Development Association
  • AIA New York
  • Alice Austen House Museum
  • Alley Pond Environmental Center
  • Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park
  • Alliance for Kips Bay
  • American Society of Landscape Architects, New York Chapter (ASLA-NY)
  • Astoria Park Alliance
  • Baisley Pond Park Block Association
  • Bedford Mosholu Community Association
  • Bissel Gardens BX
  • Boerum Hill School for International Studies
  • Brite Leadership Coalition/ENY
  • Broadway Mall Association
  • Bronx Coalition for Parks & Green Spaces
  • Bronx Community Board 8
  • Bronx Community Health Network
  • Bronx Council for Environmental Quality
  • Bronx Land Trust
  • Bronx Park East Community Association
  • Bronx River Alliance
  • Bronx Roots in Motion
  • Brookfield Civic Association
  • Brooklyn Bird Club
  • Brooklyn Bridge Manhattan
  • Brooklyn Greenway Initiative
  • Brooklyn Parks & Open Space Coalition
  • Brooklyn Lakeside Curling Club
  • Brooklyn Queens Land Trust
  • Buenavista Futbol Club Inc
  • BUFNY II/Harlem Tenants Association
  • BX Arts
  • CABS Home Care
  • Cadman Park Conservancy/Brooklyn War Memorial
  • Carl Schurz Park Conservancy
  • Carnegie Hill Neighbors
  • Central Park Conservancy
  • ChaShaMa
  • Chelsea Waterside Park Association
  • Citizen Gardeners
  • Citizens Climate Lobby
  • City Growers
  • City Island Rising
  • City Parks Foundation
  • Clean Bushwick Initiative
  • Cleveland-Pitkin Block Association
  • Clinton Garden
  • Coastal Preservation Network
  • Cobble Hill Association
  • Common Ground Compost
  • Concrete Plant Park Friends
  • Coney Island Beautification Project
  • Conference House Association
  • Conference House Park Conservancy Inc.
  • Cortelyou Road Merchant Assocation (CORMA)
  • Cosmopolitan Jr. Soccer League
  • Court Square Civic Association
  • Davey Resource Group, Inc.
  • DC37 Retirees Association
  • Design Trust for Public Space
  • Different Directions
  • DLANDstudio
  • Douglaston Local Development Corporation
  • Downtown Alliance
  • Downtown Brooklyn Partnership
  • Downtown United Soccer Club
  • Drew Gardens
  • Drew Gardens Educational Recreation
  • Dunbar Garden Council
  • Earth Avengers
  • Earth Matter NY Inc.
  • Earth Ministry of the Church of the Mediator
  • East 43rd Street Community Garden
  • East NY 4 Gardens
  • Edgemere Coalition Community Garden
  • Edso Sports, Inc.
  • El Garden Bushwick
  • El Jardín del Paraíso
  • El Puente
  • Elite Learners, Inc.
  • Ellington on the Park
  • Elmhurst Supporters of Parks
  • Fieldston Rd. Association
  • Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Conservancy
  • Fort Four Playground
  • Fort Greene Park Conservancy
  • Fort Tryon Park Trust
  • Forth on Fourth Avenue
  • Franklin Plaza Activities Committee
  • Fresh Creek Nature Association
  • Friends of 29th St Park
  • Friends of 4 Parks Alliance
  • Friends of Abe Lebewohl Park
  • Friends of Alley Pond Park
  • Friends of Amersfort Park
  • Friends of Anibal Aviles Playground
  • Friends of Aqueduct Walk
  • Friends of Art Park Alliance
  • Friends of Astoria Heights Park
  • Friends of Bellevue South Park
  • Friends of Bennett Park
  • Friends of Brookville Park
  • Friends of Brower Park, Inc
  • Friends of Brownsville Parks
  • Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park
  • Friends of Carroll Park
  • Friends of City Hall Park
  • Friends of Corlears Hook Park
  • Friends of Cunningham Park
  • Friends of Crocheron & John Golden Park
  • Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza
  • Friends of Ewen Park
  • Friends of Ferry Point Park & Waterways
  • Friends of Forest Park
  • Friends of Francis Lewis Park
  • Friends of Governors Island
  • Friends of Inwood Hill Park
  • Friends of John Hancock Park
  • Friends of MacDonald Park
  • Friends of Morningside Park
  • Friends of Mosholu Parkland
  • Friends of Pelham Bay Park
  • Friends of Pelham Parkway
  • Friends of Raimonda Park
  • Friends of Seton Falls Park
  • Friends of Sherman Creek Conservancy
  • Friends of Soundview Park
  • Friends of St. Andrew’s Playground
  • Friends of St. Nicholas Park (FOSNP)
  • Friends of Straus Park
  • Friends of Sunset Park
  • Friends of the High Line
  • Friends of Tompkins Square Dog Run
  • Friends of Transmitter Park
  • Friends of Tremont Park
  • Friends of Wakefield Playground
  • Friends of Whalen Park
  • Friends of Williamsbridge Oval
  • Forest Hills Green Team
  • Fort Greene Tennis Association (FGTA)
  • GallopNYC
  • Garden Train
  • Genesis Community Garden
  • Girl Scout Troop 3205
  • Girl Scouts of Greater New York
  • Good and Green
  • Gowanus Canal Conservancy
  • Green Bronx Machine
  • Green Guerillas
  • Green Map System
  • Green Park Gardeners NYC
  • Greenbelt Conservancy Inc.
  • Greenpoint Citizens Club
  • Guerinos Against Graffiti
  • Harlem Grown
  • Havemeyer Garden
  • Health Essential Association
  • Hellgate Hill-Highgate Community Association
  • HerpDigest
  • Highland Park Tennis
  • Historic House Trust of New York City
  • Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York
  • Hudson River Park Friends
  • Hunters Point Civic Association
  • Hunters Point Parks Conservancy
  • Hutchinson River Restoration Project
  • Inwood Hill Park Conservancy
  • Inwood Rotary Club
  • Jackson Heights Beautification Group
  • Jacob H. Schiff Playground Neighborhood Association
  • Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy
  • Jardín La Roca
  • Jenny’s Garden
  • Kelly St. Garden
  • Kissena Corridor Park Conservancy, Inc.
  • La Petit Versailles
  • Le’alani S. Boykin Consulting
  • Lenru Coop
  • Less AIDS Lesotho
  • Lewis Latimer House Museum
  • Lily Auchincloss Foundation
  • Little Green Garden
  • Long Island City Partnership
  • Lott Street Block Association
  • Love Our Pool
  • Loving the Bronx
  • Lower East Side Ecology Center
  • Madison Square Park Conservancy
  • Marcus Garvey Park Alliance
  • Maria Hernandez Park Dog Run Pack
  • Marine Park Alliance
  • Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center
  • Melrose New Generation
  • Miracle Garden
  • MHSG NYC
  • Morris-Jumel Mansion
  • Morris Park BID
  • Morton Street Block Association
  • Municipal Art Society
  • Myrtle Ave BID
  • Nancercize
  • National Parks Conservation Association
  • Natural Areas Conservancy
  • New York Botanical Garden
  • New York Climate Save
  • New York Junior Tennis & Learning
  • New York League of Conservation Voters
  • New York Restoration Project
  • Newtown Creek Alliance
  • North American Climate, Conservation and Environment (NACCE)
  • North Brooklyn Parks Alliance
  • North Brooklyn Neighbors
  • NYC Audubon
  • NYC Community Garden Coalition
  • NYC H2O
  • Open Plans
  • Paedergat Bay Condo II
  • Parent Child Relationship Association
  • Park Clinton Gardening
  • Park Slope United
  • Parks4Us
  • Prime Produce
  • Project Harmony, Inc.
  • Prospect Park Alliance
  • Prospect Park Community Committee
  • Prospect Pl/New York Ave Block Association
  • Q Gardens Community Farm
  • Queens County Farm Museum
  • Queensboro Dance Festival
  • Randall’s Island Park Alliance
  • Red Hook Conservancy
  • Red Hook West Resident Association, Inc.
  • Red Shed Community Garden
  • Richmond Hill Historical Society
  • RING Garden
  • River Garden
  • Riverside Park Conservancy
  • Rockaway Initiative for Sustainability and Equity (RISE)
  • Row New York
  • Rude Grooms
  • Rutgers Resident Association
  • Safe Zone Cross Culture Youth
  • Samaritan Daytop Village
  • Sara D. Roosevelt Park Coalition
  • Sedgwick Park Friends & Neighbors
  • Seton Falls Park Preservation Coalition
  • Seward Park Conservancy
  • Sidewalk Labs
  • Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden
  • Staten Island Economic Development Corporation
  • Staten Island Partnership for Community Wellness
  • Staten Island Women Who March
  • Stewards of Brust Park
  • Street Trees Super Steward
  • Survivor I Am / Friends of Bufano Park
  • Sunset Spark
  • Sutton Place Parks Conservancy
  • SWIM
  • Target Bronx Community Garden
  • Team Spartan Spades
  • The Bronx is Blooming
  • The Brotherhood Sister Sol
  • The Connected Chef
  • The Forest Park Trust
  • The Freshkills Park Alliance
  • The Kensington Stewards
  • The Kingsbridge Heights Community Center
  • The League: A Distinguished Gentlemen’s Movement, Inc
  • The Lowline
  • The Movement Creative
  • The Musical Seeds Project
  • The Nature Conservancy in New York
  • The New York Landmarks Conservancy
  • The Old Stone House and Gardens
  • The Trust for Public Land
  • Times Square Alliance
  • Tinker Tree Play/Care
  • Total Equity Now Harlem
  • Tour Prospect Park
  • Transportation Alternatives
  • Trust for Governors Island
  • UFT/UCS
  • Union Square Partnership
  • United Athletic Association
  • United Nations International School
  • United We Stand Garden
  • UP-STAND
  • Upper Green Side
  • Uptown & Boogie Bicycle Advocacy
  • Van Cortlandt Park Alliance
  • Verna L. Judge Garden
  • Volunteers for Isham Park
  • Volunteers for Springfield Park, Inc.
  • W 181st St Beautification Project
  • Warren Community Garden
  • Washington Square Park Conservancy
  • Washington Square Park Eco Projects
  • Waterfront Alliance
  • WE ACT for Environmental Justice
  • We Run Brownsville
  • West 400 Block Association 21st, 22nd & 23rd Streets
  • West 80s Neighborhood Association
  • Wetherby-Pembridge School
  • Wildlife Conservation Society
  • Women of Woodlawn
  • Woodlawn Taxpayer Association
  • Wyckoff House Museum (Wyckoff Hose & Association, Inc.)
  • Yorkville Sports Association
  • Young Buck Sports
Read MoreNYC Needs to Fund Its Parks Equitably for All New Yorkers
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Downtown Art, FABnyc and the M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden Celebrate: Juneteenth

 

with

LES Black & Red 
by Dennis RedMoon Darkeem

a new installation celebrating Black and Indigenous histories of the Lower East Side

Free and Open to the Public

Opening: Saturday June 19th
at M’Finda Kalunga Garden’s annual Juneteenth Celebration

Rivington Street at Chrystie

includes a libation and procession to honor the unmarked Second African Burial Ground

Free

Schedule:  all are invited to wear white!

11:45am Gathering at M’Finda Kalunga Garden

12pm Libation and procession Opening of Dennis Redmoon Darkeem Exhibition honoring African American and Indigenous LES History 

12:40     Performance by Sky Manna Band

1:00       M’Finda Kalunga Garden’s Juneteenth celebration!

1:00 and 2:00 performances by Bobby Bryan

1:30 readings and history by community members ongoing: participate in community Art projects

a Downtown Art and FABnycproject, with support from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the NY City Council

Session 4: REPARATIONS AND NYC
Beyond Symbol: Culture + Reparations
Wednesday, June 16 4pm
Free, online. Register
Guest: Anusha Venkataraman, Executive Director, Racial Justice Commission, City of New York
 
Co-hosts: Catherine M’bali Green-Johnson, Ryan Gilliam, Amy Andrieux, Jordana De La Cruz, Ayesha Williams & Kemi Ilesanmi
Join FABnyc as they explore how a reparations process can take root in

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read MoreDowntown Art, FABnyc and the M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden Celebrate: Juneteenth
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New Yorkers for Parks Event on a Project Proposed for the East River: A Floating Pool

 
Thursday, June 10th
4 – 5pm
 
“Urban planner and author Ann L. Buttenwieser will be in conversation with author and professor Emily Raboteau to look back at The Floating Pool Lady project – and forward to future possibilities in an evolving world of public health and racial justice developments. They’ll hold their talk via Zoom Webinar, and will field questions from the audience.”
Read MoreNew Yorkers for Parks Event on a Project Proposed for the East River: A Floating Pool
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Honoring Community Leaders in Celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month!

 

Intrepid and long time gardener in M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden and Sara Roosevelt Park, Pam Ito of The Hort is being honored tomorrow.

From Council Member Chin:
“Tomorrow evening at 6:00 PM our event honoring community leaders in celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander heritage month!”

 

Link to Register
 

Read MoreHonoring Community Leaders in Celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month!
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Betty Hubbard Garden Gets a New Cherry Tree

Thanks to Rhonda from Roni Sue’s Chocolates (the BEST Chocolates!) reaching out to the SDR Coalition with her friend Dani’s offer of plants and a cherry tree we now have new plantings and plantings have a new more public life!

Thank you Rob, Chao, Erika and Jasmine for schlepping!

*Remember there is a very big fine for taking plants from a public park.

It has long been against the rules to collect or destroy plants in the city’s parks, with potential fines of $250

 

Read MoreBetty Hubbard Garden Gets a New Cherry Tree
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TODAY Saturday May 22nd It’s My Park Day – M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden

M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden:

This Saturday (5/22) from noon to 4pm with the help of Partnership for Parks, we will be hosting It’s My Park Day!

On this day, we come together to celebrate our park and work together. Partnership for parks is donating mulch, plants, and bench paint. Now, we need your help!

Come by anytime to help with: 

  • Weeding the paths between plots
  • Spreading mulch on the paths between plots
  • Trash pick-up
  • Bench painting
  • Composting

Bob, Nora, and Jasmine will be around to supervise and assist volunteers. If you don’t know what to do – look for one of them.

In addition, Penny will be giving a compost demonstration.

I would also love it if you could send me photos to post on our social media and/or to send to Partnership to thank them for their donations.

Thanks in advance!

Jen

MK Garden Co-Chair

 

Read MoreTODAY Saturday May 22nd It’s My Park Day – M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden
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Candidate Forum for City Council District 1 – on June 3, 2021

University Settlement, Henry Street, Hamilton Madison, Manny Cantor,

Chinese American Planning Council, Grand Street Settlement:

 

LES Settlement Houses Community Education Events on Voting

and 

Candidate Forum

 

 

Thursday, June 3 from 6:15-8 – City Council District 1 candidate forum (virtual on Zoom; free)

  •     Come meet candidates for the City Council 1st District seat and hear about their vision for the LES.
  • Join us at 6:15 for a Ranked Choice Voting demonstration. The Forum starts at 6:30.
  •     There will be simultaneous translation in Mandarin, Cantonese, & Spanish.
  •     Register & suggest questions here: https://tinyurl.com/D1Forum

Read MoreCandidate Forum for City Council District 1 – on June 3, 2021
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