A report from the Center for an Urban Future details problems plaguing New york City parks. NYC Parks need billions of dollars of repairs.
A report from the Center for an Urban Future details problems plaguing New York City parks, which are an average of 73 years old.
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| The MTA said it will shut down the L train between Manhattan and Brooklyn for 15 months beginning in April 2019 to make critical repairs to damage caused by Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Photo: iStock |
By Kristin Toussaint, Metro
The average New York City park is 73 years old, and that age is starting to show, according to a new report.
The Center for an Urban Future (CUF), a nonprofit public policy think tank, released a report on Tuesday looking at the New York City park system and its aging infrastructure.
Parks in every borough are struggling with “aging assets,” according
to the report, like drainage systems, retaining walls and bridges.
Aging drainage systems can cause issues like standing water, flooded
fields and overflowing sewer systems. Experts cited drainage problems as
one of the “most severe infrastructure issues” facing NYC parks, per
the report.
But some of these parks aren’t seeing frequent upgrades. Twenty
percent of NYC Parks have not had a major infrastructure upgrade in 25
years, according to the report, and at least 46 parks, plazas and
triangles in the city haven’t had “significant capital investment” in
nearly a century.
“New York City was blessed with having a tremendous program of
construction during the Works Progress Administration,” Adrian Benepe,
former Parks Department commissioner under Mayor Michael Bloomberg and
senior vice president at the Trust for Public Land, says in the report.
“But all of those structures—bridges, highways, parks, pools—they’re
all nearing the end of their natural life. So I’d say a very, very big
bill is coming due, in the billions.”
The report estimates that it would cost nearly $6 billion to bring
New York City’s parks system to “a state of good repair” over the next
decade.
In an email to Metro, Crystal Howard, a spokesperson for NYC Parks,
highlighted the administration’s investment in the park system through
the $318-million, 65-park Community Parks Initiative and the
$150-million Anchor Parks project.
The projects “are bringing the first structural improvements in
generations to sites from playgrounds to large flagship parks. Further,
as the CUF report notes, Commissioner [Mitchell] Silver’s streamlined
capital process is bringing these improvements online faster,” she said.
“Looking forward, initiatives like the newly funded catch basin program
and an ongoing capital needs assessment program will ensure that NYC
Parks needs are accounted for and addressed in the years to come.”
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