Private funding for parks was started during the 1980s when citizens got together to improve Central Park. That was when the Central Park Conservancy was started, and its model is now adapted into many of the bigger parks of the US.
There are about 20 conservancies in New York that help manage half of the cities parks and playgrounds. The problem with these conservancies is that they give a large amount of money to the parks in the wealthier neighborhoods. As stated in a Wall Street Journal article, Central Park received $100 million, while Flushing Meadows Corona Park received only 5,000. Donors are more inclined to give money to parks like Central Park because it can bring the value of the surrounding properties up and a wealthy donor is more likely to go to Central Park rather than Flushing Meadows. These conservancies are only helping some parks, while leaving others to deteriorate. So why exactly are public parks still using private funding when all it does is shape parks to suit developers interests?
Mayor De Blasio agreed that “we can’t have parks that are so underfunded, in some of our least advantaged neighborhoods, that people can’t have a good experience there,” but has he really done anything to rectify the problem? In a New Yorker article, it states that Bill De Blasio endorsed a bill that would take 20% of from the budgets of the “well-financed conservancies” and redistribute it to poorer parks, matching these “contributing parks” to “member park,” but later on just referred to the idea as “creative.” Did he chose not to continue supporting the bill because some donors might be discouraged from donating if their money is not going directly to the park they intended it to go to? And where does that leave parks now? Are the parks in less wealthier neighborhoods just going to continue to be underfunded and slowly deteriorate? Central Park, Prospect Park, and the High Line are not the only parks in the city, other parks need funding too, both private and public.
Works Cited:
Gay, Mara. “Inequality Seen in City Parks.” WSJ. N.p., 23 Apr. 2014. Web. 29 Mar. 2015. <http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303834304579520122652921290>.
Lange, Alexandra. “How to Fix New York City’s Parks – The New Yorker.” The New Yorker. N.p., 28 Mar. 2014. Web. 29 Mar. 2015. <www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/how-to-fix-new-york-citys-parks>.
Lehrer, Brian. “When Private Money Funds Public Parks.” The Brian Lehrer Show. N.p., 13 Feb. 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2015. <http://www.wnyc.org/story/when-private-money-funds-public-parks/>.
Although it is true that de Blasio seems to be backing away from a bill that requires wealthy conservancies to contribute 20% of their budgets to parks in poorer neighborhoods, he has still, however, made some progress with the Community Parks Initiative. Although conservancies are not giving up 20% of their budgets, they are still pitching in to help poorer parks. For example, this article (http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2015/01/8561253/mayors-park-conservancy-plans-moving-slowly) lists how his plans for park improvement have been moving slowly. Parks are not completely deteriorating under his plan. The Bryant Park Corporation has pitched in by donating $1 from every $3 ride on a merry-go-round called “Le Carrousel” to the Community Parks Initiative, and the Prospect Park Alliance has agreed to have free design work for Stroud Playground in Crown Heights, which is “one of 35 small parks in underserved neighborhoods targeted by the de Blasio administration.” Even the Central Park Conservancy has sent gardeners to 10 different parks to help with park maintenance. Although these are only three wealthy conservancies that have pitched in to help poorer parks under the Community Parks Initiative, I feel that his plan is not off to such a terrible start with these small improvements. It definitely is not enough to get to his $130 million goal, but it is a start. Perhaps with these contributions, he will be able to convince even more conservancies to pitch in.