What I did last summer

04Sep08

In the summer of 2007, I had the privilege of working for a great non-profit watchdog group, New Yorkers for Parks. I got to travel to city parks across the city and asses their condition and maintenance. It was a great way to explore a new city, and learn a lesson about inequality in America.

The final report incorporating the research I did was just released, and while I know municipal parks isn’t exactly a life or death issue, I think it’s worth reading, as an example of the kind of great material that can be produced by NGO with a focused mandate, professional staff, and generous funding. While NY4P lobbies for city-wide park policies, the data they produce is often used by small, neighbourhood groups who would never have the resources to conduct this quality or quantity of research. I’m pleased to be associated with it.

From the press release:

July 30, 2008—New York, NY, New Yorkers for Parks released “Spotlight on Recreation: A Report Card on Parks Project” which rates the maintenance conditions of playgrounds, courts, and ball fields in New York City parks once a month from June to August.

Across all three recreational outlets, litter is a significant problem though there was much improvement in graffiti removal. The courts we surveyed had many cracks in the surfacing that could lead to injuries and 16% of tennis courts did not have nets. The playgrounds were well maintained, but could use improvement in safety surfacing, which declined over the summer.

“Many New Yorkers use ball fields, tennis courts, basketball courts and playgrounds to experience the outdoors and to exercise. With this report, park users will know which recreational features are well maintained such as playgrounds and those that need extra help like athletic fields and courts,” said Christian DiPalermo, Executive Director of New Yorkers for Parks.

This is the second time in three years that New Yorkers for Parks has tracked the conditions of athletic fields over the course of a summer, though in different parks. Again, too many fields had significant amounts of broken glass. A new challenge this year was that a number of athletic fields were locked to the public without any explanation.

Check out the executive summary, full report or NY Times coverage.

Filed under: environment, nyc   |  1 Comment