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Great parks make a great city.

2010: Supporting our Parks: A Guide to Alternate Revenue Strategies As municipal governments increasingly seek innovative ways to augment public dollars for city services, NY4P has become a leading voice on creative financing mechanisms for new parks.  This report provides a balanced, comprehensive look at potential revenue streams to generate funding outside of the City budget to support parks.  NY4P is building on this study by exploring funding mechanisms currently being employed for the creation and maintenance of parks in New York and elsewhere, and looking at whether they increase financial resources available to the city’s 2,100-plus parks while preserving their character and ensuring equitable distribution of parks resources citywide. 

2008: Parks for All New Yorkers: Immigrants, Culture, and NYC Parks This report, conducted in partnership with Baruch College’s School of Public Affairs, explored the connections be­tween park services, cultural uses of open space, and immigrant communities, and offers rec­ommendations on how the Parks Department can best serve this rapidly-growing segment of the city’s population.

2007: Making the Most of Our Parks
NY4P commissioned the Citizens Budget Commission to analyze the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The report made several policy recommendations, including a call for  stronger incentives for increasing concession and other earned revenues, institutionalized responsibility for strategic planning for parks, the introduction of a timetable for bringing all parks facilities to an acceptable condition, improved the quality and productivity in parks maintenance and operations, and the establishment of preventive maintenance and longer periods of usefulness by funding routine repairs and replacements in the operating budget. Read the full report here.

2007: Raising the Tide: Strategies for New York City’s Beaches
Outreach to community groups, City agencies, and park advocates informed the findings of this report, which examines the primary issues affecting beach users, including lifeguard shortages, poor bathroom maintenance and water pollution.

NY4P examined the financial and environmental costs of natural vs. synthetic turf, as well as the implications for usage, maintenance, health and safety. The report assesses community input processes and offers policy recommendations for the best use of turf in neighborhood parks.

2002: How Smart Investment Pays Its Way
This report, conducted with Ernst & Young, examines the economic impact of investment in parks on surrounding real estate values. NY4P conducted site surveys of six parks across the city and researched the history of capital investment in them. Ernst & Young assessed each park’s relationship to local real estate value by analyzing tax assessments, sale prices and turnover rates of the commercial and residential properties in the immediate area in comparison to the broader marketplace. Read the full report here.

2002: Natural Areas Initiative
The Natural Areas Initiative report presents a blueprint for the protection and effective management of New York City’s 12,000 acres of Parks Department-owned natural areas, which include estuaries, forests, ponds, and other habitats. A joint publication of New York City Audubon and NY4P, the report promotes cooperation among nonprofit groups, communities, and government agencies to protect natural areas and raise public awareness about the value of these open spaces.