Over 200 New Yorkers braved the winter weather to join the Play Fair Coalition on the steps of City Hall on February 28 to tell the City Council and Mayor to stop overlooking and under-funding our parks and green spaces! But this is just the beginning, and now WE NEED YOU to sign this petition and tell your elected officials to get on board.

Play Fair is a multi-year advocacy campaign for parks leading up to the Mayoral election in 2021. In 2019, we are kicking off the Play Fair campaign by focusing on a significant increase to the expense budget for the Parks Department, which would “baseline,” or secure, funding for much-needed maintenance, gardener and park worker positions in the City budget. Investing in greenspaces also improves air quality, makes our neighborhoods more resilient, and brings New Yorkers closer to nature.

New Yorkers for Parks partnered with Council Member Barry Grodenchik, Chair of the Parks Committee, the New York League of Conservation Voters, and D.C. 37, the Parks workers’ union, to form the Play Fair Coalition, which now includes over 100 organizations.

Tell your elected officials to Play Fair!

The Play Fair Coalition is asking the Mayor and the City Council to direct much-needed maintenance and operations funding to the NYC Parks Department. Although City parks make up 14% of NYC’s land, last year the agency only received a meager 0.59% of the total City budget. For too long, parks and gardens have been overlooked as essential infrastructure for healthy neighborhoods.

Now is the time to demand change and Play Fair!

The Play Fair Coalition is asking for the following additions to the FY20 City budget:

Investing in Park Staffing and Maintenance Infrastructure:

• $10M means that once and for all, 100 City Park Workers and 50 Gardeners will have secure, stable green jobs.
• $4M provides an investment in natural forest care to help protect NYC from climate change.
• $65M would provide funding for more parks of all sizes to have full-time, dedicated staff to help keep things clean and green.
• About $8M would fund improvements for every GreenThumb community garden in the City.

Investments in Programming:

• $4M would fund more seasonal after-school programs and other programming for children and families.
• $9M means that natural areas and parks are better preserved, protected, and made safer.

The Play Fair Coalition includes:

Abraham Lincoln Neighborhood Development Association, Alley Pond Environmental Center, Inc., Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Astoria Park Alliance, Bedford Mosholu Community Association, Bronx Coalition for Parks & Green Spaces, Bronx Council for Environmental Quality, Bronx Park East Community Association, Bronx River Alliance, Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, Brooklyn Parks & Open Space Coalition, Cadman Park Conservancy / Brooklyn War Memorial, Carnegie Hill Neighbors, Central Park Conservancy, City Parks Foundation, Coastal Preservation Network, Cobble Hill Association, Common Ground Compost, Coney Island Beautification Project, Court Square Civic Association, D.C. 37 (founding member), D.C. 37 Retirees Association, Douglastown Local Development Corporation, Downtown Alliance, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, El Jardin del Paraiso, Elmhurst Supporters for Parks, Fort Greene Park Conservancy, Fort Tryon Park Trust, Friends of Abe Lebewohl Park, Friends of Alley Pond Park, Friends of Bellevue South Park, Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park, Friends of Brower Park, Inc., Friends of Carroll Park, Friends of Corlears Hook Park, Friends of Cunningham Park, Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, Friends of Forest Park, Friends of Inwood Hill Park, Friends of MacDonald Park, Friends of Morningside Park, Friends of Mosholu Parkland, Friends of Morningside Park, Friends of Pelham Bay Park, Friends of Pelham Parkway, Friends of Pelham Parkway, Friends of Springfield Park, Friends of the High Line, Friends of Tompkins Square Dog Run, Friends of Tremont Park, Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, Friends of 4 Parks Alliance, GallopNYC, Gehl Institute, Gowanus Canal Conservancy, Green Guerillas, Green Park Gardeners NYC, New York City Council Member and Chair of the Council Committee on Parks and Recreation Barry S. Grodenchik (founding member), Health Essential Association, Hudson River Park Trust, Hunters Point Parks Conservancy, Inwood Hill Park Conservancy, Jackson Heights Beautification Group, Jamaica Bay - Rockaway Parks Conservancy, Leilani S. Boykin Consulting, Love Our Pool, Loving the Bronx, Lower East Side Ecology Center, Madison Square Park Conservancy, Marcus Garvey Park Alliance, Municipal Art Society, National Parks Conservation Association, Natural Areas Conservancy, New York City Audubon Society, New York City Community Garden Coalition, New York League of Conservation Voters (founding member), New Yorkers for Parks (founding member), New York Restoration Project, North American Climate, Conservation and Environment, North Brooklyn Parks Alliance, Prospect Park Alliance, Randall's Island Park Alliance, Red Hook Conservancy, Riverside Park Conservancy, Rude Grooms, Sara D. Roosevelt Park Coalition, Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, Stewards of Brust Park, Survivor I Am / Friends of Bufano Park, The Bronx is Blooming, The Brotherhood Sister Sol, The Freshkills Park Alliance, The Lowline, The Nature Conservancy New York, The New York Landmarks Conservancy, The Trust for Public Land, Times Square Alliance, Union Square Partnership, United Athletic Association, Waterfront Alliance, 10th & Stuyvesant Streets Block Association, and 52 People for Progress.