This column originally appeared in The Politics Brief, our weekly newsletter on the people, power and policies that shape New Yorkers’ lives.<\/p>\n
Sign up<\/a> to get the full version where you can ask questions, share news tips and weigh in on the conversation. Hits inboxes on Wednesdays.<\/p>\n Parks advocates say Mayor Zohran Mamdani has failed to fulfill a campaign promise to fund New York City\u2019s green spaces just as they reach a breaking point.<\/p>\n Dirty bathrooms, overfilled trash bins and unmowed lawns have become all-too-common sights across the city\u2019s more than 1,700 parks. Park workers are also responsible for all of the city\u2019s trees. Since this week\u2019s blizzard, there were more than 1,800 complaints to 311 about tree damage. But the park\u2019s forestry unit is among the divisions affected by recent staffing cuts.<\/p>\n \u201cEach administration starts as though everything is fine,\u201d said Adam Ganser, the leader of New Yorkers for Parks, a nonprofit advocacy group. \u201cBut the basic things that you want in a thriving park system have not been the norm in New York City for decades now.\u201d<\/p>\n Adrian Benepe, a former parks commissioner, said that along with litter, he has noticed a dearth of gardeners. \u201cAnd that shows pretty quickly because if you don’t have gardeners maintaining a landscape, the weeds grow very fast in New York City,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of been heartbreaking because there was a time when the average park looked pretty clean and good, and that wasn’t so long ago,\u201d Benepe added.<\/p>\n After years near the top of the Trust for Public Land\u2019s ranking of big U.S. cities with the best parks, New York City has fallen out of the top 10. In 2025, it was ranked 13th<\/a>, trailing Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Boston.<\/p>\n Benepe, who previously worked for the Trust for Public Land, argued that the relative scarcity of open space means that New Yorkers \u201cdepend on parks far more than residents of other cities.\u201d<\/p>\n Not only did the mayor\u2019s preliminary budget fall short of his campaign promise to bring funding for parks up to 1% of the city\u2019s total budget, but his proposal also cuts $33.7 million from the parks budget. The total proposed spending on parks is around $654 million. That\u2019s out of a $127 billion budget, or roughly 0.5% \u2014 half of his pledge.<\/p>\n Former Mayor Eric Adams ironically began his tenure by adding more than 700 park positions, Ganser said. He also promised to devote 1% of the budget to parks but ended up making steep cuts that the parks have yet to recover from.<\/p>\n Last month, Ganser\u2019s group urged Mamdani to commit to greater funding in a letter<\/a> co-signed by more than 400 organizations. By their count, budget cuts from prior years have left the parks department short 600 positions.<\/p>\n Maintenance crews are stretched thin as a result of the staffing shortage. During the blizzard, parks staffers were deployed to help remove snow from roadways, bus shelters and crosswalks, Ganser said. \u201cThis of course means there are fewer parks workers in parks, clearing snow from parks,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n