{"id":328405,"date":"2026-08-24T14:42:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T14:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/328405\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T14:42:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T14:42:24","slug":"mamdani-touts-speedy-parks-repair-crews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/328405\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani Touts Speedy Parks Repair Crews"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> officially kicked off a new initiative to make emergency repairs at parks, playgrounds, and rec centers across the city, in three weeks or less.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The \u201cRenew Crew\u201d will bring 24 painters, electricians, plumbers and other workers to make fast improvements to Parks Department<\/a> sites.<\/p>\n

The repairs aren\u2019t major capital projects. Instead, the crew will focus on fixing broken water fountains, patching up asphalt on a basketball court<\/a>, or powerwashing a dirty bench.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Yorkers shouldn\u2019t have to wait months for the basic repairs that make our parks better,\u201d the mayor said in a statement. \u201cWe\u2019re going to get the job done quickly and make sure every neighborhood has public spaces that New Yorkers can be proud of.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a candidate, Mamdani promised to commit 1% of the city\u2019s overall budget to the Parks Department, which would be around $1.2 billion. In his first budget though, the agency received around $709 million<\/a>, short of the goal.<\/p>\n

MORE: A $17 Million Glow-Up For Flushing Meadows Corona Park<\/a><\/p>\n

Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura told The City Reporter these small repairs can greatly improve someone\u2019s experience at a park<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile you\u2019re waiting for a project to go through the capital process, we can do a lot to improve your play with just the skills and talents of our in-house folks,\u201d she said. \u201cThis was the idea that we would do very quick fixes but really improve the play quality.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Renew Crew will start off with in-house staff, they also plan to hire new people for it in the spring, Shimamura said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new team will be unveiled Monday at Dry Harbor Playground in Glendale, Queens, with work expected on two basketball courts, shuffleboard, bocce and horseshoe courts, a water fountain, fence posts and more. Crews were also set to put new protective flooring on playgrounds and improve plants around a 9\/11 memorial there, according to officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MORE: A Beginner\u2019s Guide to Birding in New York City<\/a><\/p>\n

The Parks Department already has a list of the places they\u2019ll hit first but are also hoping to hear from New Yorkers about where the Renew Crew can hit next.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be in there, be out there fast,\u201d Shimamura said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Parks department was reconstructing a playground in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, Aug. 21, 2026. Credit: Ben Fractenberg\/The City Reporter<\/p>\n

The Parks Department currently has 499 active construction projects around the city, from the design phase to active construction, according to its own tracker<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are also 225 proposed projects, and 128 partner projects, where they\u2019re working with another agency or private entity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since Jan. 1, there have been more than 93,000 311 complaints about Parks Department facilities, although not all of them are for repairs or maintenance issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve loved the mayor\u2019s \u2018pothole politics\u2019 approach<\/a>: fixing the Williamsburg Bridge bump<\/a>, filling the potholes, and taking care of the things New Yorkers encounter every day,\u201d Kathy Park Price, director of advocacy and policy at New Yorkers for Parks, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited to see our playgrounds getting some of that treatment too,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Zohran Mamdani officially kicked off a new initiative to make emergency repairs at parks, playgrounds, and rec…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[38493,9,24,55,54,56],"class_list":["post-328405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-department-of-parks-and-recreation","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}