Will the next mayor finally allocate 1% of the NYC budget for parks?

A 1% carve-out in the New York City budget exclusively for parks has been a more than decade-long goal for environmental advocates, who say public green spaces are critical to any citywide effort to mitigate the effects of climate change or bolster public health. Mayor Eric Adams committed to that long-desired 1% on the campaign trail, but those funding levels have yet to materialize during his tenure.

This year, Parks saw an allocation of $688 million, or 0.59% of the total budget – a boost from last year’s 0.55%, but still far short of a full 1%, which would’ve amounted to $1.16 billion. With a likely administration transition on the horizon, advocates think this could be an opportunity to finally get there.

The Play Fair for Parks coalition steered by New Yorkers for Parks, the New York League of Conservation Voters and public sector employees union DC37, is launching a revamped platform called “Parks 2030.”

“This is a comprehensive platform that is teed up for a mayoral candidate that has vision for the future of New York City,” said New Yorkers for Parks Executive Director Adam Ganser.

“It lays out a transformative vision for public space in our city,” added City Council Parks Committee Chair Shekar Krishnan. “Opening up our schoolyards as public playgrounds, investing in our open streets, and having a city that prioritizes the management of open space.”

Beyond the 1% goal, growing the department’s workforce is another priority: The platform calls for permanent, full-time staffers on site daily in every park across the city. Currently, Parks staffers work in mobile crews that split their time between multiple locations every day.  

“These are union jobs, jobs that allow people to live in New York City, build up the middle class – the very people that you hear every candidate talk about – and the parks department just needs more of them,” Ganser said. 

Directing more funds, outside of the baseline 1%, toward new capital projects is another major goal. Ganser said he wants to see a Bloomberg-esque wave of ambition to expand the parks system from the city’s next mayor – the platform calls for at least one new 20-acre park in each borough. New parks could be helpful in mitigating the effects of climate change. Greater tree canopy coverage across the city can cool temperatures and help manage stormwater as flood risk rises.

The Parks budget has comprised a smaller and smaller portion of the overall budget throughout the decades since the city’s fiscal crisis in the 1970s and early 1980s. Advocates for 1% often point out that plenty of cities across the country – including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago – allocate between 1.5% and 4% of their budgets to parks. 

The Parks budget reached a high point of 0.63% of the city’s budget at $587.2 million in 2020. A steep decrease followed in 2021, plunging the budget down to 0.57% of the city budget at $503.1 million. Between that year and 2025, Parks has seen funding consistently above $600 million, but their funds account for a smaller and smaller share of the growing city budget overall. In 2025, Parks’ allotment came out to 0.55% – its lowest share in over a decade. 

Krishnan said he’s optimistic about a potential Mamdani administration’s political will to boost Park funding. The two Queens reps have discussed access to green space as part of an affordability agenda, he said. 

“He’s been very clear in articulating to all of New York City, and to me, the importance he places on it,” Krishnan said.