Over the following two weekends, New Yorkers for Parks (NY4P) will distribute practically a million daffodil bulbs and native plant seeds to group organizations for planting throughout the town.
Underneath the Daffodil Undertaking, the group’s annual volunteer effort, NY4P promotes the planting of a dwelling memorial to the victims of 9/11 and COVID-19, whereas encouraging New Yorkers to help its “1% for Parks” marketing campaign –– an effort to get the town to boost its annual funding for parks from 0.6% to 1% of the town’s $115 billion funds.
“Parks misplaced practically 800 positions during the last three years. On this final funds, there have been some positions restored, however nowhere close to the quantity which were misplaced,” factors out Adam Ganser, NY4P’s govt director.
As a substitute of reducing jobs, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has merely not crammed the spots that had been left open as workers vacated varied Parks Division positions between 2023 and 2025.
“So, we actually missed the chance to make the Parks Division complete once more,” stated Ganser. “Truthfully, I feel it’s out of step with what New Yorkers need. New Yorkers need secure, inexperienced, clear, public open areas and parks. That’s by no means been extra true than after the pandemic; you see increasingly individuals utilizing these areas.”
“And New York simply isn’t preserving in line…with what New Yorkers need or preserving tempo with different main cities,” Ganser continued. “Most different main cities are investing 2% to five% of their funds into their parks. And New York is caught at 0.5% or 0.6%.”
Nationally, funding for parks varies extensively: Minneapolis allocates 5.3% of its funds, Chicago provides 3.5%, Los Angeles 2.9%, and San Francisco 1.6%. Regardless of having a park system spanning 30,000 acres, New York Metropolis has persistently spent lower than one % of its funds on its parks since 1979.
To advocate for elevated funding, NY4P not too long ago launched its “Parks 2030” platform, which particulars methods for enhancing metropolis parks and serving to to struggle local weather change. In April, NY4P and the Heart for New York Metropolis and State Regulation hosted a mayoral candidates’ discussion board to get the following metropolis leaders interested by how they might deal with these points. Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani and Mayor Adams pledged help for the 1% for Parks initiative. Mamdani proposed funding parks with income from property gross sales. Though Adams initially promised to allocate extra funds for parks when he turned mayor in 2022, his administration has not but adopted by way of. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s group has not launched particular plans for metropolis parks.
NY4P is showcasing the challenges confronted by parks by way of occasions just like the Daffodil Undertaking. Final weekend, they handed out daffodils and native flowers at Soundview Park within the Bronx and Prospect Park Plaza West in Brooklyn. Contributors needed to register beforehand to get seeds. To affix the waitlist for upcoming seed giveaways over the following two weeks in Jackson Heights, Queens; Union Sq. in Manhattan; A. Philip Randolph Sq. in Harlem; Willowbrook Park in Staten Island; and Far Rockaway, go to ny4p.org/the-daffodil-project.
The Daffodil Undertaking serves as a memorial to 9/11; having begun the yr after the assaults. “Lots of the individuals who first began planting daffodils had been instantly impacted by that tragic second,” notes Ganzer. “However what it has develop into now’s this huge group planting second. Individuals come from group gardens, neighborhood associations, colleges, and parks all throughout the town. They arrive to those distributions, and once they take bulbs dwelling with their associates, household, and neighbors, they plant them in avenue tree beds or in a neighborhood park with the Parks Division. So while you see a daffodil within the metropolis — and there are hundreds of thousands blooming in March and April — they’ve all come from this undertaking.”
If planted this September, these native and perennial daffodil and wildflower seeds, sourced from the NYC Parks Plant Ecology Heart and Nursery, will bloom and be seen all through the town subsequent spring. “Ecologically applicable vegetation and seeds are vital for the conservation of our metropolis’s 20,000 acres of inexperienced and blue areas,” stated Seth August of NYC Parks Plant Ecology Heart and Nursery. “In partnering with the Daffodil Undertaking for the second yr in a row, we’re thrilled to empower park supporters and volunteers to make an excellent greater affect in enhancing their group inexperienced areas. This initiative gives a singular alternative for fostering biodiversity and civic engagement throughout all 5 boroughs.”
