Department of Parks & Recreation
Streetsblog Basics
Underfunded Parks Dept. Should Offload Greenway Maintenance to DOT, Advocates Say
As the city begins to grow its greenway system, advocates are pushing City Hall to get the right agencies in charge of the right aspects of the current and future network.
July 10, 2023
Ocean Parkway Bike Lane Fixes Finally Begin After Years of Delays
Repairs have finally started on the busted-up bike lane.
May 4, 2023
Parks Department Finally Agrees It’s ‘Inappropriate’ to Let Drivers Defile Black History Sculpture
A top Parks Department official has admitted it's "inappropriate" that his agency has allowed drivers to defile a memorial to enslaved Africans by parking on the plaza in Foley Square — but the agency also said it is thinking about a fix, albeit with the NYPD.
May 2, 2023
Tuesday’s Headlines: The Circus Really Did Come To Town (And Rep. Malliotakis Made an Appearance) Edition
As predicted, the House Judiciary Committee field hearing in Lower Manhattan was a political sideshow inside and a clusterf**k of history outside. And Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island) stopped by to make everything oh so much worse. Plus other news.
April 18, 2023
Monday’s Headlines: Mayhem in Manhattan Edition
We'll be on hand House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan's field hearing today because major news events provide the Parks Department with regular excuses to allow everyone to park on and in Foley Square and Thomas Paine Park (pictured). But before that, let's get to the news.
April 17, 2023
Citi Bike Data Show How Many Cyclists Cross Central Park, Highlighting Need for Safe Routes
As the stewards of Central Park are studying how to make the green space safer for pedestrians and cyclists following a spate of crashes, new data shows that a whopping 38,852 people — more than 1,000 a day — traversed the park on Citi Bikes last August.
April 17, 2023
CYCLE OF RAGE: Why Does the Parks Dept. Let Drivers Defile Black History?
New York City would never allow people to park on top of its Holocaust memorial. And it would never let people drive on a major civil rights monument. Nor would it let people spew pollution at a national cemetery. Except that it would.
March 24, 2023
New Prospect Park Road Redesign Paves the Way for Central Park
Under the new design, people on bikes will share a 16-to-18 foot lane with "authorized vehicles," flanked by two separate pedestrian lanes — one 13-to-14 feet wide, the other six-to-eight feet wide.
March 8, 2023
SPACE HOGS: NYPD Cops Seize Clinton Hill Playground — Again!
Kids in Clinton Hill were unable to take advantage of an unseasonably warm January weekend because officers from the NYPD's 88th Precinct had once again used the Classon Playground to park their personal vehicles.
January 29, 2023
Three Council Members Whose Districts Surround Prospect Park Demand the Return of E-Bikes
Three Brooklyn Council members whose districts all touch Prospect Park are demanding that the Parks Department allow the battery-boosted bikes to be used inside the greenspace, which, like other city parks, don't permit e-bikes.
December 21, 2022
