New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams and Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella right now introduced that they’ve partnered to speculate practically $30 million of capital funding in three parks and public recreation initiatives on Staten Island.
Michael Appleton/Mayoral Pictures Workplace
From day one, our administration’s North Star has been public security. We have now gone to work to comb out crime and unlawful actions from our neighborhoods, and due to this work, we’re at the moment in our eighth consecutive quarter of crime reductions. Meaning for nearly two straight years — since January 2024 — crime has constantly declined every quarter in New York Metropolis.
However public security is about extra than simply policing. To ensure our communities really feel protected and are protected, we should make sensible, upstream investments that stop crime within the first place. We should spend money on our younger individuals and supply them with protected locations away from gun violence. Locations to only be youngsters, and to play and construct belief with legislation enforcement.
Final week, we opened the “Harlem Field of Dreams,” a state-of-the-art sporting subject in Harlem that can present an area for our younger individuals to play baseball, softball, soccer, soccer, and lacrosse, in addition to be taught life expertise and keep engaged in optimistic actions. First introduced in our State of the Metropolis tackle earlier this yr, this $11 million venture has turned a dilapidated subject right into a vibrant, protected, and enriching area for 800 youngsters in Harlem to play, be taught, and construct belief. With this new subject, mother and father can relaxation simple figuring out that the expansion and security of their youngster will not be restricted to the classroom. The programming on the Harlem Subject of Desires will hold our kids wholesome, engaged, and linked to their group.
This new facility will even assist inform the story of Brigadier Normal Younger. Born into slavery in 1864, Charles Younger graduated from West Level as solely the ninth Black cadet within the faculty’s historical past. His profession included a historic appointment as the primary Black Nationwide Parks superintendent. And up till his dying in 1922, he was the highest-ranking Black officer within the U.S. Military. The story of Brigadier Normal Charles Younger is one in all chance and perseverance — a narrative that the Harlem Subject of Desires will protect.
This venture additionally builds on our administration’s strategy to public security. By investing in free programming to maintain younger individuals protected and engaged, like Saturday Evening Lights and the New York Metropolis Soccer Initiative, the Harlem Subject of Desires upholds our dedication to creating sensible, upstream investments that stop crime within the first place.
Our Saturday Evening Lights program companions with 136 gyms throughout the 5 boroughs to create year-round protected areas for younger individuals to be taught and play each Saturday evening, fostering optimistic relationships and belief between younger individuals and cops. And the New York Metropolis Soccer Initiative promotes protected, energetic, and engaged communities, whereas additionally connecting younger males of shade with mentorship alternatives.
As a part of our dedication to creating New York Metropolis the most effective place to lift a household, alongside Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella, we additionally introduced over $30 million in investments in parks and recreation initiatives on Staten Island. These are investments made by way of our “Best Budget Ever” and contains funding that can improve the Bloomingdale Park playground, the Cosy Harbor Cultural Heart and Botanical Backyard, and the Staten Island Zoo — increasing entry to public areas and enhancing high quality of life for all Staten Islanders. We have now at all times been a five-borough administration, and these investments present precisely how we’re delivering for New Yorker in each nook of our metropolis.
Having leisure areas for our kids is crucial to constructing stronger communities. It’s when our children haven’t any place to go and nothing to do this the rivers of violence move. I used to be a younger man as soon as — dyslexic and on the flawed path at 15 years previous, however I used to be fortunate and obtained a second probability to show my ache into objective. Each younger particular person ought to have a possibility to thrive. We should give our younger individuals an alternate on the instances when crimes are almost definitely to be dedicated.
We can not give our younger individuals up for misplaced earlier than they’ve even began; that’s what the Fields of Desires and these public areas are all about.
Our parks and public areas play a vital function within the peacefulness of our neighborhoods. They provide a sea of greenery within the concrete jungle, and an space to calm down within the metropolis that by no means sleeps. They’re the place we come collectively, construct group, and take our kids to play. With these investments we’re making certain that New York Metropolis stays the most secure massive metropolis in America and the most effective place to lift a household.
