New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams and New York Metropolis Division of Parks & Recreation Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa.
Michael Appleton/Mayoral Images Workplace
Regardless of all of the rain we’ve got been getting lately, summer season simply unofficially started in New York Metropolis with Memorial Day. The times are getting longer and hotter, our seashores are open, and, for the primary time within the metropolis’s recorded historical past, there have been no shootings on the Sunday earlier than Memorial Day — additional proof that our administration’s method to preserving New York Metropolis the most secure massive metropolis in America is working. Final week, we kicked off the “We Outside Summer,” a collection of investments, bulletins, and programming throughout the 5 boroughs to make sure New Yorkers have a secure and enjoyable summer season in our parks, playgrounds, and in all places else outside. We’ll proceed to roll out bulletins all through the summer season, however right here’s a few of what we introduced this previous week as we proceed to make New York Metropolis the perfect place to lift a household.
We all know that because the climate warms, New Yorkers are longing for extra out of doors house. However for too many households, inexperienced house is out of attain and too removed from their neighborhoods and communities. That is precisely why we kicked off work final week to rework vacant, deserted tons into parks and put extra greenspace inside strolling distance of 1000’s of extra New Yorkers who don’t presently have entry to them. We’re beginning in East New York and Cypress Hill in Brooklyn, in addition to Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, and Corona in Queens, and we are going to broaden from there.
Our “Vacant Lots to Parks” initiative is a good instance of presidency working to chop crimson tape and suppose creatively about delivering extra inexperienced areas to areas most in want. It additionally builds on the work our administration has executed to broaden entry to parks. Since taking workplace, we’ve got added over 86 acres of parkland throughout New York Metropolis, placing tens of 1000’s of extra New Yorkers inside strolling distance of a park.
However we’re not stopping there; as a part of “We Outside Summer,” we additionally introduced the completion of a $23 million challenge to rework public areas and playgrounds at six NYCHA developments. Not solely will these new public areas serve NYCHA residents, they’ll additionally serve those that reside within the neighborhoods round them. All of those initiatives collectively have helped improve the whole proportion of New Yorkers now inside a 10-minute stroll of a park to greater than 84 precent.
We all know we additionally want to provide our younger individuals stimulating actions for the summer season months when they’re out of faculty. We have to attain them earlier than they fall into the rivers of violence, as a result of by the point somebody has a gun of their hand, it’s typically too late. That’s why we introduced $13 million in everlasting funding to help at-risk youth, justice-involved New Yorkers, and folks residing in neighborhoods with excessive charges of violence. And for the second straight summer season, we’re investing $2 million to supply prolonged hours at choose Beacon, Cornerstone, and Saturday Night time Lights applications, particularly in NYPD precincts with the best ranges of gun violence. These applications give our children a secure place to collect and thrive.
We’re moreover making certain our younger individuals have on-ramps to success proper from the beginning by our Summer season Rising program that has supported a document 100,000 summer season job alternatives yearly for younger individuals. We all know that if we spend money on our younger individuals in the course of the summer season months and provides them alternate options, we are able to preserve them secure and on the best path.
Lastly, we’re making the world’s most iconic inexperienced house even safer! Central Park is New York Metropolis’s yard however points like unlawful merchandising, overflowing trash, extreme noise, substance use, and extra have persevered for much too lengthy, and so they typically spike in the summertime months and should be addressed. This previous week, we introduced the “Central Park Community Link,” a multi-agency response aimed toward addressing public security and enhancing the standard of life in and round Central Park.
We all know that New Yorkers and vacationers are fed up with quality-of-life considerations, and I need to be clear, our administration doesn’t tolerate an environment the place something goes. We prioritize working hand-in-hand with communities to maintain our neighborhoods secure, clear, and cozy as a way to take pleasure in summer season within the biggest metropolis on the earth. That is simply the beginning of the “We Outside Summer,” and because the climate heats up, we’ll preserve sharing extra methods we’re working to ship a secure and enjoyable summer season for all.
