As Parks Get Shortchanged on City Budget, NYC Biodiversity Faces Risks, Report Says

A current statement by the NYC Biodiversity Task Force says the city demands more funds to protect its increasingly at-risk fauna and flora Jamaica Bay in Queens is a critical habitat for birds supporting several species Photo by Adi Talwar Most of people think of New York City as a concrete jungle where nature is hard to find But a new description on the importance of protecting the Big Apple s biodiversity begs to differ The city is also a rich ecological hotspot that rare species like the Monarch Butterfly the Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog and the endangered Butternut tree call home the account notes We have a lot of nature here It s really critical to highlight that because when we don t city executives undermine it disclosed botanist Marielle Anzelone lead author of the summary and co-founder of the NYC Biodiversity Task Force which published it function d u ac var s d createElement 'script' s type 'text javascript' s src 'https a omappapi com app js api min js' s async true s dataset user u s dataset campaign ac d getElementsByTagName 'head' appendChild s document 'u kmqsczew vunxutxmd' Last month budget negotiations came to a close with New York City setting aside only percent of its billion budget for the Parks Department which is in charge of managing the city s fauna and flora A chronically underfunded Parks Department which has received between and percent of the city s total budget for years and the lack of a citywide biodiversity protection plan puts the city s natural wonders at liability the overview says The Big Apple has already lost percent of its salt marshes and percent of its freshwater wetlands and streams over the last years according to the account thanks in large part to coastal fill and improvement This makes the plants and animals that depend on these systems extraordinarily rare in the five boroughs the analysis notes New York is located along the Atlantic Flyway a major migratory path that hundreds of species of birds bats butterflies and dragonflies pass through annually relying on its green spaces and waterways to find shelter as they do They find solace in the mosaic of ecosystems that cover approximately acres of land across the five boroughs from forests to grasslands beaches and freshwater wetlands Wetlands on Staten Island Photo by Adi Talwar New Yorkers might spot the American Beaver lurking in the Bronx River or come across native kinds of bees buzzing through its skyscrapers Keeping the city s biodiversity alive is pivotal because thriving ecosystems guarantee cleaner air and water cooler temperatures and prevent diseases This is especially central in low-income communities as the neighborhoods with the highest poverty rates in the five boroughs also have the highest asthma rates according to the city s Strength Department To keep this vast ecologically rich setting alive and thriving the city demands to pour more tools and political willpower into protecting it the NYC Biodiversity Task Force says The city s Parks Department which manages acres of parkland where ecologically considerable fauna and flora thrive has been chronically underfunded for decades Back in the s Parks received percent of the city s budget according to the non-profit New Yorkers for Parks But after a fiscal predicament hit in the late s the agency s budget was slashed to between percent and percent where it remains nowadays By comparison other major U S cities like Los Angeles Chicago and Minneapolis reportedly dedicate between and percent of their municipal budgets to parks When Mayor Eric Adams campaigned for office he promised to dedicate percent of the city s total budget to parks but has yet to make due on his pledge Parks does plan to spend billion on capital improvements over the next years which includes million for land acquisition tree planting and green infrastructure the mayor s office noted in an email And in the preponderance up-to-date budget deal for fiscal year which elected bureaucrats finalized last month million was set aside for parks That includes a million bump than what City Hall initially intended to spend when funding negotiations first kicked off the mayor s office noted in an email But the budget falls short of the million environmental advocates stated is needed to restore vital staff positions that help take care of the city s natural wonders The final budget does guarantee million to hire over additional parks maintenance workers and lift a current hiring freeze for certain positions Still the new budget only restores roughly one fourth of the positions leaving the Parks Department down roughly positions still according to the Play Fair for Parks Coalition Central Park Daniel Avila NYC Parks We ve made major investments to improve our parks and community amenities including increasing the Parks budget and headcount to their highest level as we aim to reach the percent target a City Hall spokesperson declared in an email But taking care of the city s biodiversity shouldn t fall on the shoulders of the Park s Department alone Anzelone says They are not able to do this work on their own Nor should the topic of biodiversity be siloed into just the Parks Department We need a citywide plan to protect our natural atmosphere Anzelone mentioned The city does have a biodiversity population awareness campaign and it leads the Forever Wild Project which aims to protect ecologically critical habitats across the parks system It also operates a Plant Ecology Center and Nursery that includes the largest municipal seed collection in the country according to City Hall While the administration has a plan to tackle atmosphere change and build a more resilient city through its PlaNYC agenda Anzelone says it lacks a comprehensive biodiversity blueprint to protect fauna and flora New York City is a situation leader We want New York City to be a biodiversity leader too she added To reach the reporter behind this story contact Mariana citylimits org To reach the editor contact Jeanmarie citylimits org Want to republish this story Find City Limits reprint procedures here The post As Parks Get Shortchanged on City Budget NYC Biodiversity Faces Risks Document Says appeared first on City Limits