A budget built to pressure Albany draws criticism from green space advocates
A Budget Contradiction: Mamdani and the Parks Funding Gap
Mayor Zohran Mamdani built his campaign in part on a promise to address the neglect of New York City’s parks, particularly in lower-income communities that have long received unequal green space investment compared to wealthy neighborhoods. As a state Assembly member, he was an outspoken critic of parks underfunding and its disproportionate impact on communities of color. Now, as mayor, his first budget proposal cuts funding to the Department of Parks and Recreation, a decision that has generated criticism from advocates and raised questions about the gap between campaign rhetoric and governing reality.
The Context: A Constrained Budget
The parks funding reduction cannot be fully understood without the broader fiscal context. Mamdani is governing with a projected $5.4 billion budget deficit and limited revenue tools available to him without state authorization. His preliminary $127 billion budget reflects what he describes as the difficult choices forced on him by an inherited structural imbalance and a federal government that is actively cutting urban support rather than expanding it. Parks funding is not the only area affected. The administration is making reductions across multiple agencies while pushing Albany to approve a millionaire’s tax that would provide the city with new revenue capacity.
What Advocates Are Saying
Environmental and parks equity advocates have been quick to push back. Organizations that have spent years documenting the inequality in New York City’s parks system, where wealthy neighborhoods like the Upper West Side and Park Slope have well-maintained green spaces funded partly by private conservancies, while low-income areas in the South Bronx and East New York have underfunded and deteriorating parks, argue that budget cuts to the parks department fall hardest on communities that already have the least. Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura was appointed in January 2026 with an explicit emphasis on parks as a public good available to all New Yorkers. Her appointment came with language about correcting historic inequities in parks investment. A budget cut in her first year complicates that mandate.
The History of Parks Inequity in New York City
The disparity in New York City’s park quality across income levels is well documented. A 2021 report from the Trust for Public Land found that low-income neighborhoods in New York City have significantly less park space per capita than affluent ones, and that park quality gaps mirror broader patterns of racial and economic segregation. Communities of color are twice as likely to live in park-poor areas, defined as having less than a quarter-acre of park within a ten-minute walk. The Trust for Public Land ParkScore system provides city-by-city data on park access and equity. New York consistently receives attention in that data for the wide disparity between its best and worst-served neighborhoods.
What Mamdani Has Said
The administration has not publicly detailed the specific reductions to the parks budget in a way that allows for precise analysis of which programs or capital projects are affected. Budget advocates are expected to seek that granularity during City Council budget hearings in the coming months. The Independent Budget Office of New York City, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog, will likely provide analysis of the parks allocations in its review of the preliminary budget. Parks advocates are urging the administration to restore funding and to use the budget negotiation process with the Council to protect green space investment even in a constrained fiscal environment. The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation oversees the city’s 30,000 acres of parkland, nearly 1,000 playgrounds, and 65 public pools, all of which depend on adequate annual funding to remain functional and equitable.
