City Releases New Budget with Funding for Prospect Park

On July 1, the City began a new budget year. Thanks to the dedicated advocacy of community members and our elected officials Prospect Park, Brooklyn’s flagship park, received both capital and expense allocations to keep the park green and thriving. 

Funding for capital improvements in Prospect Park included $5 million from Mayor Adams for Phase II of our Lakeshore restoration; $765,000 from Council Members Rita Joseph and Crystal Hudson for the restoration of the Willink Restroom in the Children’s Corner; $750,000 from Council Member Shahana Hanif through Participatory Budgeting to add a handrail and lighting to a steep woodland path connecting the Nethermead and Long Meadow via Fallkill Falls; $500,000 from Council Member Joseph for improvements to the Parkside Avenue Perimeter; and another $500,000 from Council Member Rita Joseph through Participatory Budgeting to improve the pathways at Lincoln Road Playground.

In addition, the Alliance received important funding for its operations in the park, including $50,000 from Council Speaker Adrienne Adams toward our ReImagine Lefferts initiative, which is reinterpreting the park’s historic house museum to focus on on exploring the lives, resistance and resilience of the Indigenous people of Lenapehoking, whose unceded ancestral lands the park and house rests upon, and the Africans enslaved by the Lefferts family. The Alliance also received $39,000 in funding from Council Member Shahana Hanif through the Council’s Greener NYC Initiative and her member discretionary funds, as well as $10,000 from Council Member Crystal Hudson through the Council’s Parks Equity Initiative, for our work to sustain the park’s natural areas. 

“We are grateful to the Mayor, the Council Speaker, our local Council Members and our community for their support of Prospect Park,” said Prospect Park Alliance President Morgan Monaco. “Welcoming millions of community members each year, Prospect Park is truly Brooklyn’s Backyard and depends upon — and along with our thriving network of green spaces across New York City, our park needs  the City to remain the vital community space that we know and love. We urge our community to continue advocating for our Brooklyn gem and for parks across our city.”

In Prospect Park, the City and Prospect Park Alliance work hand in hand to care for Brooklyn’s Backyard, with the Alliance taking care of the “green and blue” landscapes (woodlands and waterways), and the City taking the lead in basic maintenance and trash management. With respect to the larger Play Fair campaign, which lobbied for the full restoration of a 5% budget cut on the City parks operating budget, the City restored some cuts for essential park operations including the Second Shift program, which provides evening cleaning staff at 100 city hotspots, including Brooklyn’s Backyard. A hiring freeze was also lifted for some field positions. In addition, the Council renewed one-time funding for several essential programs including $4.1 million for Urban Park Rangers, $2.6 million for the City’s Green Thumb Program, and $2 million for tree stump removal.

In Prospect Park, to supplement the City’s role in park maintenance, the Alliance funds a partnership with the non-profit ACE New York, which provides supplementary cleanup crews on peak weekdays and weekends. This year, in response to city budget cuts, the Alliance has expanded this program. The Alliance also continues to work with the Play Fair Coalition to advocate for increased funding for NYC Parks citywide, with the goal of having 1% of the city budget dedicated to the care of city parks. 

Learn more about Play Fair and how you can get involved on the New Yorkers for Parks website. 

Learn more about improvements in Prospect Park on our Capital Projects Tracker.