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Brooklyn’s parks have flourished under Bloomberg’s tenure. “Since Mr. Bloomberg took office in 2002, his administration has set aside some $6 billion for constructing new parks and improving existing ones, compared with roughly $1 billion spent in the previous decade” throughout the city reported The Wall Street Journal. But his innovation — a reliance on private sources of funding for those parks — is controversial. Prospect Park has a conservancy that raises money from the public, but it still receives city money. Brooklyn Bridge Park, on the other hand, became self sustaining this year, with $6 million to $7 million of revenue already coming from the private residential and hotel development One Brooklyn Bridge Park at Pier 1 and other fees. Future developments, such as planned residential towers, will cover the park’s yearly budget, which will be $16 million by the end of 2017, according to the story. The 85 acres of land covered by the park was a shipping terminal for Port Authority until the 1980s. A 2002 deal between then-Governor George Pataki and Bloomberg used $360 million in state and city funds to create the park. But the decision to set aside park grounds for income generating privately developed residential towers is controversial, with critics contending it’s an inappropriate use of public space. What do you think is the best way to fund green space in Brooklyn?

New York City’s Parks Grow With Private Funds [WSJ]


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. Thinking outside of the box here… How about we arrest and imprison the mayor for illegally grabbing a third term, then seize all of his assets to create a park maintenance fund?

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