Nissi Lauren
Professor Carr
English 110
March 28, 2019
The Lack of Park & Recreational Programs In NYC
What are parks and recreation? These are assets and services that are provided to people and animals for leisure, entertainment and recreational objectives. Today, with budget cuts for NYC, there aren’t as much recreational programs for children to participate in. It is imperative for children to be involved in sports so that they will have a more active, healthy lifestyle, make friends and develop skills for example teamwork, leadership and confidence. The lack of park and recreation programs in NYC due to budget cuts and costs leads to the difficulty for children to remain active in sports.
The absence of recreational programs in NYC due to budget cuts and costs leads to the difficulty for children to remain active in sports. There are numerous recreational programs in New York City throughout all five boroughs. Some featured parks in NYC that people have ventured to often are Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Central Park, Coney Island Beach & Boardwalk, Bronx Park and Brookfield Park. “We operate more than 800 athletic fields and nearly 1,000 playgrounds, 1,800 basketball courts, 550 tennis courts, 65 public pools, 51 recreational facilities, 15 nature centers, 14 golf courses, and 14 miles of beaches. We care for 1,200 monuments and 23 historic house museums.” (NYC Parks). There are multiple programs and areas for children and adults to be active. The Park and Recreation has more than 30,000 acres of land which covers 14% of New York City giving a total of 5,000 different activities to do. One of the most popular activities that are done around NYC is to visit Bryant Park. Here, hundreds of people visit the park each day to go for a run, walk their dog and play some sports in the grass and courts provided to the public. The Bryant Park Corporation states, “The park reopened in 1992 after four years of renovation with a budget six times the level under prior city management.It is the largest effort in the nation to apply private management backed by private funding to a public park, and it has been a success with public, press, and nearby institutions.” Due to giving a wide budget for a park like this, today there are budget cuts for new recreation programs and parks to be created. New York citizens should have more recreational programs for children to be able to participate in more. It can help develop the lives of children physically, mentally and socially.
Budget cuts and costs to build recreational programs are abundant. The parks and programs give essential resources for those who live in the city. “Since 2014, the city has launched the Community Parks Initiative and Anchor Parks Initiative, directing hundreds of millions of dollars to improve chronically underfunded parks… the city will have to invest at least $5.8 billion over the coming decade to address the system’s infrastructure problems.” (Surico). Currently, the city is focused on repairing parks and recreation programs rather than create new ones. This alone would take various time and effort to complete. Until today, the last major upgrade for New York City’s public parks on average was during the 1990’s across all five boroughs which is a long time ago. “For park acres as percentage of land area, New York is ranked the highest at 19.5%. However, New York is ranked low for park acres per capita with 4.5 acres per president.” (Trust for Public Land). This shows how New York is known for having various parks and programs for its people to do. Parks and recreation programs aren’t doing too well due to the budget cuts that lost more than half of their staff. “As a result of the severe market declines that occurred in both the early and late 2000s, and the benefit enhancements granted in 2000, the funded status of the plans plummeted. These investment losses along with the benefit enhancements, translated into substantial increases in the City’s required contributions to the retirement systems.” (Bloomberg). The fiscal crisis that occurred in the 1970’s left the parks as just places instead of facilities leading to be polluted, vandalized, misconduct and crimes. Before this, the parks and programs were operating quite well, full of life and activity. Mayor Bloomberg has increased funds in capital projects and has cut the budget for New York City’s parks and recreation programs.
The depletion of recreational programs in NYC due to budget cuts and costs leads to the difficulty for children to remain active in sports. The park and recreation programs are needed for children to stay active and build physical and social connections. “In 2013, 65% of participants lost weight and experienced improved health benefits. 83% of participants reported an increase in energy. “Since joining Shape Up, I have much more energy. I used to tire easily, now I have stamina and endurance. I love it!” – Shape Up NYC Participant” (NYC Service). Out of multiple recreation programs, one of them called Shape Up helped people enjoy exercise helping them improve in weight lost, health and energy. Shape Up is a program that helps people lose weight through exercise. This shows how important recreation programs are to people. It helps everyone stay active, have improvements in health and lets them enjoy their time. “Public park and recreation agencies create healthy communities and play a fundamental role in enhancing the physical environments in which we live. Through facilities, outdoor settings, and services provided, they support good health for people of all abilities, ages, socio‐economic backgrounds, and ethnicities.” (National Recreation and Park Association). People want to live in a community that will support their lifestyle, especially living in a diverse place like New York City. The lifestyle of physical activity can help reduce obesity and chronic diseases. The more exercise one gets, the more content the body and mind will be. These recreation programs strive for the increase of public access in physical opportunities and enhanced nutrition.
In conclusion, the lack of park and recreation programs in NYC due to budget cuts and costs leads to the difficulty for children to remain active in sports. Parks and recreation programs are important factors in our community so that people are able to remain active and refresh their minds. There is a lack of these programs that needs to be improved and added in New York City but due to budget cuts, it is difficult for these factors to happen.
Reflection
The genre of work I am reflecting on in this writing piece is an expository essay. An expository essay is a writing genre that explores an idea by explaining and clarifying. This paper explores why there is a lack of parks and recreation programs that have great influence in people specifically in New York City. It explains the conflicts as to why it is difficult for the government to improve the parks and recreation centers. The paper also explores the budget cuts and costs of the projects in New York City. These programs strive for the increase of public access in physical opportunities and enhanced nutrition. The exigence of this paper would be my relationship worth sports. I have actually been to many recreation programs, parks and events including open gyms to participate in sports. Seeing how these programs affected me positively, I wanted to show the audience on why the programs are imperative. The purpose of this paper is to inform the readers the significance recreation programs and parks have on people, especially children and why there is an absence in improving them. The intended audience would be for government officials who can look to make a change, people in their community who are active in sports, etc. My stance for this topic is concise yet explanatory. The media of this paper is through text as an expository essay. I believe this assignment helped me achieve numerous course learning outcomes such as finding research sources, finding texts and quotes that supported my thesis and creating citations.
Sources
“About the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.” About Parks : NYC Parks. Website.
Trust for Public Land. “City Park Facts” Trust for Public Land. Website.
“A New Leaf: Revitalizing New York City’s Aging Parks Infrastructure.” Center for an Urban Future. Website.
“Shape Up NYC: About the Initiative”. NYC.gov/service. Website.
DCAS – For City Employees – Leadership Institute Class of 2013. Website.
“Office of Management and Budget: Frequently Asked Questions.” NYC.gov. Website.
“The National Recreation and Parks Association.” Role of Parks and Recreation on Health and Wellness | Position Statement | National Recreation and Park Association. Website.
“A New Leaf: Revitalizing New York City’s Aging Parks Infrastructure.” Center for an Urban Future (CUF). eBook.
The dilemma I had with this essay is mostly from the reflection paper. I need to work on and develop the reflection part more and explain the use of Course Learning Outcomes whether I was able to use/understand them or not. The professor says that I should have focused on specific programs and how it impacted the youth instead of talking about other factors.
