Parks department forges ahead with expansion plans

The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation is on target for all their PlaNYC goals, Commissioner Adrian Benepe told American City, a magazine which promotes economic growth. Since many of the early-action aspects of PlaNYC were in parks, the department was able to accomplish a lot, Benepe said. As part of its goal to have a park or playground within a 10 minute walk of every New Yorker, the department has transformed 165 part-time schoolyards into full-time playgrounds and there’s been a 16.5 percent increase in the number of playgrounds overall. Another big project of the parks department is the creation or enhancement of major regional parks in eight neighborhoods across the city, including the renovation of the McCarren Park pool in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and the new construction of an indoor track and field facility in Staten Island. The other six are centered on the development of previously undeveloped parks. In its million trees projects, the department is 13 percent ahead of
schedule, and as of November, it planted 402,000 trees in three years,
as part of a goal to plant one million trees in 10 years. [American City]