A Nicer Park, But Not Too Nice

"A convertible, a wedding cake, and a city park all have one thing in common: No matter how sensitively designed and ingeniously constructed each one is, if you leave it out in the weather long enough, it will turn into a putrid mess. Parks resemble nature just enough to create the illusion that they don't need much care beyond mowing, leaf-blowing, and the occasional removal of a threatening tree."

"The Parks Department watches as best it can over 30,000 acres, spread across thousands of playgrounds, nature centers, beaches, and miniature oases. Central Park, after sliding into dereliction through the 1970s, now tends to itself, thanks to a private conservancy, wealthy neighbors, and its superstar status. Most of the rest rely on tax money to fund their endless wars of attrition against a hostile alliance of decrepitude: rats, garbage, weeds, algae, aged equipment, falling branches, shattered lights, erosion, and abuse."

"A report from the Center for an Urban Future details the damage that neglect has wrought on Queens's largest and most popular preserve, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. After even a mild rain, floodwaters sit for days, refusing to drain away. Real storms knock out whole sections of the park, turn sports fields into bogs, and reclog the drains so that conditions get ever more dire. Standing water on a flat field is a symptom of a landscape in distress. These meadows don't flush."

Parks require constant maintenance or they deteriorate into hazardous, unsightly spaces. New York's Parks Department manages about 30,000 acres across playgrounds, nature centers, beaches, and small green pockets. Central Park benefits from private funding and attentive neighbors, while most parks depend on limited public dollars and face persistent problems: pests, garbage, weeds, algae, aging equipment, fallen branches, broken lights, erosion, and abuse. Budget reductions have further constrained care. Flushing Meadows-Corona Park exhibits severe drainage failures: rain and storms leave standing water, flood sports fields, clog drains, and render sections unusable. Physical access to some parks often requires a car or strenuous effort.

Read at Curbed