Harlem Walk & Talk

On April 18th, come out and let your neighbors and elected officials know how you feel about your local park or lack of a local park. If you cannot show up, send your opinion to your local elected -- Councilman Shaun Abreu, Councilman Yusef Salaam, Councilwoman Carmen de La Rosa and Councilwoman Elsie Encarnacion. You can also send your opinion to Councilman Ty Hankerson who chairs the Parks Committee for the NYC Council. Below is my testimony to his committee. Your voice does matter.

Testimony

My name is Savona Bailey-McClain, and I am the Executive Director & Chief Curator of the West Harlem Art Fund. Our organization presents public art in West Harlem parks and across the City of New York. While I am saddened to hear Parks' Operations budget may be reduced by $33 million, potentially resulting in the loss of 100 jobs, this can still be a chance to implement some innovative reforms.

In the meantime, what can we do? We can rotate staff between different units. This move can increase workforce flexibility, boost skills, and reduce boredom and burnout. Approximately 44% of Park staff are people of color with few opportunities for advancement or livable wages. Employees could benefit from exposure to other occupations and cross-training, which could raise morale, address staffing shortages, and improve loyalty. Like learning how to tree climb and prune. Pays very well. Trainees don’t need advance skills.

Administration teams can work in the field to understand the challenges their colleagues truly face everyday and assist with problem solving.

Permitting special events should be made easier. For many, our parks serve as New Yorkers’ backyards. They can’t go to the Hamptons or the Jersey Shore for recreation. Our local parks offer a quality of life. Let New Yorkers know their lives are valued. You can start by activating fewer clean-ups as a primary form of stewardship. Offer the public gardening opportunities or more nature-based programming like birding or stargazing. Make stewardship fun.

Reevaluate capital projects. It takes 5 years to realize a capital project. Let’s select better materials to make capital projects last longer, 7-10 years before maintenance. Not 4-6 years if you are lucky.

Get agencies to collaborate on climate change impacts. Example: New porous pavements are now available. Pair them with rain gardens, and you can mitigate flooding citywide and save money. Have DOT and DBO use Cool pavements, roofs and walls methods that can reflect sun rays back into the sky and lower our heat index. Rodent infestation is a real problem. We tend to ignore the impacts of large rodents in our parks. No one agency, person or organization can do it all. Everyone has to help by picking up their own trash to taking care of the street tree in front of their building or on their block.

Let’s leverage resources with agencies and their leaders until we can generate more revenue.