
Map prepared by Stephanie Kranes
New York City Independent Budget Office
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The Covid-19 pandemic underscored the importance of parks and open space in the city’s neighborhoods, especially when many other amenities closed. Given the social distancing measures put in place to help limit the spread of the virus, equity of green space around the city—always an important issue—became even more important. In neighborhoods where park space is scarce, social distancing measures meant opportunities for passive recreation became more limited and exercise such as jogging or walking more difficult. While the new Open Streets program offers some additional space, vehicle-free streets are not the same as a park. IBO examined how the availability of park space per capita varies across New York City.
IBO apportioned park space to nearby census tracts using a nearest neighbor analysis accounting for distance to the nearest park and assuming that many residents would walk up to a mile to a park. This assumption is less realistic for more car-dependent parts of Staten Island or eastern Queens, where it may be more common to drive to a park and green space outside the city park system is more abundant. The analysis also excludes non-green spaces operated by the parks department such as such as plazas or triangles, athletic facilities and recreation centers.
Prepared by Daniel Huber
New York City Independent Budget Office
Print version available here.
SOURCE: IBO analysis of data from the Department of City Planning and Department of Parks and Recreation