Push for parks funding Queens DA race heats up
ahead of June primary Coalition aims to boost funding for city green spaces
BY BILL PARRY
With less than a dozen
weeks to go until the
Democratic primary on
June 25, Queens Borough
President Melinda Katz
opened her first campaign
office in the crowded race for
district attorney.
Surrounded by colleagues
in government and more
than a hundred political
supporters, Katz opened the
location at 134-45 Building 19
in Rochdale Village, and she
plans to staff several other
locations across the borough.
“The energy and support
at today’s campaign office
opening shows just how
deeply Queens residents are
hoping for a new direction
and new priorities for our next
District Attorney,” Katz said.
“From getting guns off the
streets to protecting workers
to making sure every victim
of a sex crime is heard and
can find justice, we will bring
positive change to Queens’
criminal justice system. Real
change comes from everyone
working together, but we need
a criminal justice system
that treats everyone equally.
Together, we will make that
equal protection a reality for
every Queens resident.”
There are currently seven
candidates campaigning
to replace Queens District
Attorney Richard Brown who
decided against running for
re-election to the office he has
held since 1991.
City Councilman Rory
Lancman, career prosecutor
José Nieves, public defender
Tiffany Caban, former
Queens prosecutor Mina
Malik, attorney Betty Lugo
and former state Supreme
Court Justice Greg Lasak fill
out the field.
Last week, Lasak
announced his plan to hire
18 “community DAs” from
each of Queens 18 Assembly
Districts. Lasak said his plan
would provide a voice to the
greater Queens community
and increase diversity in
the DA’s office. This team
would seek to identify the
major criminal justice
issues affecting various
communities in the borough
and work with executive staff
and line assistants to help
find corresponding solutions.
“Our diversity is our
strength, and the District
Attorney’s office must
recognize and utilize that,”
Lasak said. “By hiring a
Community DA from each
of the 18 Assembly Districts,
we’ll diversify the office, the
perspectives within it, and the
corresponding solutions to
criminal justice issues. Given
the complexity of our borough
and the diverse backgrounds
from which we come, it’s
more important than ever
that every community has
a seat at the table, and that’s
exactly what these hires will
aim to achieve.”
Lasak has previously
criticized the lack of diversity
in the district attorney’s
office, especially in upper
management, and has pledged
to make diversity in hiring a
priority from day one.
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by e-mail at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 260–4538.
BY JENNA BAGCAL
City Councilman Barry
Grodenchik joined nearly 200
New Yorkers, environmental
activists, advocacy groups
and unions on the steps of City
Hall last week to introduce
a newly formed parks
advocacy coalition.
Members of the Play Fair
Coalition, which includes the
Queens councilman and Parks
and Recreation Committee
Chair, New Yorkers for
Parks, New York League of
Conservation Voters, D.C. 37
and over 60 other parks and
open space advocacy groups,
demanded that the city provide
an additional $100 million for
parks and green spaces.
The coalition introduced
the Play Fair campaign, a
new multi-year campaign
leading up to the 2021 mayoral
election that seeks to improve
the quality of New York City
parks, address climate change,
and create green jobs.
According to the coalition,
parkland comprises 14 percent
of all city land but the Parks
Department received only
0.59 percent of the city budget
in the current fiscal year.
They added that the 1970s was
the last time Parks received
at least 1 percent of the
city budget.
In their new proposal, the
Play Fair Coalition asked that
the city invest $100 million,
or 0.10 percent, into the City
Parks expense budget.
“For more than a generation,
parks have been shortchanged
in the city budget,” Grodenchik
said at the Feb. 28 rally. “Across
our city, in all five boroughs, in
every neighborhood, parks are
the places where New Yorkers
play, exercise, and breathe
fresh air, the places where we
clear our minds, rejuvenate
our bodies, and refresh
our spirits.”
Under the Play Fair
campaign, the coalition
detailed how $100 million
could be effectively used for
parks and other green spaces
across the city:
• $10 million means that once
and for all, 100 city park
workers and 50 gardeners
will have secure, stable
green jobs
• $4 million means that
NYC’s forests have the
investment they need to
City Councilman Barry Grodenchik speaks at the Play Fair rally on
Feb. 28. Courtesy of New Yorkers for Parks
protect NYC from climate
change;
• $65 million would provide
funding for parks of all sizes
to have full-time, dedicated
staff to help keep things
clean and green;
• A little over $8 million
would fund improvements
for every GreenThumb
community garden in the
city;
• $4 million means that every
neighborhood in the city
could have more seasonal
afterschool programs and
movie nights; and
• $9 million means that
natural areas and parks
are preserved, protected and
made safer for New Yorkers
“Since taking on the role
of parks chair last year, I
have visited over a hundred
parks in over two thirds of the
council districts across the
city and have seen that while
our parks department does an
outstanding job with current
funding, parks need more
resources to be as clean, safe,
and well maintained as they
should be,” said Grodenchik.
“As a lifelong New Yorker who
grew up spending countless
hours in my local park
and continue to visit parks
whenever I can, I am proud
to be part of the Play Fair
coalition that is advocating for
a one-hundred-million-dollar
increase in the parks budget.”
“As a lifelong New Yorker
I am heartened to have been
joined today at City Hall
with hundreds of other park
supporters who love their city as
much as I do,” said Lynn Kelly,
Executive Director of New
Yorkers for Parks. “Together,
we need to make history with
the City’s budget and finally,
#PlayFair for parks!”
Other Queens officials
who attended the Feb. 28 rally
include City Council members
Paul Vallone, Adrienne
Adams, Costa Constantinides,
Donovan Richards and
Robert Holden.
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by e-mail at jbagcal@
qns.com or by phone at (718)
224-5863 ext. 214.
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz is flanked by City
Councilman Paul Vallone and U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi as she opens
her district attorney campaign office. Courtesy of Katz’s campaign
TIMESLEDGER,4 MARCH 8-14, 2019 TIMESLEDGER.COM
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