BY AIDAN GRAHAM
The longtime steward of
Prospect Park will soon oversee
all the city’s green spaces,
as Mayor Eric Adams has
named Sue Donoghue as the
Commissioner of the Parks
Department.
“Thank you Mayor Adams.
I am thrilled and humbled
to be taking on this new
role as Parks Commissioner,
and I’m so pleased to be joining
your administration — an
administration that understands
the important roles
that parks play in the health
and well-being of all New
Yorkers,” Donoghue said at a
Friday ceremony announcing
her appointment.
Donoghue has led the Prospect
Park Alliance since 2014,
where she and her 200-person
staff have helped administer
improvements to the 585-acre
park.
Adams, the former Brooklyn
COURIER LIFE, F 14 EBRUARY 11-17, 2022
Borough President,
praised Donoghue’s “unprecedented”
commitment to providing
city dwellers with adequate
outdoor space, which
has become especially vital
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Sue and I have worked
so much together in Prospect
Park,” Adams told the
press. “The quality is unprecedented
— when you look at
how Prospect Park was prior
to Sue’s arrival, and then you
look now at how she is opening
the gate, opening the
space, and opening the lives
of so many people that use the
park,” Hizzoner said.
Now, after years of working
in Brooklyn’s Backyard,
Donoghue will oversee management
of over 5,000 public
spaces across more than 30,000
acres of land in New York City
— including over 1,000 playgrounds,
and hundreds of recreational
facilities.
In addition, the Park Department
has control over
miles of beaches, along with
65 pools and 13 golf courses.
The agency, which was
fi rst led by the notorious Robert
Mosses in 1934, has most
recently be run by Commissioner
Gabrielle Fialkoff, who
assumed the role in September
of 2021.
New Yorkers for Parks, an
advocacy group, hailed the
news of Donoghue’s accession
on social media, and pushed
the Adams Administration
to dedicate 1 percent of the
city budget to improvement of
parks.
Congrats Sue Donoghue,
the next @NYCParks Commissioner!
Ms. Donoghue has
decades of experience shaping
equitable open spaces at
@prospect_park and beyond.
The #PlayFairCoalition is
ready to work with her and
Mayor Eric Adams has tapped Sue Donoghue, pictured here in Brooklyn’s
Backyard, as the next city Parks Commissioner.
Mayor Adams to achieve our
shared commitment to #1Percent4Parks
pic.twitter.com/
Rmmy8q4ms8
— New Yorkers for Parks
(@NY4P) February 4, 2022
Donoghue, while thanking
Adams for the appointment,
hailed the city’s parks as critical
tools for addressing environmental
issues, while also
touching on the sentimental
role parks play in the lives of
New Yorkers.
“As the mayor knows, having
clean and safe access to
parks for all New Yorkers
is critical. Our parks function
as the lungs of the city —
they clean our air, they help
to lower air temperatures,
they absorb stormwater, and
they have a critical role to
play in addressing climate
change,” the new commissioner
said. “For many New
Yorkers, they’re also where
they fi rst learned to ride a
bike, or throw a ball, or have
access to the Wonder of Nature
and trees. They’re also
places for exercise, and family
reunions.”
Great prospects!
Mayor names Prospect Park Alliance head
as new NYC Parks Commissioner
/pic.twitter.com
