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“Local leaders like us bring value to parks that money alone cannot deliver: years of community relationships, knowledge of how a neighborhood uses its public spaces, and an understanding of what brings people into parks.”
New York City is investing again in its parks. The recently adopted city budget added $29 million to protect nearly 300 NYC Parks worker jobs. That’s a good first step.
But NYC Parks workers are not the only ones who create thriving parks. The city and its philanthropic partners need to invest in neighborhood leaders, because these are the people who so often champion and revitalize their parks, turning them into active, sustainable public spaces. We know this because we have done it, at Echo Park in the Bronx and St. Andrew’s Playground in Brooklyn, respectively.
Government parks funding works best when communities have people and organizations capable of activating open spaces. Grassroots leaders know what they and their neighbors want. But they often lack the resources and institutional support to deliver on their vision. In each of our beloved parks, “Friends of” groups and a multiyear partnership with City Parks Foundation’s Catalyst program moved us from volunteers to advocates to changemakers. We improved and activated our parks to achieve new partnerships and city funding.
In the Bronx’s East Tremont neighborhood in the fall of 2023, Knakisha joined Friends of Echo Park (FoEP), formed with support from City Parks Foundation, with fellow local residents who saw potential in a park that served people with different needs and worked to respond to vulnerable park users, including unhoused people and substance users.
Seeking to create more opportunities for health and wellness in the park, while ensuring that all felt welcome, FoEP worked with the harm-reduction nonprofit OnPoint NYC and hosted several park town halls that drew residents, park users, and advocates.
It also won a grant to create a transformative mural, installed in May 2025. Knakisha eventually traveled to Albany to participate in a panel on the opioid crisis in the Bronx, which led to a collaborative Fordham University research project that started last summer, using community narratives and data to create shared enjoyment of public spaces.
Veronica had a similar experience. At St. Andrew’s Playground in Bedford-Stuyvesant, years of community-led programming and advocacy ultimately resulted in a $23.9 million city capital investment in her local park.
In 2016, Veronica and longtime community leader Wilma Maynard were concerned about gun violence near the park and wanted to ensure young people were safe to play. They and other residents founded Friends of St. Andrew’s Playground (FOSAP) to draw attention to their park’s needs and potential.
In the playground, FOSAP produced children’s programs, Halloween events, a coat giveaway, and Community Heroes, a public art project honoring local leaders. Those activities built visibility and greater community engagement in the park. In September 2023, St. Andrew’s was awarded its capital grant, which will fund resurfacing the softball field with artificial turf, a new track, playground equipment, and plantings.
Local leaders like us bring value to parks that money alone cannot deliver: years of community relationships, knowledge of how a neighborhood uses its public spaces, and an understanding of what brings people into parks. We also bring energy, determination, and long-term commitment, because we live in these communities. These are our parks.
As Mayor Zohran Mamdani shapes his NYC Parks agenda through 2029, and the parks philanthropic sector determines its priorities, both should recognize that revitalizing and sustaining a park requires investment in the grassroots groups and community leaders working to make it thrive.
That means pairing capital investments with multiyear support for community-led programming, organizing, and partnerships, especially in outer borough parks like ours that lack well-funded conservancies. Invest in the people and programs making long-term commitments to parks, and that investment will go much further.
Knakisha Candanedo is a member of Friends of Echo Park in East Tremont, the Bronx. Veronica Cromwell is a founder of Friends of St. Andrew’s Park in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.