Each summer, the impacts of severe heat result in the death of 350 New Yorkers. A new report from the city comptroller predicts the number of annual heat-related deaths in New York City could increase to 3,000 in the next 60 years as extreme weather events become more frequent and severe. As New Yorkers recover from the second weeklong heatwave to hit the city in less than one month, now is the time to consider our preparedness for the reality of climate change and the steps city officials can take to better position our communities in the future.
Investing in parks and green infrastructure is one of the simplest and most effective ways to make communities more resilient to the impacts of severe heat, which we know disproportionately impacts Black and Latino New Yorkers. Neighborhoods of color are far more vulnerable to heat waves due to a historical lack of investment, which limits the tree canopy cover and green space that is crucial to reducing the heat index.
The city must address the inequities of its failure to prepare for our changing climate and implement a proactive plan for resilience that protects New Yorkers from extreme weather. The most important policy step that Mayor Adams and the City Council can take is increasing the budget for the Parks Department, now just 0.6% of the current budget, to 1% of our annual spending.
Parks are essential to our health and well-being. Yet for more than 50 years the city has neglected its sprawling parks system, urban forest and wealth of natural resources. Adams made a historic pledge to make “1% for Parks” a reality during his administration. That is the kind of urgency this challenge demands, and the City Council is ready to work with his administration to see this commitment through.
One of the actions that better funding for the Parks Department would enable is the planting of more trees in underserved areas and better maintenance overall of our urban forest which is so critical to New Yorkers’ quality of life. From 2010 to 2017, we added 3,253 acres of canopy, a push that began in earnest under Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s MillionTreesNYC initiative. Increasing New York’s tree canopy reduces the heat index by cooling streets and buildings; helps neighborhoods absorb stormwater and reduces flood risk; improves air quality; and provides psychological and social benefits. Currently, 650,000 trees line the city’s streets, but they are not evenly distributed across our neighborhoods.
We have seen the benefits of investments in green infrastructure in the South Bronx, which now has more tree cover than it did a decade ago. That is due in part to the efforts of the Bloomberg-led and de Blasio-continued initiative, which planted 7,600 trees in neighborhoods like Morrisania and Hunts Point. They had previously offered hardly any shade.
Raising public funding is also essential for improving access to parks and open spaces, equally crucial for New Yorkers’ health and wellbeing, perhaps more than ever during the past few years of the pandemic. We know that when we don’t proactively build a resilient system, the consequences can be disastrous. During the first summer post-COVID-19, more than 1.1 million New Yorkers lost park access, and that was true predominantly in low-income Black and Hispanic neighborhoods.
Many communities live with limited access to parks or in closest proximity to open spaces that don’t receive adequate investment and are therefore not consistently safe or well-maintained.
In Mott Haven, St. Mary’s Park is our only large community open space. For decades, the city ignored basic maintenance investment needs at St. Mary’s, leading to run-down fields and hazards like used syringes that kept families from going to the park. Increased funding in recent years has made a huge difference in securing renovated fields, a dog run, security lighting, improved drainage, accessibility for disabled people and more. These are the types of public investments that we need in so many parks across the city.
Unfortunately, the city’s policy of decades-long neglect of the health of St. Mary’s is not uncommon in neighborhoods across the city. We must provide our parks leaders with better resources if they are to make all our parks accessible, safe and well-maintained.
As the climate crisis makes heat waves more of an everyday reality, the city must take action to boost the resilience of our communities. That can start with planting more trees and caring for more parks in low-income communities to lower temperatures and save lives.
Ayala represents parts of East Harlem and the South Bronx in the City Council, where she is the General Welfare Committee chair. Ganser is the executive director of New Yorkers for Parks.
