Despite all the rain we have been getting recently, summer just unofficially began in New York City with Memorial Day. The days are getting longer and warmer, our beaches are open, and, for the first time in the city’s recorded history, there were no shootings on the Sunday before Memorial Day—further proof that our administration’s approach to keeping New York City the safest big city in America is working. Last week, we kicked off the “We Outside Summer,” a series of investments, announcements, and programming across the five boroughs to ensure New Yorkers have a safe and fun summer in our parks, playgrounds, and everywhere else outdoors. We’ll continue to roll out announcements throughout the summer, but here’s some of what we announced this past week as we continue to make New York City the best place to raise a family.
We know that as the weather warms, New Yorkers are eager for more outdoor space. But for too many families, green space is out of reach and too far from their neighborhoods and communities. This is exactly why we kicked off work last week to transform vacant, abandoned lots into parks and put more green space within walking distance of thousands of additional New Yorkers who don’t currently have access to them. We’re starting in East New York and Cypress Hill in Brooklyn, as well as Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, and Corona in Queens, and we will expand from there.
Our “Vacant Lots to Parks” initiative is a great example of government working to cut red tape and think creatively about delivering more green spaces to areas most in need. It also builds on the work our administration has done to expand access to parks. Since taking office, we have added over 86 acres of parkland across New York City, putting tens of thousands of additional New Yorkers within walking distance of a park.
But we’re not stopping there; as part of “We Outside Summer,” we also announced the completion of a $23 million project to transform public spaces and playgrounds at six NYCHA developments. Not only will these new public spaces serve NYCHA residents, they’ll also serve those who live in the neighborhoods around them. All of these projects together have helped increase the total percentage of New Yorkers now within a 10-minute walk of a park to more than 84 precent.
We know we also need to give our young people stimulating activities for the summer months when they are out of school. We need to reach them before they fall into the rivers of violence, because by the time someone has a gun in their hand, it is often too late. That’s why we announced $13 million in permanent funding to support at-risk youth, justice-involved New Yorkers, and people living in neighborhoods with high rates of violence. And for the second straight summer, we are investing $2 million to offer extended hours at select Beacon, Cornerstone, and Saturday Night Lights programs, especially in NYPD precincts with the highest levels of gun violence. These programs give our kids a safe place to gather and thrive.
We are additionally ensuring our young people have on-ramps to success right from the start through our Summer Rising program that has supported a record 100,000 summer job opportunities annually for young people. We know that if we invest in our young people during the summer months and give them alternatives, we can keep them safe and on the right path.
Finally, we are making the world’s most iconic green space even safer! Central Park is New York City’s backyard but issues like illegal vending, overflowing trash, excessive noise, substance use, and more have persisted for far too long, and they often spike in the summer months and need to be addressed. This past week, we announced the “Central Park Community Link,” a multi-agency response aimed at addressing public safety and improving the quality of life in and around Central Park.
We know that New Yorkers and tourists are fed up with quality-of-life concerns, and I want to be clear, our administration does not tolerate an atmosphere where anything goes. We prioritize working hand-in-hand with communities to keep our neighborhoods safe, clean, and comfortable so that you can enjoy summer in the greatest city in the world. This is just the start of the “We Outside Summer,” and as the weather heats up, we’ll keep sharing more ways we’re working to deliver a safe and fun summer for all.
