How to Take Action for NYC Parks and Natural Areas in 2025

By Emily Walker, Senior Manager of External Affairs

Between now and the end of June, the New York City Council and the Mayor’s Office will be making critical decisions about the budget for NYC Parks. With devastating budget cuts to NYC Parks last year, which eliminated 51 critical positions to care for our city’s natural areas, the need to reach our decision makers about the importance of funding our parks and green spaces has never been more urgent. You can help us advocate for our city’s natural forested areas and wetlands and ensure they receive the funding they need to thrive. 

How can you help advocate for NYC’s natural areas?

• On Monday, March 17, join us at the Play Fair Rally for Parks at 12pm on the Steps of City Hall, then join us in the City Council Chambers of City Hall at 1pm for the City Council Committee on Parks Preliminary Budget Hearing. You can sign up to testify here (virtual or in-person), or submit written comments until Thursday, March 20 at 1pm. See below for more tips on how to write testimony.
• Call your local City Council Member and ask them to commit full funding for this year’s Play Fair budget platform. Read below for more details about the FY26 budget requests to support the management, restoration, and programming of our natural areas citywide. Not sure who your local Council Member is? Find out here! There are more resources about calling your elected officials below.
• Like, comment on, and reshare #ParksPowerNYC social media posts by the Natural Areas Conservancy and our coalition partners between March and June this year.

The NAC’s 4 main budget asks for improved support for NYC natural areas

1. End the hiring freeze at NYC Parks and restore agency staffing to pre-Covid levels.
2. Restore $2.4 million in permanent, baselined funding for the citywide Trail Formalization program.
3. Restore $2.5 million in permanent, baselined funding for 51 forestry management staff that were eliminated last year.
4. Save and make permanent 50 Urban Park Ranger positions set to expire in June. 

How to testify to the NYC City Council

• Go here to sign up to testify at the March 17 Parks Committee Preliminary Budget Hearing.
• Scroll to the bottom of the page, and select the method by which you will be testifying.
• Provide your name, email address, and phone number.
• Under the “Select a Hearing” drop-down menu, click: “Mon, Mar 17 @ 1:00 PM – Committee on Parks and Recreation”.
• Under “Subject of Testimony”, put “FY26 Preliminary Parks Budget and Natural Areas”.
• If you are part of a community organization, you can select “Other”, then provide the name of your org. If you are testifying as an individual, select “Self”.
• You’ll then have the option to upload your written comment in .DOCX or .PDF format.

If you plan to testify in-person, please note that you will have 2 minutes or less to share your comments. Keep it brief and to the point! You can always submit longer written comments than what you share verbally in your testimony.

What to include in your testimony

• Introduce yourself, and your organization if applicable. We also recommend you share your local park or natural area, and highlight your local City Council Member.
• Make your ask early! State that you are in support of NYC Parks receiving the full Play Fair funding for the FY26 city budget, and that you support the allocation of 1% of the City budget to Parks.
• Highlight that we are asking the City to restore $2.4 million for the eliminated Trails Formalization Program, and a restoration of $2.5 million to restore 51 critical forest management staff lines to support the care of our forested natural areas that were eliminated in last year’s budget.
• Tell a story about what you’ve seen in your park! Park users, volunteer Trail Maintainers, and former natural areas interns have a unique perspective on the need for increased funding to care for our natural areas, and your firsthand experiences are important to share with our decision makers.
• This funding is critical for ensuring that our natural forested areas and wetlands can be properly maintained. Forested natural areas make up 24% of the city’s parkland portfolio, but receive an annual average of 0.7% of the NYC Parks expense budget, and 0.84% of staff resources to manage.
• A report released by the NAC found that the average number of staff in forested natural area care is 33 – imagine if all of Central Park was forested, there would only be 4 people working there.
• Urge the City Council to fight for a better budget for NYC Parks and a restoration of critically needed staff to care for our natural forested areas and trails, and thank them for advocating for an increased allocation for this year.

See the testimony that the NAC submitted at the recent City Council Committees on Parks and Fire and Emergency Management oversight hearing regarding the impact of natural areas staff cuts during last fall’s brush fires and drought conditions.

Tips on calling your local Council Member

Each Council Member has two offices – a District office and a Legislative office. The District office is a great resource for local issues and concerns. The Legislative office handles the Council Member’s citywide and policy work. For calls about the City Budget, we recommend you contact their Legislative office. You can look up the contact information for every City Council office here.

Basics of what to say when you speak with a staff member

• Share your name, address, and phone number. You can also share if you volunteer in a local park or civic organization.
• Tell the staff member that you are calling to ask that your Council Member commit to funding the full Play Fair budget platform for the FY25 City budget.
• Share that you are particularly concerned about the $2.5 million needed to help manage natural areas in NYC Parks, and restoring the eliminated $2.4M Trails Formalization program.
• Thank the Council Member and their staff for their time.

Thank you for your help advocating for our natural areas!