Is It Fair to Close a Pool in Brownsville?
- via Brownstoner
- Brooklyn Bridge Park’s New Pool
Squadron announced a plan last month to have well-funded parks conservancies start sharing their fortunes with lesser-funded parks, which he said this week could also help the potentially impacted pools. “Today’s news only underscores what we already know: more and more, good parks, pools, and open space have become a luxury for neighborhoods that can most afford them, rather than something each and every New Yorker has access to,” Squadron wrote in a statement. (Hey, $400,000 in state money would go a long way to closing the parks department’s budget gap! It could probably save a pool!)
He also added “we are in dire need of additional city and state funding to sustain and repair our parks, and forestall these closings.” Which is crux here: even the Prospect Park Alliance, considered a well-funded conservancy, sees itself as underfunded in relation to the work it wants to do in caring for its charge. What New York needs right now is a mayoral candidate who’s a serious advocate for the health of the city’s parks—meaning, committed to directing more tax dollars their way. Access to greenspace shouldn’t be seen as a privilege but a fundamental right of municipal citizenship.
Follow Henry Stewart on Twitter @henrycstewart