"Tapping Real Estate to Help Fund NYC’s Parks"
A Center for an Urban Future Policy Symposium

Replay of event
Event materials

Speakers included:

• Council Member Tyrell "Ty" Hankerson, Chair, Committee on Parks & Recreation
• Council Member Shekar Krishnan, Chair, Committee on Oversight & Investigations
• Lynn Bodnar Kelly, Executive Director, New York Restoration Project
• Majora Carter, Real Estate Developer, Urban Revitalization Consultant, and Author
• Katie Denny Horowitz, Executive Director, North Brooklyn Parks Alliance
• Adam Ganser, Executive Director, New Yorkers for Parks 
• Christopher Rizzo, Director of Environmental & Land-Use Practice Group, Partner, Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP
• Claire Weisz, Founding Principal, WXY

This forum explored opportunities to tap one of the city’s greatest sources of wealth—real estate—to sustainably fund parks. Fresh ideas for generating new recurring revenue for parks are needed more than ever. For decades, city funding has failed to keep pace with the maintenance and operations needs of New York's parks, and the city’s widening budget deficit may make it even harder for city leaders to boost public investment.

Panelists discussed concrete strategies for channeling real estate value into recurring support for parks—and the steps policymakers will need to take to turn these ideas into reality. The conversation explored several promising approaches, including density bonuses tied to investment in parks, value capture linked to the Interborough Express, targeted property-related surcharges, and new parks improvement districts. Panelists also examined models from New York and other cities that have used similar tools to sustain parks and other essential public infrastructure—and discussed how to ensure new revenues are invested equitably across the five boroughs. The forum built on a series of reports by CUF, supported by the NYC Green Fund, outlining opportunities to develop new recurring revenue streams for New York City’s parks. 

This event was made possible thanks to generous support from the NYC Green Fund. We are also grateful for general support from The Clark Foundation and the Altman Foundation, support from Fisher Brothers Foundation for CUF's Middle Class Jobs Project, and ongoing support from a number of other philanthropic funders.