Governor Cuomo and State Lawmakers have come to a conclusion
on the 2015/2016 budget. While the Governor didn’t get some things he wanted
like increasing the minimum wage and aid to undocumented college students, he
did get approval of fixing the NYS Park System.
The proposal called NY Parks 2020 plans to restore the parks to their natural beauty, restore facilities and
make the visitor experience more enjoyable.
With the new budget, the proposal would give the NY Park
Department 900 million dollars in public and state
funding over the course of multiple years until 2020. In the most recent
budget that is expected to pass, will include 110 million dollars, which will
act as the initiative. The money will be spent in many different ways to
enhance visitors’ experience. Creating new recreation facilities will open the
parks to many new possibilities, Governor Cuomo stated. Creating nature centers
within the parks is a way to get children in school districts more involved in
the environment. Modernizing and refurbishing picnic areas and campgrounds will ensure
more visitors have a positive experience within the Park System. The 2020 plan
will help ensure that the parks remain up to date throughout the 21st
century.
While the plan lays out many ways in which the parks could
benefit, many locals groups are opposed. They do understand the need to
preserve the parks but disagree with adding swimming pools, athletic fields,
and playground. They feel the park offers enough out door activities that there
is no need for such upgrades.
Since Governor Cuomo has taken office, NYS Park attendance
has increased and continues to grow at a steady rate of eight percent and in 2014
had sixty-two million visitors. Many of the parks were threated of closure but
have since been flourishing since the implement of the multi-year transformation,
which was implemented between 2010 and 2014. With all time highs, there doesn’t
seem to be an ending for the New York State Park System.
To learn how you can help on I Love My Park Day which takes place on May 2nd, click
here.
William,
ReplyDeleteThe ideas behind this seem very positive and I am in support of giving aid to state parks, growing up my family and I frequently visited local state parks. I believe that the addition of playgrounds would be a good idea, and I have been to a few state parks that do have playgrounds. The addition of swimming pools seem to be a bit much though, I work at a local campground as a lifeguard and while I am happy for summer employment I often see people spending their entire vacation at the pool and not enjoying the hiking trails and other activities that are present. I believe this could happen at state parks as well, many state parks already have beaches and I believe keeping them as natural as possible preserves the experience. That being said, the funding is an amazing idea, and perhaps state parks could use this to set up nature trails and even programs for kids to learn more about the area. This is a very interesting topic for sure, and I look forward to reading more on it.