On Thursday June 9th, five people were shot on the Park Department's Brighton Beach Boardwalk including a 16-year old East Harlem girl who was tragically killed.
Over the last twelve weeks alone, there have been twelve shootings, including five deaths, and more than a dozen stabbings and muggings and numerous sexual assaults. Since January there have more than 150 arrests on park land including 98 in Union Square Park alone. And the Summer has yet to begin.
"Frankly, I think it's a shame for people to sort of gin it up
and try to panic people into believing that parks are not safe," Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe.
"They're
safer than they've ever been."
On Thursday June 9th, five people were shot on the Park Department's Brighton Beach Boardwalk including a 16-year old East Harlem girl who was tragically killed.
Within 24 hours three people were stabbed, and a woman raped in other park incidents throughout the city.Over the last twelve weeks alone, there have been twelve shootings, including five deaths, and more than a dozen stabbings and muggings, numerous sexual assaults and more than 150 arrests on park land since January. Police have made have made 98 arrests in Union Square Park alone. And the Summer has yet to begin.
It is no secret that having a uniformed presence acts as a deterrent.
The Parks Department's Park Enforcement Patrol (PEP), whose responsibility is to ensure "the safe use of parks," is severely understaffed.
"Frankly, I think it's a shame for people to sort of gin it up
and try to panic people into believing that parks are not safe," Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe told WNYC radio in response to
outraged elected officials, community members and the Local 983 demanding greater protection in our parks.
"They're
safer than they've ever been."
Benpe told WNYC that crime in the parks has gone
down over the past ten years - and that hiring more officers is simply
not an option with the department facing a 25 million dollar budget cut.
The commissioner
did not however explain how he came to the supposed park crime reduction data
considering the city only began tracking crime in a handful of parks four years ago. He also did not explain the relevance of comparing crime 10 years ago with what's happening today.
"We recognize it’s the union’s job to maximize positions for its members, but our job is to put taxpayer dollars where they’re most needed to maximize quality of life in our parks,” Parks Department spokesperson Vickie Karp told the Daily News.
"Apparently public safety is NOT a quality-of-life issue according to the Park Department," Local 983 who represents PEP responded in a statement. "The Parks Department's repugnant and callous response typifies the lack of accountability in the Bloomberg administration."
During the summer the already low number of officers declines dramatically as the majority of PEP personnel are deployed to beaches and pools.
Over the last few weeks, Queens lost three officers, the Bronx two and Brooklyn five. This leaves the vast majority of city parks completely unprotected. Some days there are no officers available for patrol. These numbers are shocking considering the tens of millions of people who use our parks annually.
There is an enormous disparity between the number of dedicated PEP in publicly funded parks than in those parks that receive substantial private funds. The city's increasing reliance on these schemes has resulted in a vastly unequal distribution of services.
Despite having the least amount of park space and the third highest population, Manhattan has more than 15 times the number of Parks Enforcement officers as other boroughs. At full strength, only seven full-time dedicated PEP officers are available to patrol more than 6, 700 acres of parkland in Queens, five for 6, 970 acres in the Bronx, seven for Brooklyn's 4, 336 acres, and five for Staten Island's 7, 400 acres. These numbers drop further when you factor in vacations, sick days and days off.
By sharp contrast, an increasing number of public parks - almost exclusively in Manhattan - have a dedicated security presence, some 24/7. More than 50% of PEP officers are now permanently assigned to "contract parks" - parks run by select private nonprofits, or other government agencies that buy what are supposed to be a basic city service. A few shell out more than $2 million annually. Contractually, these parks are required to have a minimum number of officers deployed.
For example, Battery Park City has more than 40 officers for 35 acres, Hudson River Park has more than 30 officers for 150 acres. Madison Square Park has three, plus seasonals for 6 acres: Bryant Park spends $900, 000 annually for 22 private security personnel, including 12 patrol officers for its 6 acres. The Bloomberg administration had assigned 11 full-time officers to the High Line's 2.8 acres.
Central Park also has multiple PEP officers assigned, in addition to having its own police precinct with more than 125 officers.
These numbers highlight the enormous disparity between publicly funded parks and those that receive substantial private funds. The city's increasing reliance on these schemes has resulted in a vastly unequal distribution of service. Experience over the last 20 years has proven that private subsidies to individual parks have created an enormous gap between the haves and the have-nots, while ignoring the real problem - that our parks are not funded as an essential city service.
Compounding the problem, the city has repeatedly tried to mislead the public on the deployment numbers.
It was revealed at a recent City Council hearing that the number of PEP officers hired from city funds fell far short of the amount adopted in the budget. A senior Parks official said this was to due to a hiring freeze. That is not accurate. There have been four PEP academy classes over the last year. However, the officers hired have been diverted to contract parks.
All communities deserve safe, well-maintained parks, not just those that can afford to pay extra. This is a basic quality-of-life issue. We need our elected officials to allocate the necessary funds and to make sure they are distributed equally.
NYCPA has obtained numbers for full-time dedicated Park Enforcement Patrol (PEP) personnel, broken down by borough and park acreage, that reveal a striking disparity. (As of April 21, 2011) The figures were confirmed by DC 37 Local 983 which represents PEP and CSA's.
Adrian is a pathological liar. The question is, what are the elected officials doing about it?
ReplyDeleteThere is a word for the parks department's two tier PEP policy - it's called EXTORTION! What they are saying to neighborhoods is that if you don't pay us, we won't send patrols to your parks to keep you safe.
ReplyDelete