New York City Department of Parks and Recreation

The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecological diversity of the city's natural areas, and furnishing recreational opportunities for city's residents and visitors.
NYC Parks maintains more than 1,700 public spaces, including parks, playgrounds and recreational facilities, across the city's five boroughs. It is responsible for over 1,000 playgrounds, 800 playing fields, 550 tennis courts, 35 major recreation centers, 66 pools, of beaches, and 13 golf courses, as well as 7 nature centers, 6 ice skating rinks, over 2,000 greenstreets, and 4 major stadiums. NYC Parks also cares for park flora and fauna, community gardens, 23 historic houses, over 1,200 statues and monuments, and more than 2.5 million trees. The total area of the properties maintained by the department is over. The largest single component of parkland maintained by the department is the Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. Other large parks administered by NYC Parks include Central Park in Manhattan, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, and the Staten Island Greenbelt.
NYC Parks produces many special events, including concerts and movie premieres. In the summer, the busiest season, the agency organizes free carnivals and concerts, and sends mobile recreation vans to travel throughout the five boroughs providing free rental equipment for skating, baseball, and miniature golf.
The symbol of the department is a cross between the leaf of the London plane and a maple leaf. It is prominently featured on signs and buildings in public parks across the city. The London plane tree is on NYC Parks' list of restricted use species for street tree planting because it constitutes more than 10% of all street trees.

Agency

The department is a mayoral agency, headed by a commissioner who reports to the Deputy Mayor of Operations. The current Parks Commissioner is Iris Rodriguez-Rosa, who was appointed on June 1, 2025. The current chair of the New York City Council Committee on Parks & Recreation is Shekar Krishnan.
The department is allocated an expense budget and a capital budget. The expense budget covers the total expenses incurred by the agency, including salaries. The capital budget is dedicated solely for new construction projects, as well as major repairs in parks that have a useful life of more than five years and cost at least $35,000.
Its regulations are compiled in Title 56 of the New York City Rules.

History

The original Parks Commission was formed in 1856 and was responsible only for Central Park. In 1870 the Tweed Charter gave it jurisdiction for all the parks in Manhattan. In addition, each borough had its independent Park Commission.
The history of the Park Enforcement Patrol Officers can be traced back to 1919, when the concept of the Parks Enforcement Patrol was first thought of by Bronx Parks Commissioner Joe Hennessy, who reported in the "1919 Annual Report of the Department of Parks" the "necessity of a proper protective force" to be established. The following year in his 1920 annual report to the mayor, Commissioner Hennessy once again pushed for a full-time park police force. On page 16 of the 1920 annual report, he wrote that "Vandalism is ever present. It can never be checked until the Parks Department has a force of keepers with police authority" and he recommended that the "Park protectors should be under control of Park Commissioners absolutely". In 1920, legislature was passed for the creation of a force of park keepers for NYC parks but the city refused to approve it and authorize funding.
In an effort to show the mayor the effectiveness of a park patrol force in hopes of having a full-time force established, Commissioner Hennessy created volunteer park inspectors to patrol the Bronx parks during the day. According to his "1919 annual report of the Department of Parks", the first park inspector he appointed was Inspector William Blackie. Inspector Blackie was injured on Columbus Day 1919 while attempting to arrest two men poaching song birds in Van Cortlandt Park.
Despite the objection of the New York City Police Department, Commissioner Hennessy established the first Park Patrol Harbor unit when he obtained two small motor boats from the Navy which he immediately put into service and had park staff patrol the waterways of the Hutchinson River.
In 1922, Commissioner Henessy requested the mayor to establish special magistrates to deal with park related violations the same day the violator was arrested, provide police authority to the parks commissioners, and provide funding for a park patrol unit because the New York City Police officers "detailed to the Bronx parks in the summer on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays are not anxious to serve summonses or enforce the ordinances"
A unified citywide New York City Parks Department was formed in 1934 with Robert Moses as the commissioner, a position he held until 1960. In 1968 it was reorganized as the "Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs Administration. In 1976 it was given its current name.
In 2001, the department underwent an investigation after the U.S. Attorney's Office received complaints from employees that they had suffered employment discrimination. The lawsuit alleged that NYC Parks violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964; according to the complaint, the NYC Parks' senior managers sought out and promoted whites to management positions without announcing job openings for those positions or conducting any formal interview processes. The complaint also said that since at least 1995, minorities have been significantly under-represented in NYC Parks' managerial ranks. In 2008, the City of New York agreed to pay a $21 million settlement to avoid going to trial.

Organization

Commissioner of the Department of Parks and Recreation
*General Counsel
**Assistant Commissioner for Agency Compliance
*Assistant Commissioner for Community Outreach and Partnership Development
*Parks Advocate
*Assistant Commissioner for Communications
*Assistant Commissioner for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
*Inspector General, assigned by the New York City Department of Investigation
*First Deputy Commissioner
**Deputy Commissioner/Chief Operating Officer
***Assistant Commissioner for Citywide Operations
***Assistant Commissioner for Forestry, Horticulture, and Natural Resources
***Bronx Parks Borough Commissioner
***Brooklyn Parks Borough Commissioner
***Manhattan Parks Borough Commissioner
***Queens Parks Borough Commissioner
***Staten Island Parks Borough Commissioner
*Deputy Commissioner for Capital Projects
**Assistant Commissioner for Architecture and Engineering Program Management
**Assistant Commissioner for Landscape Program Management
*Deputy Commissioner, Urban Park Service and Public Programs
**Assistant Commissioner for Public Programs
**Assistant Commissioner for Urban Park Service
*Deputy Commissioner for Administration/Chief Administrative Officer
**Assistant Commissioner for Budget and Fiscal Management
**Assistant Commissioner for Innovation and Performance Management
*Deputy Commissioner of Planning and Development
**Assistant Commissioner for Concessions and Internal Audit
Parks Enforcement Patrol

The department maintains an enforcement division, called the Parks Enforcement Patrol, responsible for maintaining safety and security within the parks system. Parks Enforcement Patrol officers are employed as New York City special officer and have very limited peace officer status under New York state penal law. They are empowered through this status to make arrests and issue summons for park related offenses at New York City parks only. PEP officers patrol land, waterways and buildings under the jurisdiction of the Department of Parks and Recreation on foot, bicycle, horseback, boat and marked patrol trucks. PEP officers are also responsible for physical site inspections of NYC park concession facilities to assure the concessionaires compliance with state laws.
The New York City Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency whose mission is to provide police patrol service and investigate all crimes that occur within New York City, which includes parks areas and facilities.

Ranks

There are seven ranks of officers in the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, Parks Enforcement Patrol:

Title	Insignia	Uniform Shirt Color
Inspector	Image:Colonel Gold-vector.svg\|center\|50px	White
Director	Image:US-O4 insignia.svg\|center\|30px	White
Captain	Image:Captain insignia gold.svg\|center\|25px	White
Sergeant		White
Park Enforcement Officer/Urban Park Ranger	Image:Blank.jpg\|center\|35px	GreenGray
City Seasonal Aid/Security Guard	Image:Blank.jpg\|center\|35px	Tan
Job Training Participant	Image:Blank.jpg\|center\|35px	Tan

Power, authority and equipment

New York City park enforcement officers are special officer in connection with special duties of employment. They have very limited Peace Officers authority pursuant to New York State Criminal Procedure Law § 2.10.

Mounted auxiliary unit

Formed in 1996, the NYC Parks Enforcement Patrol Mounted Auxiliary Unit is a volunteer unit within the department. This unit is made up of private citizens who volunteer their time by working with officers of the Parks Enforcement Patrol.
Auxiliary officers patrol in uniform and on horseback in various NYC parks, and "ensure the preservation of the natural and living resources in the city's parks, as well as the safety of those utilizing the parks, by maintaining a clearly visible presence. They monitor areas that are not accessible by vehicle; they deter, identify and report illegal or unsafe activities that require Parks Enforcement Patrol or police attention; and they advise the public on park rules and regulations."
As an IRS 501C Corporation, the Auxiliary solicits funding to purchase horses, tack and provide training for both the Volunteers and the Professional Officers. Since inception it has provided several hundred thousand dollars towards the operation of the Mounted Unit, including the Capital Construction of a new barn. Former Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe was quoted as saying "there is some doubt that the Parks Department could afford to run a mounted unit without the Mounted Auxiliary."
Auxiliary officers do not have powers beyond a citizen and cannot make arrests. For this reason a typical patrol will include a PEP Officer and an Auxiliary Officer. By combining the two, the manpower of the Parks Enforcement Patrol is significantly increased at no cost to the city. Should the team come upon a situation requiring enforcement, the PEP Officer can deal with it while the Auxiliary Officer covers the Officer's back and radios the situation to Parks Central and if needed will ask for additional help.