Community Board 2 members agree to 'adopt' parks and track contacts

Community Board 2’s Parks & Waterfront Committee agreed at its January meeting to have each committee member 'adopt' three to four parks from a district list the chair presented, creating a distributed point of contact for local green spaces.

"What I'd like to do is have each of us adopt 3 or 4 parks," Chair Rich Cacopolo said, describing a list of 32 parks and open spaces the committee will use to guide visits, advocacy and follow-up with city parks staff. He said the idea is for members to visit parks during quieter months, be a local contact for volunteers and staff, and prepare concise updates for future meetings.

The committee discussed examples of stewardship models — friends groups, conservancies and business improvement districts — and noted large differences in capacity. Members suggested inviting established friends groups, such as Jefferson Market and the Jackson Square Alliance, to share best practices and provide mentorship to smaller groups.

Volunteers and committee members began assigning themselves to specific parks during the meeting. The chair said he would circulate the list in a shared Google Sheet so members could add contact names and photos and the committee could track who is responsible for each site.

The action is intended to feed the committee’s district needs assessment: members will raise issues (maintenance, safety, programming) at future meetings and use the compiled contacts and site photos when advocating with NYC Parks and other agencies. The committee did not adopt any formal binding policy; members agreed to return updates and to refine responsibilities for the point-person role at upcoming meetings.