KStrat @ NY4P's Latest Event

Karp Strategies attended the New Yorkers for Parks event "Open Space Dialogues: A New Perspective in Delivery" on February 12. Curated via short presentations and a respondent panel from cross sector experts, the conversation tackled challenging questions around policy and financing strategies for developing and maintaining our city’s open space. Ideas including but not limited to creative applications of conservation easements, bond financing, city-led actions, endowments, requiring private developers to include open space, community engagement during EIS processes to determine the most wanted type of open space, and more were debated. Maintenance surfaced as one of the toughest pieces of the puzzle to finance.

Karp Strategies finds ourselves in agreement with comments made by several of the panelists: isn’t it time for us to consider our open space as infrastructure that is invaluable to the city’s economy and social life, as well as its collective physical and mental health? How do we consider the value of of our neighborhood parks interstitial spaces in less wealthy neighborhoods, where investment into open space infrastructure is just as important for the economic and social value derived? And, to the main point on our minds since Tuesday evening, how do we catalyze a longer term, ongoing funding stream for maintenance of open space via cross sector partnerships, rather than going from project to project? We’re interested in digging into this broadly - if you are too, let’s talk.

Image: New Yorkers for Parks