Deal struck to keep 55 state parks open

A deal has been struck to keep open 55 state parks and facilities slated for closure, Gov. David A. Paterson said Thursday, though the State Senate and Assembly were still working to finalize the pact Thursday night.

"The legislature has made the tough choices to my satisfaction that will enable us to open the parks" in time for the Memorial Day weekend, Paterson said on WOR radio's "The John Gambling Show."

His administration had listed 41 parks and 14 of the state's 35 historic sites to close, along with service cuts at others, to help bridge the state budget gap. Two are on Long Island: the Nissequogue River and Brookhaven state parks.

Austin Shafran, majority Democratic conference spokesman, said Thursday, "We have an agreement on a bill to fully restore parks funding, keeping them open for the remainder of the year. We just received a draft from the governor's office and are reviewing the specific details. We anticipate passing it tomorrow."

Assemb. Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst) said officials had agreed to approve $11 million to open the parks. He said the money would come from the Environmental Protection Fund.

Negotiations that started Wednesday went on until 2 a.m. Thursday, Sweeney said, with some staff members remaining until 5 a.m. Thursday night, officials were talking again.

Paterson said the Environmental Protection Fund would be cut by about $74 million. The measure is also expected to keep the historic sites open this year, as well as Department of Environmental Conservation campgrounds targeted for closing.

"We've come to a deal to approximately cut about what I proposed in the original budget," Paterson said. "The bad news is it has taken about four days to find $11 million to keep the parks open."

Lawmakers wanted smaller cuts in the fund dedicated to conservation programs like buying land and recycling.

They balked earlier in the week at Paterson's proposal linking those cuts to restored park funding. Meanwhile, they've been getting calls from constituents unhappy about park closings, especially with the warm weather and approaching holiday weekend.

According to administration officials, lawmakers still need to find another $2 billion to $2.5 billion in spending cuts to close the deficit and adopt a balanced budget of about $136 billion for this year. The budget is 58 days late, as of today.