Survey: New York ranks 2nd for best parks

New York City ranks No. 2 on a list of the nation's cities with the best parks, a new survey says.

The Big Apple gives more people access to parks and invests more dollars in improvements, moving the city up from last year's third place in the annual ParkScore survey conducted by the Trust for Public Land, which judged 50 cities.

"New York City was the only city to move up the ranks. It is ahead of San Francisco, Sacramento and Boston," said Adrian Benepe, Trust for Public Land senior vice president and former New York City parks commissioner.

Minneapolis was No. 1, scoring higher than New York City by providing more average size parks that offer paths for bike riding and long walks. Nationally, the average size of a park is 5.1 acres.

New York, however, ranked high in the category of access. According to the survey, 96 percent of city residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park, "one of the highest access ratings in the country," Benepe said. Twenty percent of city land is dedicated to parks, which is "one of the highest in the nation."

"The latest ParkScore rankings are further evidence that New York City is the Queen of Green," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. Investing in parks "pays off for city residents and visitors alike, making New York City a great place to live, work and visit," Bloomberg said.

The city is working with the Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit that conserves land for public use, to convert its asphalt school yards into green playgrounds with trees, shrubbery and flowers. About 300 school yards have been converted into neighborhood parks.

In an attempt to bring more money to smaller parks, state Sen. Daniel Squadron (D-Brooklyn) is proposing legislation this week that would require the city's wealthier park conservancy groups, such as Central Park, to give 20 percent of its donations to smaller parks.

"Large conservancies get millions every year from private donors," Squadron said. "But the parks that find it hardest to get that support are the ones that need it the most."

Jean Silva, president of the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Conservancy, said it had not received any city funding for two years and rely on grants from local elected officials.

"Our bicycle paths have a lot of drainage problems and have cracks and holes. We need more permanent park rangers and park enforcement officers," said Silva, who supports Squadron's proposal.

Among the survey's lowest ranking cities were Houston, Miami and Nashville, which tied for 38th place. Fresno came in at 50.