Our state parks finally on the rebound

Ask a Long Islander to describe a perfect day, and there’s a good chance a park is involved.

We love our parks. They’re part of what makes life here special. Most of us have special memories of the times we’ve spent in them.

It’s the idyllic week of beachfront camping at Hither Hills, and the splendid solitude of fly-fishing for trout in Connetquot River. It’s the sunbathing carnivals at Jones Beach and Robert Moses, and the gorgeous views from the bluffs of the Greenbelt Trail in Nissequogue River. It’s riding horses — real ones, and the ones on the old carousel — at Hempstead Lake, and wandering through the gardens and woodlands of Planting Fields Arboretum.

Each is a jewel in our state parks system, and tens of thousands of Long Islanders will flock to them this holiday weekend to play, celebrate, relax, escape — or to be awed by the Blue Angels in the Jones Beach air show.

But for far too long, our state parks were taken for granted or outright ignored. It wasn’t that long ago that the system was in a state of serious decline. Frequent park-goers saw the bathrooms that no longer worked, the buildings that were closed, the rusted playgrounds and rutted roads, and the many other problems created by years of budget starvation and neglect.

Because they are vital to our physical, mental and emotional health, parks are a window to the conscience of government. What happened in New York was a sad commentary on our state’s leaders.

Thankfully, the system is on the rebound. As often is the case in these situations, cash has been critical. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has committed to a $900 million investment in the system by 2020, and is more than halfway into that effort. Some $531 million worth of projects is complete or underway, $94 million of that on Long Island. It’s money very well spent.

The evidence is all over the region. Some of the work has been repairs to basic infrastructure, not sexy but essential to functioning parks — things like roads and roofs, sewer and water lines, air conditioning and electric systems, marinas and irrigation on golf courses.

Bathhouses have been rehabilitated at Jones Beach, Hither Hills and Sunken Meadow, and several campgrounds have been upgraded. Hallock State Park Preserve, a largely passive park in Wading River, will get a visitors center and a mile-long trail to a pristine beach. A solar panel array is being constructed in the back of a parking lot at Robert Moses, which will become the first energy-neutral state park in New York; Sunken Meadow, Heckscher and Belmont Lake will follow. Rental cottages and cabins are being planned for Heckscher and Wildwood.

The most striking change is the $65 million overhaul of the system’s Long Island flagship, Jones Beach. The West Bathhouse — part of the park’s stable of magnificent Art Deco buildings — is restored. The boardwalk ravaged by superstorm Sandy was rebuilt with Brazilian hardwoods, food options have been greatly expanded, and a new app will debut this summer offering real-time information on parking availability.

Still to come: an interactive adventure playground featuring a zip line, rope courses and other elements, and an elegant second-floor dining room in the West Bathhouse complex for banquets, weddings and other functions.

But even the most magnificent parks aren’t worth much if people don’t visit them. So Cuomo’s NY Parks 2020 plan was wise to accent accessibility. One program through the National Parks System waives vehicle entry fees during 2016 for fourth-graders and their families. Another offers free learn-to-swim programs at Jones Beach, Heckscher and Wildwood. A third pays for busing for schools with high percentages of students receiving free and reduced lunches to get them to educational programs at Jones Beach’s Theodore Roosevelt Nature Center and Connetquot River State Park Preserve. The hope is to further spike attendance, which is up 14 percent since Cuomo took office in 2011.

For all that’s been accomplished, there is more to be done. Cuomo’s commitment must be sustained and the parks department must stay on task. Its agenda for the next couple of years is ambitious, but then what? Let’s get the East Bathhouse and its pool reopened at Jones Beach, and bring back an indoor restaurant. Let’s fix the popular Olympic-sized pool at Heckscher and re-open the campground there.

And all of us must do our part in this renewal, too. Be good stewards. Be mindful and respectful of the parks and other visitors. Pick up trash, yours and someone else’s. Don’t wander off trails. Volunteer for a cleanup day.

These parks aren’t just public facilities. They are celebrations of nature’s wonders, and, by offering refuge and recreation for people of all income levels, they are our egalitarian ideal.

New York’s state parks once were a model for the nation. We’re well on the way to making them that once again.