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NY TimesAugust 26, 2012A Law to Expose City Parks Inequalities Is NeglectedBy JACOB HODESFour years ago, the City Council passed a law to shed light on how much money was

flowing into different parks across the city. Advocates were concerned that the parkssystem was splitting in two: in wealthy areas of the city, gleaming, innovative greenspaces, buttressed by private financing sources; elsewhere, ailing parks with far fewerresources at their disposal.

The legislation required the Department of Parks and Recreation of New York City toprepare an annual report that would detail, park by park, the contributions of nonprofits andother private donors.

We wanted to see just how large the disparity is, said Geoffrey Croft, the president ofNYC Park Advocates, which supported the legislation. The City Council agreed, and after

the measure was approved by a vote of 48-0, the new reporting requirements became LocalLaw 28 of 2008.

Yet the most recent report from the parks department, on the 2010 fiscal year, falls far shortof the laws requirements.

It fails to list the citys largest parks nonprofit, the Central Park Conservancy, which spent$28 million during that period. Other major parks groups, including the Union SquarePartnership, the Madison Square Park Conservancy and the Friends of Washington SquarePark, are also missing.

It doesnt reflect a real effort to comply with the law, Alan J. Gerson, a formercouncilman who sat on the parks committee in 2008, said.

Whether its for schools, or parks or any public place, the public should know where theprivate money is coming from and what its buying. Its basic good government, Mr.Gerson, a Manhattan Democrat, said.

Thats what we wanted to establish, he said.

In 2008, the law was praised by council members and the parks department during publichearings. Liam Kavanagh, the first deputy commissioner for parks, said at the time that thelegislation was in sync with the Bloomberg administrations efforts to increase governmenttransparency, adding, I want to reiterate our shared commitment to full disclosure.

The reports, however, were never posted on the Web sites of the City Council or the parksdepartment. The latest report, covering the 2011 fiscal year, was due seven months ago butis still not complete.

Of the over three dozen park conservancy groups listed in a 2007 study by the Citizens

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Budget Commission as having expenditures high enough to meet the laws reportingthresholds, the parks department included only seven in its 2010 report.

Dozens of other donors are also missing from the reports, including Columbia University,Cabot Creamery, and real estate and construction firms that do business with the city. At

least 40 such donors contributed to the parks department during fiscal year 2010, accordingto filings at the citys Conflicts of Interest Board, but the 2010 report lists only six of them.

Many organizations that are listed on the reports appear without the precise dollar amountsof their contributions. The Prospect Park Alliance, for example, is listed on the 2010 report,but its expenditures of $10 million are not. Instead, the group appears with a codeindicating expenditures of $1 million or more. The codes are borrowed from theConflicts of Interest Board, where they are used to protect donors privacy.

Its clearly not the most illuminating, said Doug Turetsky, chief of staff at the citysIndependent Budget Office, referring to the 2010 report. Youd want to see more detail in

terms of specific amounts.

The parks department initially defended the reports. But after receiving detailed questionsabout their content, a department spokeswoman, Vickie Karp, wrote in an e-mail thatquestions about who should be reporting through this document are fair and deservefurther review. The department did not offer an explanation for the missing data anddeclined to make a parks official available for an interview.

The current chairwoman of the parks committee, Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, aManhattan Democrat, declined to comment.

A spokesman for Councilwoman Helen D. Foster, a Bronx Democrat who was a co-sponsor of the bill in 2008 and shepherded it through the parks committee, which she led atthe time, said Ms. Foster did not feel she remembered the legislation.

The disparities are evident in Pelham Bay Park, which sprawls over 2,700 acres in thenortheast Bronx. It is the citys largest green space four times the size of Central Park but its budget is far smaller, and clearly strained, despite the efforts of parks employeesand an active volunteer group.

The staff is passionately committed to the park, said Lizbeth Gonzlez, the president ofthe Friends of Pelham Bay Park. But we need more resources.

Along the parks eastern edge, the waters of the Long Island Sound lap up against acrumbling retaining wall. A quiet beach alcove is strewed with meteor-size chunks of brickand mortar, and piles of trash in decay.

We would collect all the trash and burn it, said Anbal Lugo, a retired handyman whowas angling for bluefish along the shore. Then the police gave me a ticket.

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He produced the citation, which he carries in his wallet, and explained that now, they letthe trash be.