Almost Every New Yorker Has A Park On Their Doorstep, Study Finds

NEW YORK, NY – It's the concrete jungle, but in New York City barely anybody is far from green space.

A study shows that 99 percent of NYC dwellers are within an 10 minute walk of a park – a much higher number than the national average of 54 percent.

The report by The Trust For Public Land shows 8,550,199 people living in the five boroughs are within the 10 minute radius. Only 109,502 are not.

In New York City the trust found there were 2,306 parks, with 29,872 acres of open land.

The study includes a tool allowing users to see where parks are across the country, and areas where they're needed. To see it click here.

“Today, more than 100 million people in communities across America don’t have a park within a 10-minute walk of home — and that’s 100 million too many,” Diane Regas, president and CEO of the organization, said.

The group says this is the first time in America’s history that every park in each urban municipality has been mapped. Residents can now determine who has and who lacks walkable access to a park, an important tool for city planners.

The tool also allows people to see the percentage of residents who live near a park by income, ethnicity, age and other demographic factors.

“The ParkServe data platform takes the guesswork out of planning where to put a park,” said Breece Robertson, the director of the group’s geographic information system. “It tells mayors and recreation departments, ‘To serve the most people in need, build a park right here.’ ”

Patch reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

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