To fix our parks, maybe a surcharge on Mets tickets?

Good morning. It's Thursday. Today we explore ideas to generate new revenue for city parks. We also get details about a warning from the judge during the defamation trial of Donald Trump in Manhattan.

A 50 cent or $1 surcharge on tickets to Citi Field and Arthur Ashe Stadium?

A “voluntary contribution” from hotel guests?

A “modest expansion” of concessions such as restaurants and cafes in parks?

Those are three of the twenty ideas that the Center for an urban futurea Manhattan-based think tank, said there are ways to generate needed new revenue for city parks outside the budget.

Every group that has an affinity with a particular municipal department or city agency advocates for more money in the city budget. What sets the center's report apart is its thinking outside the budget.

“Chances are there will never be enough city money to keep up with the needs of parks,” Eli Dvorkin, the center's editorial and policy director, told me. “We have reached a point where the problems have worsened over the last few decades, so trying to dig out of the hole the system is in is a major long-term challenge.”

And with budget headwinds still looming, despite Mayor Eric Adams' less ominous forecast, “I'm just going to be honest and say that city dollars are never going to be enough,” Dvorkin said.

Even before announcing his proposed $109 billion budget on Tuesday, Adams had restored some funding for police, fire and sanitation because of what he called “better than expected tax revenue.” He also dropped previously announced cuts to the school budget give back money for a program run by the parks department and the Department of Social Services giving low-income people temporary jobs.

Still, Dvorkin said, “the parks system has been under-resourced for decades,” “and with New Yorkers using parks more than ever, the cracks are showing.”

Sometimes literally, he added, such as when retaining walls collapse and drainage systems fail.

“Too many parks and playgrounds experience flooding during a regular rain event,” said the report, which estimates that the park system needs $685 million in work “just to bring existing infrastructure to a state of good repair.” ” Only 30 percent of these projects are in progress or planned for the next three years, the report said.

Adam Ganser, the executive director of New Yorkers for Parks, an advocacy group, told me that philanthropic money had kept some “great parks” like Central Park, Prospect Park and the High Line in “fantastic condition.”

But most New Yorkers aren't aware that private money goes to those heavily used parks, he said — or that the 1,700 other parks are completely dependent on the city budget and are lagging behind.

As for surcharges on tickets, the report looked at locations like Citi Field, which paid the Parks Department $1.5 million in rent in fiscal year 2022. In addition, the Parks Department receives no revenue from “what is technically park property,” the report said. said. The report calculated that a 50-cent surcharge at Citi Field would generate $1.29 million in Mets home games annually. At $1 per ticket, the fee would provide enough money for the Parks Department to hire more than 50 full-time groundskeepers, the report said.

In terms of expanding restaurants and cafes, the report noted that the Parks Department had only 12 restaurants in city parks, three of which were on golf courses.

But these twelve do not include concessions paid by nonprofits such as the Madison Square Park Conservancy, which manages the park. The Shake Shack in Madison Square Park generates more than $1 million a year for conservation, the report said, suggesting the city would regulate 10 additional restaurants in parks by 2030.

Sue Donoghue, the parks commissioner, said by email that the report had brought together “some of the most innovative and conscientious policy thinkers” to explore ways to support our parks. She also said it “helps emphasize that New Yorkers love their parks and want them to thrive.”

Weather

Around thirty degrees it will be a mainly cloudy day. Prepare for a chance of snow later, with low temperatures in the upper 20s.

ALTERNATE PARKING

In effect until February 9 (New Year's Eve).

He sat at the defense table as E. Jean Carroll, who filed the charges, told the jury that Trump had destroyed her reputation and made her a target of some of his followers. She testified about what happened after she publicly said for the first time that he raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s.

As she testified, he shook his head. He let out a breath – loudly. he whispered to his lawyer. He muttered 'scam' and 'witch hunt'.

An attorney for Carroll, outside the jury's presence, complained that jurors could hear him.

The judge, Lewis Kaplan, had already spoken with Trump's lawyer Alina Habba about her objections to Carroll's testimony. Now he seemed to be losing his patience.

“Mr. Trump has a right to be here,” the judge began, adding that Trump could forfeit that right “if he is disruptive, which has been reported to me, and if he disobeys court orders.”

“I hope I don't have to consider excluding you from the trial,” Judge Kaplan said. “I understand that you probably really want me to do that.”

Trump threw up his hands. “I'd love it,” he said.

“I'm sure,” said the judge, “because you simply can't control yourself under these circumstances.”

Trump has been attacking Carroll since she accused him of rape in a book excerpt published in New York magazine in June 2019. She has since sued him twice. The jury in the first case to go to trial found him liable for sexually assaulting her and awarded her just over $2 million in damages.

It also awarded her just under $3 million after discovering that Trump had defamed her in a 2022 post on his Truth Social website, calling her claim “a complete scam” and a hoax.

The current trial focuses on any damages he must pay her for defaming her earlier, shortly after the book excerpt was published. She is asking for at least $10 million.

Posting on Truth Social as the proceedings continued Wednesday, Trump said he had done nothing wrong except defend himself against what he called a false accusation from Carroll.

“She was not damaged,” he wrote. “I am the one who is damaged.”

METROPOLITAN diary

Coq au Vin

Dear Diary:

When I graduated from New School in the mid-1970s, I worked as a 9-to-5 typist to support myself. Dinner was usually something quick and cheap between work and class.

One morning before work, I decided to try a recipe for coq au vin that came with a slow cooker my parents had given me, hoping to cook myself a decent dinner every now and then.

As I added the chicken and vegetables to the pan, I realized I had no fin. Oh oh.

There was a liquor store around the corner, but I didn't know how early it opened.

I ran downstairs and turned the corner onto Second Avenue.

“Back in five minutes,” said a note on the door.

I walked anxiously in front of the store as I waited for it to open. I was staring at the sidewalk when a cute little dog came up to me and started sniffing my leg.

As I ran my eyes along the belt, I was surprised to see the grinning face of actress Peggy Cass.

“They're never there when you need them!” she said.

– Mari Marks

Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Send your entries here And read more Metropolitan Diary here.