Proposed budget cuts to Parks Department will result in youth, forestry programs getting timbered, advocates fear

Advocates are raising alarm bells over Mayor Eric Adams making a $50.5 million annual reduction to the city Parks Department’s budget that includes lowering the agency’s headcount by hundreds of positions and nixing some of its programs.

The latest 5% cuts to the Parks Department, under Adams’ “Program to Eliminate the Gap” (PEG), were part of his Fiscal Year 2025 preliminary budget released on Tuesday.