VOL. 23, NO. 4	September 26, 1997

By Suzanne Trimel

  A poll of 1,066 park users highlighted general satisfaction with the parks across income areas. In low-income neighborhoods, 71 percent rated their parks either good or excellent, compared to the same endorsement by 79 percent in high-income areas.

  More than two-thirds of those surveyed said the parks were very important to them. Nearly a third of the survey group said they visited their neighborhood park every day, and almost 60 percent said they visited a park more than once a week.

  While generally expressing satisfaction with many city parks, the poll showed that some needed improvements. Central Park in Manhattan received the highest rating of any park. Half of those surveyed said it was excellent. But Jackie Robinson Park in Harlem received negative ratings by a majority of respondents, who cited trash and other problems.

  Steven Cohen, director of Columbia's Graduate Program in Public Policy and Administration, and William Eimicke, director of the Program in Politics and Public Policy, supervised the data analysis and wrote the report. New York City high school students in the Park Council's Urban Conservation Corps performed the survey work over the summer with direction from AmeriCorps volunteers.

  "The degree to which the rating of parks as 'very important' is universal throughout the city is a significant finding," said Cohen, an associate dean. Eimicke said: "What jumps out at us is the intensity of people's feelings for their parks."

  The survey was funded by the Commonwealth Fund and the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation. The Parks Council is New York City's oldest civic organization dedicated to the creation and improvement of parks in the five boroughs.