ALBANY, N.Y. – Only a few days after the Paterson administration released its list of potential park closings, New Yorkers are up in arms.  Hundreds of New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation supporters rallied at the State Capitol in Albany yesterday to protest the plan to close up to 90 state parks and historic sites.   More than 100,000 park supporters have already formed or joined Facebook groups that are mobilizing opposition to the closings.  And thousands more have signed petitions, called and emailed their legislators, and organized local rallies to support keeping parks open.

Governor Paterson's official statement from the State website is:

Governor David A. Paterson issued the following statement:

"New York faces an historic fiscal crisis of unprecedented magnitude. It has demanded many difficult but necessary decisions to help ensure the fiscal integrity of our State. The unfortunate reality of closing an $8.2 billion deficit is that there is less money available for many worthy services and programs. In an environment when we have to cut funding to schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and social services, no area of State spending, including parks and historic sites, could be exempt from reductions. We cannot mortgage our State's financial future through further gimmicks or avoidance behavior. Spending cuts, however difficult, are needed in order to put New York on the road to fiscal recovery. Going forward through the budget process, I look forward to a productive dialogue with the Legislature on parks and historic sites, as well as other issues."

 Furthermore, I spoke the spokesman of the Office of New York State Parks and Historical Preservation.  His name is Dan Keefe and he is the Deputy Public Information Officer.  When asked about the report statng that Parks generate revenue, the official response was given a $9 billion shortlall, all agencies have been asked to cut back spending. 

When I asked about how Parks determined the cuts, he went into an explanation that can be summed up as a partia cost-benefit analysis based upon what parks generate revenue and which parks lose revenue.  They also took into account if there was another similar park based attraction within a 30 mile radius of the Park.  After I asked Dan about the cuts and the need to generate more attention to the inexpensive and massive Park system, he referred me to the $9 billion shortfall.  While I can tell that he and officers at the agency were not happy to cut or close parks but this was their directive from the Governor's Budget office.

“News of the closings will devastate many communities as their citizens rely on parks for affordable, close-to-home recreation and their businesses rely on parks to bring in revenue,” said Robin Dropkin, Executive Director of Parks & Trails New York, the statewide advocacy group organizing the event. “The savings are miniscule compared to the hardship park closings will cause New Yorkers, and especially compared to the tax revenue generated by the visitors’ spending that will no longer be there when the parks are gone.”

 According to Dropkin, closing parks would be an unprecedented step in the state’s history and it would be extremely detrimental to the New York State economy.  Bottom line, what the heck is he doing and why are our Parks treated like this?

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--This is a guest post by Seth Leitman, founder of  The Green Living Guy and editor of the TAB Green Guru Guides. Check out the recent book he edited, Build Your Own Electric Motorcycle.

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