| Releases & Statements
Contact: Frank Sobrino,
Press Secretary
O: (212) 669-4193
Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum today
proposed the city seek corporate sponsorships for public recreation
centers and drop plans to charge fees at six facilities in low-income
communities that are currently free to users.
Noting that NYC Marketing was created
specifically to tap new sources of revenue to support city services,
Gotbaum suggested the agency join forces with the City Parks Foundation
to solicit corporate support for the recreation centers. If successful,
the effort could be extended to raise monies for the 22 centers
where the Department of Parks and Recreation began charging membership
fees in 2003.
A recent analysis of the effect of
the fees by the Independent Budget Office, done at Gotbaum’s
request, showed that attendance declined at centers charging membership
fees, while soaring at facilities that remained free to users.
The IBO estimates that, if the Department of Parks plan goes forward,
membership fees at the six currently free centers would bring
in less than $1 million in 2007.
“As a former parks commissioner,
I am well aware of the need to find new sources of revenue to
ensure the upkeep of our parks and recreational facilities,”
Gotbaum said. “But to impose membership fees that stifle
use of our recreation centers for the sake of a negligible boost
in revenue—that’s simply unjustifiable. There are
better ways to raise money for our parks and rec centers.
“An aggressive ‘Adopt-A-Rec-Center’
campaign has several advantages over the mandatory fee policy,”
Gotbaum added. “For one, it has the potential to generate
far more revenue than can be raised by charging user fees. More
important, mandatory fees discourage use of city recreation and
exercise facilities, exacerbating health problems in communities
most in need of help.”
According to Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) Community Health Profiles data, the
neighborhoods where the six recreation centers targeted for new
fees are located have alarmingly high rates of serious health
problems:
· In Hunts Point and Mott Haven,
where the Hunts Point and St. Mary’s recreation centers
are located, one in three adults gets no physical activity, and
one in four is obese. The rate of heart disease is 45 percent
higher than in the city as a whole; diabetes two times higher.
· In Central Brooklyn, where
the Brownsville and St. John’s recreation centers are located,
one in three adults gets no physical activity and one in three
is obese. The rate of heart disease is 30 percent higher than
in the city as a whole; diabetes two times higher.
· In East Harlem, where the
Thomas Jefferson recreation center is located, one in four adults
gets no physical activity and one in three is obese. The rate
of heart disease is 5 percent higher than in the city as a whole;
diabetes two times higher.
· On the Lower East Side, where
the Hamilton Fish recreation center is located, one in five adults
gets no physical activity and one in 10 is obese.
“Stifling usage of public recreation
centers in communities that need them most contradicts the Mayor’s
commitment to promoting public health during his second term,”
Gotbaum said. “As for the notion that people who pay fees
make more regular use of the recreation centers, I suggest to
anyone who views a membership fee as a motivational tool to pay
a suggested donation. I’m more concerned about the New Yorkers
who can’t afford to pay and, as a result, will lose the
opportunity to improve their health and well being.”
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