Mamdani Cuts $33 Million From NYC Parks While Department Funds Anti-Racist Training Programs
Training materials show the Parks Department instructing supervisors to 'yield positions of power to those otherwise marginalized' even as the agency faces its worst staffing crisis in years
The proposed FY2027 budget reduces parks funding to roughly 0.5% of city spending, falling short of Mamdani's campaign pledge of 1%, even as DEI training for supervisors continues.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration is moving forward with a $33 million cut to the New York City Parks Department budget while the agency continues to fund ideological training programs for its supervisors and managers.
The Budget Cut
The proposed FY2027 executive budget reduces Parks funding to approximately $654 million, roughly 0.5 percent of the city's $127 billion budget. The cut falls short of Mamdani's campaign pledge to dedicate 1 percent of the city budget to parks, a promise he made while calling the department chronically neglected.
Advocates and the Citizens' Committee for Children have repeatedly warned the department is severely understaffed, with insufficient maintenance workers to keep parks clean and safe. Playgrounds go unrepaired, bathrooms stay locked, and grass goes uncut in neighborhoods where parks are the only available green space.
The Training
Despite those constraints, the Parks Department's Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging continues to run mandatory training sessions for supervisors and managers, according to materials obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
The training is built around a framework explicitly described as inspired by Ibram X. Kendi, the Boston University professor whose Center for Antiracist Research took in tens of millions of dollars before being largely dissolved amid questions about its finances and output.
The materials divide employees into zones based on their acceptance of the ideology. Those who "avoid hard questions" or "deny racism is a problem" are placed in the "Fear Zone." Those who have fully embraced the framework are designated as being in the "Growth Zone," where they are expected to "yield positions of power to those otherwise marginalized" and "promote and advocate for policies and leaders that are Anti-Racist." The training also recommends materials by Robin DiAngelo and Nikole Hannah-Jones.
The Contrast
Critics and parks advocates argue the juxtaposition is straightforward: a department that cannot afford enough maintenance workers to keep bathrooms open has funded a dedicated office running mandatory ideological programming for its leadership.
Mamdani's office has defended the broader budget as part of citywide fiscal management. Parks advocates say the cuts disproportionately affect working-class and minority neighborhoods where public parks are the primary source of green space, the very communities Mamdani's equity agenda is meant to serve.
