NYC Parks Launches Online Capital Project Tracker

NYC Parks today announced the launch of an online Capital Project Tracker. In an effort to make the capital process more transparent, the tracker is designed as an online, searchable tool that allows anyone interested in NYC Parks' capital projects to learn more about their stages of design, procurement and construction. The implementation of this tracker represents one of NYC Parks' first steps in streamlining the capital process to deliver projects to the public more quickly and efficiently. The Capital Projects Tracker can be accessed at www.nyc.gov/parks/capital-tracker.

"As part of our Framework for an Equitable Future, NYC Parks is working to streamline our capital process. One of my commitments upon taking office was to increase the transparency of the process through a publically accessible Capital Project Tracker," said NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP. "In order to invest in the care of our parks, we must regularly redesign and rebuild our city's parks and facilities. There are more than 400 active projects taking place at any time in parks throughout the city, ranging from improvements to parks, playgrounds, and greenways, to renovations of ballfields and recreational facilities, to resiliency efforts for beaches and boardwalks. We encourage everyone to visit our new tracker in order to learn more about projects taking place near you, and find out the current status of a project."

NYC Parks is committed to delivering projects to the public more quickly and efficiently. The entire capital process is being streamlined through an intensive review of each project's timeline from design to procurement to construction. For example, Parks is condensing internal design reviews and limiting design changes in both the design and construction stages unless safety issues are involved. Parks is also in the process of standardizing scope meetings and templates. Through Mayor de Blasio's FY15 Adopted Budget, Parks is hiring 55 additional employees for the capital division to help expedite the projects. These steps are part of Parks' priority effort to deliver completed projects to communities more quickly. While it will take time to fully implement all steps with deliverable results, the launch of the Capital Project Tracker is an important means of fostering a culture of increased transparency.

In designing the Capital Project Tracker, Parks capital projects were organized into three main categories:

· Active Projects: At any given time, Parks has more than 400 active projects. The Active Projects section lists all of the active projects in each borough, and shows what phase of the process each project is in, from design to procurement to construction. There is also a link for each stand-alone capital project to see additional information on the description of work, funding, and timeline. Multi-site contracts are also included, which bundle several sites from a borough into one contract. Each of these contracts lists the individual sites within the contract and provides information about the timeline and funding of the overall contract. Some of these multi-site contracts span across several boroughs and are located in our Citywide tab.

· Proposed Projects: Before a project can begin, it must be fully funded and have an in-house designer or design consultant assigned to it. Projects that don't currently have full funding or a designer or design consultant on board are listed in our Proposed Projects tab.

· Partner Projects: Not all projects on parkland are managed by NYC Parks. Sister agencies, such as the NYC Economic Development Corporation or the NYC Department of Design and Construction, handle one or sometimes all of the phases of certain projects. We've included a list of the active projects managed by our partners and provide a link to their websites to provide additional information.

In addition to the information in the tracker, our website also offers further information related to the capital process, including details about the planning process, bidder information, and information on how the community may advocate for park improvements in their neighborhood park.