Parks in Manhattan, New York

About the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation:

NYC Parks is the steward of over 30,000 acres of land — 14 percent of New York City — and over 5,000 individual properties from Coney Island Beach and Central Park to community gardens and Greenstreets. We operate over 800 athletic fields and almost 1,000 playgrounds, 1,800 basketball courts, 550 tennis courts, 65 public swimming pools, 51 recreational facilities, 15 nature resorts, 14 golf courses and 14 miles of beaches.

We take charge of 1,200 buildings and 23 museums with historic houses. We look after 600,000 street trees in parks, and two million more. We are the largest provider of leisure and sports equipment and services to New York City. We are home to free concerts, international sporting activities and cultural festivals.

Vision and Mission:

Our vision for New Yorkers is to create and maintain thriving parks and public spaces. Their goal is to develop healthy and safe parks, public spaces and leisure facilities, create a park system for present and future generations and take care of parks and public spaces.

This is a list of New York City parks. Three entities manage parks within New York City, each with its own responsibilities:

• Federal – US National Park Service (NPS) – both open-space and historic properties
• State – New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYSP)
• Municipal – New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR)

The town has 28,000 acres of community parkland (113 km2) and 14 miles (22 km) of local public beaches. Central Park, Prospect Park, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, and Forest Park are major municipal parks. The largest is Pelham Bay Park, followed by the Greenbelt and Van Cortlandt Park in Staten Island. New York City also features many smaller but historically significant parks, such as Battery Park, Bryant Park, Madison Square Park, Union Square Park, and Washington Square Park.

Additionally, some parks are privately owned and operated, most notably Gramercy Park. There may be restrictions on access to those private parks.

Every year, the City Parks Foundation provides more than 1200 free performing arts programs in parks throughout the city, including Central Park Summerstage, Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, and festivals for music, theater, and children’s art.