NY parks, weeks after Brownsville rape claim, set to get security funds
The city’s parks are poised to receive additional money for security less than two weeks after a young woman reported being gang-raped by teenage boys in a playground in Brownsville.
Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to increase funding for security by approximately 30 percent, allowing the city to hire 67 full-time Parks Enforcement Patrol staffers and another 50 seasonal part-timers as part of his preliminary budget proposal, which he was slated to unveil on Thursday.
Mayoral aides briefed the Associated Press on the plan on Wednesday and said de Blasio will propose that the city add $5.3 million to the park security’s existing $14.7 million budget. The new agents will largely be sent to a number of high-traffic parks and attractions, including the Coney Island boardwalk, Prospect Park, Battery Park and some Staten Island parks.