Transcript: Mayor Adams Appoints Iris Rodriguez-Rosa as NYC Parks Commissioner, Celebrates $23 Million Transformation of Playgrounds and Public Spaces at Six NYCHA Developments Through NYC Parks Partnership

June 1, 2025

Mayor Eric Adams: Good morning, good morning. Nice, beautiful morning here in Kingsborough Houses. We're just really, really excited about this project as we continue to expand our open spaces, something that we know is crucial. And oftentimes, when you think about NYCHA, NYCHA is overlooked, but not in this administration.

We included NYCHA not only in our housing plan, but also included it in our renovation of green and open spaces. And so it's no secret how much we believe in green spaces and open spaces. And the entire team, we have been focused on this, on our We Outside series. It's a summer of outdoor space and enjoying every part of this city and the green spaces that are a part of it.

This is a new initiative that will include a series of announcements, events, investments, and new programming across the five boroughs to ensure that all New Yorkers are able to enjoy open and green spaces. Whether that's our public pools, beaches, or parks, or New York City's public housing, we'll also appreciate and enjoy these green open spaces.

It's about nurturing, expanding, and investing in our parks. And the thousands of workers, lifeguards, park enforcement officers, and groundskeepers requires someone to do this and do it in the right way. We have a great team at the Department of Parks. But today, I am honored to appoint Iris Rodriguez-Rosa as commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The first Latina to serve in this role. First Latina to serve in this role. And when you think about it, no one is more fitting to serve in this role. And we want to really thank our previous parks commissioner, Sue Donoghue, for her commitment. And we want to continue that success.

But when you think about Iris, you have to think about how long she has been engaged in parks work. She began her career with New York City Parks in 1986. Nineteen eighty-six. Just think about that for a moment. She is aware of every nook and cranny of the parks in the cities. She has witnessed the good times, the bad times, the disinvestments, the moments that we have ignored park spaces in certain communities. She has been there and she's ready now to lead.

She previously served as first deputy commissioner for New York City Parks. She oversaw the revitalization and growth of the lifeguard workforce throughout a nationwide lifeguard shortage. She has delivered for New Yorkers and she has delivered for many, many decades. Not years, decades. Iris began her career and she has continued to move throughout the system. In June 20, 2015, she was appointed to serve as the Bronx Borough Parks Commissioner, where she championed the Ocean Beach Pavilion and helped execute countless playground renovations for the benefits of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers across the city. And I'm grateful that she has decided to take this appointment. And today I'm excited to continue working with Iris in this role to deliver for New Yorkers. And that work begins right now here in New York City parks and playgrounds.

And we know that New York City parks are not just green spaces. They are backyards. They are places where we play with our children, we walk our pets, they are where we meet friends and take our families out to gatherings. Every family across the five boroughs should have a nice, clean place to take their kids to play. And so today, as we continue the We Outside Summer, we're swinging our city into a new era of playing with the children and families of the city.

Cutting the ribbon on two renovated playgrounds here at Kingsborough Houses in Brooklyn and celebrating an initiative that has transformed five other playgrounds, open spaces as well. This ceremony marks the completion of $23 million investments to reimagine nearly three acres of open spaces across NYCHA.

We've renovated outdated playgrounds with new game tables, sports equipment, and revitalized run-down public spaces with modern landscaping and upgraded seating areas. And with these projects, we're putting more parks and playgrounds within a 10-minute walk of 10,000 additional New Yorkers. So the whole neighborhood will benefit, and we're seeing that progress.

Because in this administration, we believe in getting stuff done. This delivers on a promise I made in 2022 when we first took office. After years of disinvestment and ignoring NYCHA, we're making sure families in public housing get their fair share. That includes everything from high-speed broadband, free high-speed broadband for children and families in public housing, as well as renovations. We fought to create the NYCHA Trust and unlock billions of dollars for housing invested in the public spaces New Yorkers deserve. Projects like these are here, are about reimagining our communities so that everyone can benefit. And our city's success is not just for a few.

With new playgrounds and more access to public spaces, with new schools and affordable childcare and free internet and record-breaking amounts of jobs, we're making New York City the best place to raise children and families. So I want to turn it over to Iris and just really thank her.

You're not in a city environment for the number of decades that she has been here. Toiling in the field, in many cases watching others move over her, but she made it committed and dedicated. And it is a proud moment for me to bring her to the helm and to appoint the first Latina because oftentimes this talent is overlooked. And we wanted to make sure that she had her opportunity, after all of her years of experience, to now run one of the largest park systems in the country and probably one of the most difficult because this is New York and we know how challenging New York could be.

Every park attendee, every visitor, trust me, they have a comment. 8.5 million New Yorkers, 36 million opinions. And you're going to have someone that can handle each one of them because if you could make it in New York, you could make it anywhere. But if you could make it in the Bronx, you could make it anywhere.

Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa, Department of Parks and Recreation: Yes, indeed. Yes, indeed. Good morning. Thank you, Mayor Adams, for the amazing opportunity to serve this city of the, of course, 8.5 million residents and join your tireless efforts to get stuff done for every community throughout the five boroughs. I'm honored to be appointed as the first Latina ever to hold this position as New York City Parks Commissioner. I join a long line of extraordinary female leaders in this administration that speak to your vision, inclusion, diversity and equity for all. Ours is the largest and greatest municipal park system in the nation.

Having served in this agency for nearly 40 years, I know the importance of our neighborhood playgrounds, pools, recreation centers and green spaces. They are crucial to the quality of life in our great city. I stand here today to help continue the legacy of programs and events that are models for the well-being of New Yorkers and the countless people that have come to love our parks.

I thank recent Commissioner Sue Donoghue for her inspiration. I will be working alongside some of the most incredible dedicated park staff who believe in the good service of public service. As I thank our amazing Mayor Adams, I'd also like to thank First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro for allowing me to serve what we know is the greatest urban park system.

This is an honor and a privilege that I graciously accept. Thank you. Now, I'd like to share on what today is about. Every time we cut a ribbon on a new park, we are making our city safer and more livable. Parks and playgrounds are more than just beautiful places. They are vital public spaces where neighbors come together, building trust and community.

By giving neighbors a shared space to gather and giving young people a place to have some fun, we are making New York City stronger and more secure for our residents. At parks, we are always looking for ways to expand access to our green spaces to make our city the best place to raise a family. Thanks to our partnership with NYCHA, about 10,000 more New Yorkers are now within a 10-minute walk of a public park. That's wonderful. That's a great accomplishment.

I am grateful to Mayor Adams, NYCHA, and the Kingsborough House residents who helped us design this space. I look forward to continuing to work together to make our city more safe, more resilient, and more livable. Thank you. And now I would like to introduce NYCHA Senior Vice President for Capital Programs, Joy Sinderbrand.

Joy Sinderbrand, Senior Vice President, Capital Programs, New York City Housing Authority: Thank you, commissioner, for those remarks, and please pass my appreciation on to all of your colleagues who worked on these extraordinary projects. I also want to thank the Kingsborough House's residents and Resident Association President Angelina Whittaker for hosting us on this exciting day. And especially thanks to the extraordinary property management team here at Kingsborough Houses, led by [Linda Golston and Denise McFatter.] And for the elected officials who are here today, thank you for your support of our efforts in the NYCHA community.

This is an extraordinarily exciting ribbon-cutting. This represents the final of six new public park spaces on NYCHA property. There are $23 million invested, $5 million here at Kingsborough Houses, an extraordinary reimagining of this space for residents of all ages to experience. We have new play areas, a new water area. There are relaxing seating areas, beautiful landscaping, game tables, and more. Parks and open spaces are so important, not just for play, but for building community connections, and also for just really improving the quality of life of all New Yorkers.

So my colleagues and I at NYCHA are particularly excited to see this space open and become an integral part of Kingsborough Houses. Thanks again to city government and to our elected officials for their vision and initiative to get projects like this done to reimagine the spaces and NYCHA communities, and I hope everyone enjoys this park. And now I have the pleasure of introducing Resident Association President Angelina Whittaker.

Angelina Whittaker, Tenant Association President, Kingsborough Houses: Good morning, everyone. I thank you. We appreciate this park. You don't know how long we needed this park, and we really do appreciate it. I'm not going to speak long. I'm just going to say directly how I feel. I feel that we are very thankful, and that's all I have to say for now.

Mayor Adams: I like that. You know, I don't know if Mother Nature got the memo, but it's summertime, so let's bring in some of that heat. Are we going to do a few on topics?

Question: [Inaudible] with WNYC. So you mentioned in your introduction of the new Parks commissioner regarding the lifeguard shortage. Can both of you speak on the upcoming beach season, how you plan on keeping staffing levels up for lifeguards, what that challenge poses?

Mayor Adams: It was a real, real, real struggle to deal with some of the union issues in the lifeguards that we believe were barriers that prevented the recruitment effort that we desired. And Sue and Iris put together a real plan to change that, and we saw a major improvement last year as we dealt with a national lifeguard shortage. And so, Iris, why don't you share what the plans are?

Commissioner Rodriguez-Rosa: So this year we've continued to be able to develop the lifeguard corps, to be able to be out there at the schools and all different locations to be able to expand the understanding of the importance of lifeguard. We're also doing assemblies in various schools to talk about water safety when we talk about water safety as well. So we continue to recruit, and as we speak, we are certifying additional lifeguards for this season.

Question: Can you give us an estimate of what levels are currently as we speak?

Commissioner Rodriguez-Rosa: So the last number that we recorded was 280, but we continue to register and certify every single day. So by July 4th we should be able to have a full number as well.

Question: [Inaudible.]

Commissioner Rodriguez-Rosa: So the goal has always been the 1,400 lifeguards, so we expect to exceed over 1,000 this year, so we're looking forward to that.

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