NYC budget secures parks jobs as calls for more parks officers continue

After months of safety concerns at Seth Lowe Park in Bensonhurst, many many residents were hoping the city's new budget would bring more park patrol officers. It did not. News 12's Shakti Dennis explains what the budget does not include and what it does. Parents have been calling for more park patrol at Seth Lowe Playground after complaints about reckless moped riders and stabbing inside the park. If we have more officers here, people will be more aware and there will be less crime. The union representing park enforcement patrol officers known as PEP says the problem is ongoing staffing shortages. There's 28,000 acres of parkland, you know, in the city of New York. There's only a few hundred of of us PEP officers. The union says there's only about four PEP officers assigned to cover all of Brooklyn's parks. We have such a small percentage of people to do the job. While the city's newly adopted $125.8 billion budget doesn't fund any additional PEP officers, the budget does permanently fund nearly 300 existing parks department positions, meaning those jobs are now built into the city's budget each year. I thank the mayor again for they're going to continue to have their jobs, but nothing new was added. At Seth Lowe Park, some visitors say they've noticed more NYPD presence lately. No, much better. But the union says park safety should be handled by PEP officers. NYPD's primary focus is not the parks, it is the city streets. Council member Susan Zhuang passed legislation last year requiring the city to publish a report on how many PEP officers are assigned across each borough. We want to make sure city agency is accountable to distribute the service equally in every part of the city. The first report is due at the end of this month. In Bensonhurst, Shakti Dennis, News 12 Brooklyn.