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a. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, "sponsor" shall mean the person(s) or group(s) that have entered into an agreement with the department with respect to the maintenance, renovation and agreement requirements provided for in the Adopt-A-Park program.
b. The commissioner is authorized to enter into agreements with one or more individuals, corporations, partnerships or other entities, other than political candidates and their campaign organizations, to sponsor any park, playground, beach, pool, recreation center, ballfield, green space, greenstreet, vehicle, equipment, structure or other property under the jurisdiction of the department, except as provided in subdivision g of this section. Such sponsor may elect to be recognized by a sign at or on the area sponsored which shall not be larger than the standard sign used by the department. The commissioner shall erect such signs in a manner that best preserves the aesthetic quality of the sponsored area. Where the erection of such a sign is impossible, requires approval by another governmental entity or is otherwise prohibited by law, the department and the sponsor may agree to another form of recognition.
c. Sponsorship agreements may be entered into for a period of one to eight years from the date of the agreement. Nothing herein shall prohibit more than one sponsor at a particular site, and a sponsor may enter into agreements with the department to sponsor more than one site.
d. The department and the sponsor may renew an agreement for a term which shall be at the discretion of the commissioner, but is not to exceed the limits designated in subdivision c of this section. The existing sponsor may apply for renewal of the agreement no less than thirty days before the expiration of the agreement.
e. Nothing herein shall be construed to mean that the property or structure sponsored has been renamed for the sponsor or gives the sponsor or an agent or member thereof any authority to sell or display merchandise or use the sponsored area in any manner inconsistent with the New York city charter or any statute, law, rule or regulation. No sponsorship shall impede or impair in any way any concession or lease agreement between the department and any other individual or entity.
f. (1) Sponsors shall make a sponsorship payment to be determined by the commissioner, which shall reflect the size and nature of the sponsored area and the maintenance, level of use, security and program costs or any portion thereof to be undertaken or provided for by the sponsor. Such sponsorship payments shall be treated as private categorical grants and shall be used solely by the department for the sponsored area for park maintenance, capital projects, security, recreation, art and educational programs and the acquisition and development of parkland and related structures or facilities. Any grant in the amount of five thousand dollars or more shall be separately identified.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph one of this subdivision, the commissioner may enter into a sponsorship agreement at a reduced sponsorship payment or no sponsorship payment with one or more organizations or individuals who undertake the responsibility to perform uncompensated volunteer assistance of beautification and/or clean-up work consistent with departmental standards.
(3) Any sponsorship agreement shall hold the city harmless from liability for any damage or injury arising from such sponsorship and shall provide for indemnification of the city by the sponsor in the event that any judgment or other financial obligation is imposed upon the city with respect to such sponsorship.
g. (1) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any park or facility under the jurisdiction of the department that has a trust, conservancy, or partnership with the department whose annual contributions exceed five hundred thousand dollars to the park or facility.
(2) The commissioner may only enter into sponsorships with those individuals or groups in a manner consistent with the integrity of the park, playground, facility or property.
h. The comptroller shall have the power to audit and investigate all matters relating to the finances and the financial operations of the program.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2003/055.
Beginning December 1, 2009, and annually thereafter, the commissioner shall submit a report to the council for the immediately preceding fiscal year on funds and the value of goods donated by non-governmental sources to the department for parks under the jurisdiction of the department. Such report shall include (i) the amount of funds and the value of goods donated by organizations or individuals to the department by park where such funding or goods are designated for a particular park, or by service district or borough if there is no such designation, provided that such funds or goods are valued at more than five thousand dollars; and (ii) where the department has entered into a conservancy arrangement, as defined by section 18-137 of this chapter, with a conservancy, as defined by section 18-137 of this chapter, to provide maintenance and operation services for a park or portion of a park under the jurisdiction of the department, the department shall require such entity to provide data to the department concerning the total amount of expenditures made by such entity for such park or portion of a park. The department shall require that any conservancy that enters into or renews a conservancy arrangement with the department after July 1, 2015, concerning a park or portion of a park under the jurisdiction of the department, provide the department with the data regarding its expenditures for such a park or portion of a park. Prior to July 1, 2015, the department shall, where practicable, seek such information from any conservancy with whom the department has an existing conservancy arrangement, provided that where the department is unable to obtain such information from such conservancy, it shall state the reason why such information was not able to be obtained. Such report, to the extent practicable, shall list organizations and individuals donating funds and goods to the department, provided that any such organization or individual donating funds or goods anonymously shall be listed without identifying information.
(Am. L.L. 2015/016, 3/3/2015, eff. 3/3/2015)
The department shall place at all entrances to all playgrounds operated by or under the jurisdiction of the department, including those for which the department has an agreement with a conservancy or other not-for-profit organization with respect to operation of any aspect of a playground a sign reading, "Warning: Some surfaces may become hot. Please take precautions with exposed skin." Such signs shall be placed at all entrances of all playgrounds where presently there is not a sign at all entrances warning that shoes are required to be worn in such playground. Such signs shall also be placed at the entrances to all other playgrounds upon replacement of a sign in any such playground warning that shoes are required to be worn. All signs shall be securely affixed at such entrances. The above described warning shall also be placed on every sign in any playground stating the rules of such playground when any such sign is replaced. All signs shall be in English and, where appropriate, additional languages. For purposes of this section, "securely affixed" shall mean that at a minimum the signs shall be tethered to not less than two stationary fixtures.
a. For purposes of this section, "surfacing materials" shall mean infill materials, blades of synthetic turf and surfaces used under and around play equipment.
b. The department shall on an ongoing basis consult with the department of health and mental hygiene to identify and evaluate new surfacing materials that have not been previously used for any playgrounds or athletic fields by the department to determine whether such materials may benefit the public by enhancing recreational activities and to evaluate potential health or safety impacts. In performing such an evaluation, the department shall assess reasonably available information on new surfacing materials to determine if such surfacing materials are appropriate for recreational activities in parks and meet existing safety and health standards, including, but not limited to the standards of the American society for testing and materials, the American national standards institute, and the United States consumer products safety commission guidelines set out in its "Handbook for Public Playground Safety", applicable to such materials. Such evaluation shall also include an assessment of reasonably available information regarding whether or not such materials may present any health or safety risk, including whether such materials retain high levels of heat or contain hazardous levels of known carcinogens or toxic substances, and of any available studies of such materials that address environmental issues. Such evaluation shall also include an assessment of alternative surfaces and technologies considered, including natural surfacing. The department shall use best efforts to locate all pertinent sources of information on any surfacing material under evaluation, provided that nothing in this section shall be construed to require the performance of an exhaustive search of all information available on any such material.
(Am. L.L. 2023/068, 5/29/2023, eff. 6/28/2023)
a. For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
1. "Conservancy" shall mean any not-for-profit entity that operates any park or portion of any park under the jurisdiction of the commissioner, pursuant to a written conservancy arrangement, provided that "conservancy" shall not include any not-for-profit entity that operates in three or more boroughs.
2. "Conservancy arrangement" shall mean any license or other written authorization allowing a conservancy to operate any park or portion of any park under the jurisdiction of the commissioner.
3. "Operates" shall mean the ability to hire a majority of full time staff for such park.
4. "Local representative" shall mean an individual who resides within or whose place of business is located within a council district in which such park is located or which such park abuts.
b. Any conservancy arrangement entered into, renewed or otherwise granted or executed on or after the effective date of the local law that added this section shall require that at least one local representative from each council district where such park is located or which such park abuts be a voting member of the board of directors, or other governing body of such conservancy, provided that no more than one local representative from each council district in which such park is located and one local representative from two of the council districts which abut such park shall be required, and provided further that no more than twenty percent of the total appointed or elected membership of such conservancy's board of directors or other governing body shall be required to be local representatives. Such local representatives shall be designated in consultation with the council members representing the districts in which the park is located or which abut such park. The nature of such consultation shall be determined by the department, provided that the department shall make the designation of each local representative not less than thirty days following its initial consultation with the appropriate council member, during which time the council member may make a written recommendation regarding the local representative to be designated from their district. In the event that representation from council districts from which a local representative may be designated would in the aggregate be greater than twenty percent of the total appointed membership of such conservancy's board of directors or other governing body or there are more than two council districts abutting such park, the department may determine which council districts shall be represented initially, in consultation with the appropriate council members, with districts from which local representatives shall be designated rotating thereafter in a manner to be determined by the department.
a. Except as provided herein, any concession under the jurisdiction of the commissioner, and any restaurant located within any park that is the subject of a lease or other agreement between the department and a not-for-profit corporation relating to the restoration and maintenance of the park in which such restaurant is located, other than seasonal concessions of under forty-five days in duration in a calendar year, shall have specific boundaries which shall be indicated on a map of the park in which such concession or restaurant is located. No such concession or restaurant shall extend beyond the boundaries indicated on such map. The department shall visibly mark the authorized boundaries of each such concession or restaurant and shall maintain such markings, unless all boundaries of such concession or restaurant are within a building or similar stationary structure or marking a boundary is not practicable because the terrain does not allow for such marking. The department shall determine how such markings shall be made and any such marking shall be consistent with any law, rule, regulation or determination of the landmarks preservation commission and the public design commission. This subdivision shall not apply to any concession authorized to occupy a ground space of less than two hundred square feet, to occupy an area greater than two acres, or to operate in locations in three or more boroughs, nor shall this subdivision apply to any concession that is expressly authorized to move its location pursuant to the terms of the applicable concession agreement. The location of a concession or restaurant subject to the provisions of this subdivision shall also be marked on a map of the park or parks in which such concession or restaurant is located which map shall be made available on the city of New York's website within one year of the effective date of this section. However, any concession or restaurant covered by this subdivision where the concession agreement, lease or other agreement is entered into or renewed following the effective date of this section, shall have such maps posted within sixty days of the execution or renewal of the relevant concession or lease agreement. It shall not be a violation of this section where the moving of any such boundary was done pursuant to the direction of an authorized employee of any applicable city agency.
b. Any person who violates the provisions of subdivision a of this section by exceeding the authorized boundaries of a concession or boundaries for the location of a restaurant subject to the provisions of this section shall be liable for a civil penalty of not less than two hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars for each such violation. Such civil penalty shall be in addition to any penalty imposed pursuant to a concession agreement with the department.
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