§ 18-141 Native biodiversity planting practices.

   a.   Increased native biodiversity. By November 1, 2013, the department shall revise its design manual to increase biodiversity in its landscape practices. Such practices shall maximize the use of native plantings and drought and salt tolerant plantings, as appropriate, and minimize the presence of exotic monocultures on all city-owned property, including green streets, medians, sidewalks, parks and other areas where plantings occur. Where native plant species are not appropriate, such practices shall require the use of any plant species that has not been determined to be an invasive plant species by the New York state department of environmental conservation or by the department, or determined to be a noxious weed by the New York state department of agriculture and markets. Such manual shall include:

      1.   a native species planting guide, to be updated at least every five years, that lists the qualities of native species suitable for planting in the city of New York, including, but not limited to, the appropriate hydrological and soil conditions, necessary sunlight, drought and salt water tolerance, coloring, shade cover, compatibility with other plants and usefulness as a habitat; and

      2.   a list of alternative native species for commonly used non-native species.

   b.   The manual developed pursuant to this section shall be accessible for use by property owners and professional land managers to increase biodiversity and the use of native species, and shall be made available on-line on the department's website. For purposes of this section only, "native species" shall mean, with respect to a particular ecosystem, a species that, other than as the result of introduction, historically occurred or currently occurs in that ecosystem.

   c.   All plantings conducted by the department after May 1, 2014, shall conform to the design manual promulgated or drafted pursuant to this section. Each calendar year from 2015 to 2019, inclusive, the department shall review the effectiveness of the use of its design manual to increase native biodiversity in public plantings and shall issue a report to the mayor and the council documenting the number and location of all native species plantings in the prior year, including efforts made by the department to utilize local genotypes, and a description of the department's plans for increasing the diversity of native species in the city.

   d.   Exemption. Botanic gardens and public institutions who possess plants for educational, scientific, historic or collection purposes and take precautions to prevent non-native species from going to seed or spreading beyond the existing planting shall be exempt from the requirements of this section.

Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2013/011.

§ 18-142 Tree removal protocol.

   a.   The department, in consultation with the office of emergency management, department of sanitation, local electric corporations, and other utility corporations identified by the department, shall develop a protocol for the removal of trees on city property that have been downed or damaged as a result of severe weather events. Such protocol shall require the department:

      1.   to establish effective means of communication with local electric corporations and other utility corporations identified by the department, so that the department is notified in a timely manner (i) of downed or damaged trees that have fallen on powered electrical wires or cables, and (ii) whether it is safe to remove such trees;

      2.   to effectively coordinate city personnel engaged in tree removal on city property, upon receiving information regarding the status of downed or damaged trees;

      3.   to establish a system whereby each report of downed or damaged trees is provided with a unique identifier or tracking number and a method to notify the local electric corporation and other utility corporations identified by the department when a downed or damaged tree on city property has been removed; and

      4.   to establish a system whereby department personnel engaged in tree removal may be deployed with local electric corporation or other utility corporation personnel, if practicable, to assess and remove downed or damaged trees that have fallen on powered electrical wires or cables.

   b.   The department shall publish prominently on its website as soon as is practicable after a severe weather event information instructing persons how to notify the city of downed or damaged trees or downed wires.

   c.   The department shall submit a description of such protocol to the mayor and the speaker of the council, and publish such description prominently on its website, within one hundred eighty days after the enactment of the local law that added this subdivision.

(L.L. 2015/021, 3/18/2015, eff. 6/16/2015)

§ 18-143 Report on parks department facilities.

   a.   The commissioner shall submit a report to the mayor and the speaker of the city council on or before May 1 of each year identifying:

      1.   park facilities, including but not limited to playgrounds, beaches, and pools, that have features specifically designed to be used by people with disabilities, and the location of such features;

      2.   (i)   park facilities that have been assessed during the immediately preceding calendar year for their compliance with the 2010 standards for accessible design, or where applicable, the uniform federal accessible standards or the 1991 Americans with disabilities act standards for accessible design;  

         (ii)   whether such assessment was performed in response to a complaint from a member of the public or in connection with plans to perform construction work;

         (iii)   the findings from such assessment as to what actions need to be undertaken to address accessibility; and  

         (iv)   the plans that have been made to address accessibility based on such assessment;

      3.   work undertaken within the immediately preceding calendar year to bring parks facilities into compliance with such standards; and

      4.   work planned to be undertaken during the current calendar year to bring parks facilities into compliance with such standards.

   b.   Such report shall include the address or location of each facility described.  

   c.   Nothing in this section shall be deemed to require that the department undertake construction or alterations that would not be required by such act or such standards.

(L.L. 2015/073, 8/10/2015, eff. 8/10/2015)

§ 18-144 Annual report on park maintenance.

   a.   Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings: 

      Fixed-post maintenance staff. The term "fixed-post maintenance staff" means department maintenance staff who are assigned to perform maintenance work at a specific property under the jurisdiction of the commissioner.

      Functional acreage. The term "functional acreage" means any area of property under the jurisdiction of the commissioner that is routinely maintained by department staff.

      Mobile maintenance crew staff. The term "mobile maintenance crew staff" means department maintenance staff who are not assigned to work out of a specific property under the jurisdiction of the commissioner, but travel to different properties to perform maintenance work.

   b.   On or before December 1 of each year, the commissioner shall, for the immediately preceding fiscal year, submit a report to the mayor and the council on the maintenance work performed by department staff at each property under the jurisdiction of the commissioner. Such report shall include information relevant to maintenance expenditures in parks properties, including:

      1.   The name, type and unique internal identification number of each property;

      2.   The size of each property, in total acreage and functional acreage;

      3.   Whether the fixed-post maintenance staff are assigned to the property;

      4.   Per quarter, the weekly mean of work-hours for staff allocated to perform maintenance activities at each property, for both fixed-post maintenance staff and mobile maintenance crew staff;  

      5.   Per quarter, the dollar value of the weekly mean of work hours for staff allocated to perform maintenance activities at each property, for both fixed-post maintenance staff and mobile maintenance crew staff;  

      6.   Per quarter, the weekly mean dollar value of estimated regional, district or borough-wide maintenance services provided at each property; and  

      7.   Per quarter, the total weekly mean dollar value of maintenance services provided at each property; provided however, should the commissioner develop another method of collecting the same or similar data pursuant to paragraphs 4 through 7 of this section, such report may be amended upon 30 days' notice to the mayor and the council to include such data.  

   c.   The report pursuant to this section shall include, per quarter, the total dollar amount for any specialized maintenance services performed, if any, at each property, including but not limited to plumbing and electrical services.

   d.   The report pursuant to this section shall, as of at least one date per quarter, provide the current total headcount by borough of park enforcement patrol officers assigned to work on properties under the jurisdiction of the commissioner, as determined by the existing headcount on that date.

   e.   The commissioner shall submit such annual report to the mayor and the council pursuant to the following timetable:

      1.   On or before December 1, 2016, information on non-specialized maintenance work performed at the one hundred largest properties as determined by functional acreage and the headcount of park enforcement patrol officers; and

      2.   On or before December 1, 2017, and each year thereafter, information on non-specialized maintenance work performed at all properties under the jurisdiction of the commissioner, the headcount of park enforcement patrol officers and the data collected pursuant to subdivision c of this section.

   f.   Each annual report shall be posted on the department's website and the data collected in each report shall be posted on the city's website in a non-proprietary format that permits automated processing.

(L.L. 2015/098, 11/4/2015, eff. 11/4/2015)

§ 18-145 Reporting on capital project expenditures in parks.

   a.   For each capital project, under the jurisdiction of the department for which certain data is posted on the public online capital projects database pursuant to section 5-108, the department shall post on the website of the department, the status of each such capital project. Such information shall be updated on a triannual basis and include:

      1.   The actual or estimated starting date and actual or estimated completion date of the current phase of such project;

      2.   The total amount of funds allocated to such project or, when applicable, a range of the funds available;

      3.   The identification of each separate source of funding allocated to such project;

      4.   A description of such project;

      5.   The location of such project, specified by borough and community district;

      6.   The date such project was first assigned to an employee of the department;

      7.   A description of any phase of such capital project that is delayed and the reason for such delay; and

      8.   A description of any projected or actual cost overrun for each phase of such project.

   b.   The department shall also post on its website the total number of capital projects that were completed during the most recent fiscal year, the average amount of time taken to complete such projects, measured from the date when the design phase of each project was initiated to the date construction was completed, the total number of capital projects currently under the jurisdiction of the department, a description of potential reasons for any addition or subtraction made to the funding allocations for capital projects, and a description of potential reasons for delay for capital projects.

(L.L. 2015/098, 11/4/2015, eff. 11/4/2015; Repealed L.L. 2020/037, 3/13/2020, eff. 11/22/2023 ; Added L.L. 2023/007, 1/21/2023, eff. 11/22/2023 )

Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2020/037.