Heather Lubov of City Parks Foundation testifies on SummerStage permitting

Okay, we have two today.

Heather Labove and Christopher Leon Johnson.

Yeah, hello.

My name is Christopher Leon Johnson.

I know you want more time.

That's why I'm going to go first, cut you off, give you more time.

So I'm here to talk about this right now, right, about this Parks Department issue.

I want to say this right now that I think that you should invite an OEM to speak in this too, because

one thing I've said about Maldani is that unlike the last mayor, he's doing his job when it comes to shutting down certain events that shouldn't be happening in the city outside.

And I think we all know what we're talking about.

I think that going forward, I think the city council need to have a program to where that people should get paid to report any event that they've seen that is not safe.

Because I think once that happens, these people start doing their job way more.

I think going forward, the city council needs to find a way to make it where that if you want to do a basketball tournament,

You need to put up to $2 million in bond, like a bond thing, and insurance, and have real adequate security because what happened in the summertime with that basketball player.

I'll say this right now that this system is not the best.

It's always some politics involved with people getting not getting not getting getting permits, but they abuse them.

And then when people start calling them out, people is always like you get accused of being racist.

You get accused of being this and that.

I think it's ridiculous.

So I think going forward, this need to be.

Next time you do a hearing like this, you need to buy the OEM and ask them, like, what are they doing about this?

Because they have responsibility, too, with these permits, too, because they oversee everything, especially with the grid of the city of New York.

I know that the city council, the subpoena power is really weak, and they could pick and choose not to come out.

But I think going forward with this permit process, OEM needs to be getting involved more.

Because if they shut down every club event with nightlife, I know that's economic.

They need to talk to them about what's going on with the parks because there's certain things that's happening that shouldn't be happening in the parks.

So that's all I got to say.

I know she's moving.

I'm going to go.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We'll take that into consideration.

Thank you, Mr.

Johnson.

I feel so lonely here.

Hi, I'm Heather Lubav.

I'm the executive director of City Parks Foundation.

Thank you for holding this hearing.

We are an organization that has for nearly 40 years partnered with all the folks who are just here from NYC Parks to bring free community-centered programming to parks across the city, including environmental education and

sports lessons for kids, performing arts, and community engagement.

Today I'm going to focus on Summer Stage and our 50 free concerts in 13 parks.

And I really appreciate you holding this hearing.

It's a very unsexy topic, and I know that.

But the Parks Department has really made some significant improvements in the last few years.