An Idea to Make New Yorkers Smile: Property Taxes for Parks

One word: controversy. The new Gotham Gazette has an article about how "some park advocates are exploring ways to tap" into the property value increases that parks seem to cause. For instance, the completion of the Greenwich Village section of the Hudson River Park raised real estate prices in the adjacent two blocks by 20 percent, according to a recent study commissioned by Friends of Hudson River Park. Enter the idea of a special Business Improvement District, or BID, for the parki n which property owners pay to upgrade and maintain their area with better sanitation, security, landscaping and other amenities. "If approved, a Hudson River Park BID would be the city's first special real estate assessment district dedicated largely to maintaining and operating a park," Gotham Gazette says. The other model for park funding developed in Brookyn--building highrise luxe condos has not exactly generated warm and fuzzy feelings. So where might some of the Park BID money come from? "Assessing property owners near Hudson River Park could help fund park maintenance..." Err, we believe that means both residents and businesses. Operatives are on their way to Karl Fischer Row along McCarren Park to gauge reaction to the idea. We also understand that Park Slope Parents is planning to urge Park Slope to secede from New York and join Westchester County. Should be fun to watch.
· A Property Tax for Parks? [Gotham Gazette]
· Park Made Everyone Rich [Curbed]For more stories from Curbed, go to curbed.com.