Audit: Half of NYC park projects behind schedule, dozens in Brooklyn
New York City Comptroller John Liu said on Friday that almost half of the capital construction projects in city parks finish late and 10 percent racked up “significant” cost overruns in 2010 and 2011.
“Repairs and upgrades must be better managed not only to reduce wasteful spending, but also to minimize the duration of park closures,” Comptroller Liu said in a statement. “The Parks Department can do better.”
The New York City Parks Department, given the chance to respond within the audit’s final report, said while it agreed that “certain improvements” were needed, “Unfortunately, the report does not recognize where Parks’ oversight has largely achieved positive results. In fact, there are several instances where the report appears to go out of its way to find fault where there is overwhelming indication of strong performance.”