LeRoy Temple’s work is no walk in the park. At least not figuratively. His career spanning four decades with NYC Parks was capped off with a promotion to assistant commissioner for citywide services this past August. Not bad for someone who got his start scraping gum off of Astoria Pool as a 14-year-old seasonal worker.
“You think you know how to clean the bathroom growing up in a household here in New York City—especially with my mother and my grandmother— [but] you [really] get to learn how to clean a public bathroom once you’re maintaining one of the city’s largest pools,” said Temple. “So [I] started out working at Astoria Pool and worked my way into a full time job as a park service worker—that title was broadbanded to city park worker. And then I became a tractor driver and learned how to drive the regular grass-cutting tractor [and] the larger equipment to maintain lawns and started going from there.”
Born in the Bronx but made in Queens, Temple best explains his rise through the ranks with song lyrics: “started from the bottom, now we’re here.” Along the way, he handled numerous departmental responsibilities ranging from managing Rockaway Beach to overseeing Brooklyn’s recreational programming. Over email, NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue called Temple a “community leader” and said his “personal story is just as inspirational as his professional career.”
“In his four decades at NYC Parks, LeRoy has excelled at a variety of roles across the city, moving quickly from park service worker into supervisory roles and managing several districts, including Rockaway Beach, the largest urban beach in the country,” she added. “His wealth of knowledge, positive leadership style and tenacious attitude make him the perfect fit for his latest promotion to assistant commissioner for citywide services.”
The department’s mission is certainly a calling for Temple—it’s hard to imagine anyone staying forty years with the same employer otherwise. After all, the grass is only greener on the other side thanks to “parkies.” Temple points to the job’s impact on young people, witnessing boys he worked with at the Roy Wilkins Recreation Center in Queens now thrive “in the community as men.”
But the work isn’t always easy. Temple frequently led efforts with blood-borne pathogen messes in his district and recalls once cleaning up a shooting victim’s brain matter off a handball court while the body was still present. But he always showed up, even after a serious cancer diagnosis, which he still recalls vividly.
“I’m working in Brooklyn as chief of [recreation] and we’re looking to do an event so I have to go to Lowe’s to get materials—I remember walking in and I remember some man whispering in my ear, ‘don’t worry, I got you,’” said Temple. “He basically laid me down on the ground because I fainted, fast forward that Saturday afternoon [and] I’m finding out that I have stage IV colon cancer…but I was still coming to work. I refuse to allow something like that to stop me.
“I have what I call the ‘three F’s’: faith, family and friends. It helped me get through anything. My mantra became ‘everyday above ground is a blessing.’”
The mantra was regularly repeated whenever anyone acknowledged Temple’s “fancy fanny pack”—the nickname his team assigned for his chemotherapy medical port holder. Now that he’s “beat the monsters,” Temple enjoys every moment with his five grandchildren, from watching them play football to creating art.
And speaking of youngsters, he’s a prolific foster parent. Temple and his ex-wife initially wanted to raise a daughter after having three biological sons. But they struggled to conceive, so they turned their baby fever towards fostering. One thing led to another and ultimately around 80 youngsters went through their home, according to Temple.
“Despite constantly trying, we weren’t able to get pregnant so a better option was, okay, let’s be foster parents to see where we are and how we can actually contribute to help other kids,” he said. “For a while it was very fulfilling, you see that you’re effecting change in a child’s life for a while. But it does take a toll on you because you’re dealing with kids and trying to give them a stable household, but then they’re put back in situations that aren’t always the best situation.
“From those efforts, we adopted a brother and sister…having them join our family was probably one of the best moments in our life. You know, I’m a father of seven kids and five grandchildren. Watching my grandkids now is just watching my kids all over—so I’m getting a second shot at living with them and living through them by watching my grandkids do the things that they do.”
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.