Volunteers set to beautify the city with Daffodil Project

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Over the next two weekends, New Yorkers for Parks (NY4P) will distribute nearly one million daffodil bulbs and native plant seeds to community organizations for planting across the city.

Under the Daffodil Project, the group’s annual volunteer effort, NY4P promotes the planting of a living memorial to the victims of 9/11 and COVID-19, while encouraging New Yorkers to support its “1% for Parks” campaign –– an effort to get the city to raise its annual funding for parks from 0.6% to 1% of the city’s $115 billion budget.

“Parks lost nearly 800 positions over the last three years. In this last budget, there were some positions restored, but nowhere near the number that have been lost,” points out Adam Ganser, NY4P’s executive director.

Instead of cutting jobs, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has simply not filled the spots that were left open as employees vacated various Parks Department positions between 2023 and 2025.

“So, we really missed the opportunity to make the Parks Department whole again,” said Ganser. “Honestly, I think it’s out of step with what New Yorkers want. New Yorkers want safe, green, clean, public open spaces and parks. That’s never been more true than after the pandemic; you see more and more people using these spaces.”

“And New York just isn’t keeping in line…with what New Yorkers want or keeping pace with other major cities,” Ganser continued. “Most other major cities are investing 2% to 5% of their budget into their parks. And New York is stuck at 0.5% or 0.6%.”

Nationally, funding for parks varies widely: Minneapolis allocates 5.3% of its budget, Chicago gives 3.5%, Los Angeles 2.9%, and San Francisco 1.6%. Despite having a park system spanning 30,000 acres, New York City has consistently spent less than one percent of its budget on its parks since 1979.

To advocate for increased investment, NY4P recently launched its “Parks 2030” platform, which details strategies for enhancing city parks and helping to fight climate change. In April, NY4P and the Center for New York City and State Law hosted a mayoral candidates’ forum to get the next city leaders thinking about how they would address these issues. Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani and Mayor Adams pledged support for the 1% for Parks initiative. Mamdani proposed funding parks with revenue from property sales. Although Adams initially promised to allocate more funds for parks when he became mayor in 2022, his administration has not yet followed through. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s team has not released specific plans for city parks.

NY4P is showcasing the challenges faced by parks through events like the Daffodil Project. Last weekend, they handed out daffodils and native flowers at Soundview Park in the Bronx and Prospect Park Plaza West in Brooklyn. Participants had to register beforehand to get seeds. To join the waitlist for upcoming seed giveaways over the next two weeks in Jackson Heights, Queens; Union Square in Manhattan; A. Philip Randolph Square in Harlem; Willowbrook Park in Staten Island; and Far Rockaway, visit ny4p.org/the-daffodil-project.

The Daffodil Project serves as a memorial to 9/11; having begun the year after the attacks. “Many of the people who first started planting daffodils were directly impacted by that tragic moment,” notes Ganzer. “But what it has become now is this massive community planting moment. People come from community gardens, neighborhood associations, schools, and parks all across the city. They come to these distributions, and when they take bulbs home with their friends, family, and neighbors, they plant them in street tree beds or in a local park with the Parks Department. So when you see a daffodil in the city — and there are millions blooming in March and April — they have all come from this project.”

If planted this September, these native and perennial daffodil and wildflower seeds, sourced from the NYC Parks Plant Ecology Center and Nursery, will bloom and be visible throughout the city next spring. “Ecologically appropriate plants and seeds are critical for the conservation of our city’s 20,000 acres of green and blue spaces,” said Seth August of NYC Parks Plant Ecology Center and Nursery. “In partnering with the Daffodil Project for the second year in a row, we are thrilled to empower park supporters and volunteers to make an even bigger impact in enhancing their community green spaces. This initiative provides a unique opportunity for fostering biodiversity and civic engagement across all five boroughs.”