From Carpe Diem:
Who's in charge of maintaining Central Park in Manhattan (pictured above)? The city of New York using taxpayer money and unionized public employees, right? Well, Wrong!
From Laura Vanderkam in the City Journal (emphasis mine):
"Perhaps the most amazing thing about Central Park is how little tax money goes into maintaining it. Though it is still ultimately the city’s responsibility, the park has been managed since the 1980s by the nonprofit Central Park Conservancy, and it relies on private donations for most of its budget. The marriage between the city and the Conservancy has been a fruitful one. Can this model, known as a public-private partnership, restore and invigorate all of New York’s green spaces, including neighborhood parks in less affluent areas? It’s an important question, not only as the city faces tough fiscal times but as urban planners increasingly view parks as tools of economic development and public health.
People who lived in New York in the 1970s and early 1980s still remember how forbidding the parks were in those dark days....MORE
