Spring brings out the flowers and on April 21, hundreds of Parks Dept. employees, school children and concerned New Yorkers blossomed at a rally and news conference in City Hall Park. They called it Parks Day as they mobilized support for legislation to allocate a portion of concession stand revenues to improving the maintenance and safety of public green spaces.

The City Council bill would put part of the $62 million a year the city collects from concession stands in parks and at city golf courses, beaches and baseball stadiums directly into the Parks Dept. budget, instead of the general coffers. DC 37 local presidents and City Council members said the new legislation, which has the support of Council Speaker Gifford Miller, could be used to hire more Parks maintenance staff.

A fraction of the city’s concession stand revenues could fund salaries for 150 additional new hires — 50 City Parks Workers, represented by Local 1505; 50 Parks Enforcement Patrol Officers, represented by Local 983; and 50 Playground Associates, represented by Local 299.

At the rally, Treasurer Maf Misbah Uddin expressed DC 37’s full support for the bill. Since 1980, the cash poor Parks Dept. has reduced its workforce by almost 75 percent through layoffs and attrition. Over the years, the union has butted heads with Parks Dept. commissioners who have cut staff and increasingly relied on seasonal workers and Work Experience Program participants to keep parks clean.

“This plan would build up the workforce by using money that’s already there, so we don’t have to beg for funding to keep our parks clean,” said Mark Rosenthal, president of Local 983, which represents over 1,500 Parks employees. Although the Big Apple is home to four times the parklands of some other cities, it spends less than one-fourth of the money that other cities do for upkeep.

While the idea to use concession stand profits to fund Parks Dept. needs has floated around the city for more than three decades, labor and political experts agree the timing seems right to get this bill passed. To date, the Mayor’s Office has not commented on the legislation.

Addressing the group were City Council Speaker Gif Miller, City Council Parks Committee Chair Helen Foster, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, DC 37 Retirees Association President Stuart Leibowitz, Mr. Rosenthal, Local 1549 President Eddie Rodriguez and Local 299 President Louis Sbar.