New York is home to the first state park in the nation, Niagara Falls State Park, and the largest public park in the U.S., Adirondack Park, along with 179 other state parks, 35 state historical sites, and nearly 335,000 acres of land. Hosting 62 million people each year, New York ranks first in the nation for operating facilities and campsites. However, New York’s park system has seen hard times. Reaching a crisis in 2010, almost half of the parks were almost closed due to a $1 billion backlog of projects, almost half because of immediate health and safety needs. New York changed course in 2011, and committed to catch up on infrastructure decay with 279 capital improvement projects at 109 parks and historic sites. By 2020, New York’s park system should see a $900 million investment in state parks using both private philanthropy and public dollars as well as innovative best practices.
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Aviation
Bridges
Dams
Drinking Water
Parks
Roads
Solid Waste
Transit
WastewaterA: Exceptional, B: Good, C: Mediocre, D: Poor, F: Failing, ?: Incomplete
Each category was evaluated on the basis of capacity, condition, funding, future need, operation and maintenance, public safety, resilience, and innovation
Aviation
89 public-use airports
Bridges
2,078 of the 17,442 bridges are structurally deficient
Bridges
$429.30 million in bridge funds came from the Federal Highway Bridge Fund in 2011
Dams
96% of the state regulated dams have an Emergency Action Plan
Dams
399 high hazard dams
Drinking Water
$22 billion in drinking water infrastructure needs over the next 20 years
Energy
32.286 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy every year, ranking it 4th
Hazardous Waste
87 sites on the National Priorities List
Inland Waterways
390 miles of inland waterways, ranking it 22nd nationally
Levees
146 miles of levees
Ports
38.9 million short tons of cargo in 2012, ranking it 20th nationally
Public Parks
$95.4 million of unmet needs for its parks system
Rail
37 freight railroads covering 3,479 miles across the state, ranking 13th nationally by mileage
Roads
16,311 of the state’s 114,709 public roads are major roads, and 23% are in poor condition
Roads
$5.7 billion a year in costs to motorists from driving on roads in need of repair, which is $505 /yr per motorist
Schools
$2.1 billion in estimated school infrastructure funding needs
Transit
3.8 billion annual unlinked passenger trips via transit systems including bus, transit, and commuter trains
Wastewater
$29.7 billion in wastewater infrastructure needs over the next 20 years
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