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How Parks Benefit Our Community

• Provide a sense of community.

• Facilitate community problem-solving.

• Promote health and wellness.

• Foster social, intellectual, physical and emotional development.

• Advance cultural understanding.

• Protect environmental resources.

• Provide recreational experiences.
   

Mission
The Westchester County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation is a public service agency providing county residents and visitors with 18,000 acres of green space with 50 parks including pools, beaches, nature preserves, recreation trails, golf courses, a working farm, an arboretum, Playland, Westchester’s premier family amusement complex, and the Westchester County Center, the county’s oldest and largest public entertainment/sports arena and meeting facility. The Parks Department also provides a multi-faceted recreation program to meet the cultural, leisure and fitness-related needs of Westchester residents of all ages and interests.
 

The Mission of the Department is: 

• To provide life-enriching recreational, cultural, entertainment, and educational programs,

• To maintain safe, clean, affordable public recreational facilities,

• To promote responsible management and preservation of Westchester’s natural resources.
   

The department has been working to address several serious social issues, including obesity, especially in children, and drug and alcohol use in teenagers. We have initiated recreational programs that give young people healthy alternatives and help them to make good, life-affirming choices, and we provide venues where they can exercise, socialize and participate in friendly competition with their peers.
 

As stakeholders in our park system, Westchester residents are polled and surveyed nearly continuously to determine their opinions and attitudes toward the services we provide. Their opinions and suggestions are considered in our development and planning processes.

Simply stated, our philosophy is that “it all starts in parks.” The availability of a sound park system contributes to good individual and societal health, to the aesthetic landscape, to regional economics and to tourism. The benefits are endless.

Report from the Commissioner 2006-07

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