Unstaffed Parks

“For over four decades the parks have suffered from the competition for resources with services that were seen as more urgent. Police and fire services, of course, deal with issues of life and death. Education, health and welfare programs were considered essential to survival while libraries and parks were often seen as frills. When I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn in the late 1950's and early 1960's, most parks had a "parkee" staffing a building to lend you equipment and make sure the place was under control. With the fiscal crises of the mid 1970's, these folks disappeared and parks became unstaffed places rather than facilities”.- link