STATEN ISLAND -- Staten Island's parks receive the least in maintenance funding of the five boroughs and lack the staff needed to care for the Island's public parks, many of which were last renovated in 1995, according to a recent report.

The report released late last month by The Center for an Urban Future, said despite the city's rising population and record number of tourists, New York City's public parks are several decades old and "years behind on basic maintenance, and increasingly at risk of infrastructure failures."

The report said the average city park is 73 years old, while roughly 40 percent of the city's pools were built before 1950 as well as nearly half of the 53 recreation centers in the city's parks.

On Staten Island, the report said the average borough park is 51-years-old and last received any major update, on average, in 1995.

Meanwhile, at least seven Staten Island parks have not received any major upgrades for more than 50 years.

The Island's parks also lack maintenance workers like plumbers, gardeners, electricians, and masons to "care for its parks and mitigate problems before they grow," the report said.

Additionally, the Island's entire parks system only has 45 city park workers-- the fewest number of park employees in the five boroughs -- along with just six full-time gardeners and four plumbers.

The report said only three of the Island's 30 small parks currently receive a form of capital work, while just 21 percent of Staten Island's medium-sized parks and 44 percent of its large parks received capital investment--the lowest number of parks in any borough.

"This report is particularly troubling for a community that calls itself 'The Borough of Parks,'" Borough President James Oddo, said. "The simple truth is when it has come to capital funding for Parks locations, historically, local Staten Island elected officials have been left to fend for themselves. Tax dollars are precious, and I've tried to be judicious with them while adequately funding the right priorities."

As a city council member, Oddo said he sent $18.7 million to parks projects and as borough president, another $30.5 million to individual parks projects.

"I only wish $49,277,000 in taxpayer dollars for Parks projects over my career bought more than it has, and the cost of Parks and all city construction projects should be a bigger part of this conversation, he continued. "The price tag of capital projects in this town is simply staggering."

THE GREENBELT, BRIDGES

Spanning some 3,000 acres, the Island's Greenbelt is about a third of the natural area in the city, yet the report found that 35 miles of trails face "erosion issues and lack adequate trail markers."

The group said there is only one full-time park supervisors, five seasonal workers , and two other temporary workers who are often assigned to larger park districts, not always to the Greenbelt.

The report also looked at the state of the Island's park bridges. It said a number exhibited signs of deterioration, including three "seriously deteriorated footbridges" in Clove Lakes Park.

"For the Staten Island parks that do receive capital funding, the process often results in lengthy delays and major cost overruns," the group said.

At the South Shore's Crescent Beach Park which is undergoing a landscape reconstruction with new paths and seating, the design phase officially launched in June 2011, yet construction is just 2 percent completed, according to the Parks Department's Capital Project Tracker.

If the project meets its current deadlines, the construction phase will be completed in the spring of 2019--more than ten years after the project was initially funded, according to the report.

"The report is spot on when it comes to capital construction problems within the agency," Councilman Joe Borelli (R-South Shore), said.

Borelli added that he and Oddo have overseeing the construction or are producing contractors on major projects in almost every park in his district.

"While it's true that our parks have had a history of underinvestment, that tide has changed dramatically in recent years," Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) said.

Rose pointed out that her office recently cut the ribbon on a $5.6 million reconstruction of the Big Park in Mariners Harbor, less than a month after the multimillion-dollar reconstructions of McDonald Park and Levy Playground.

Councilman Steven Matteo (R-Mid Island) said although he had questions about the some of the conclusions of the report, he agreed the city needs to invest more in its parks.

"That is why I have allocated more than $7 million from my own capital budget to renovate and rebuild parks and playgrounds in my district, successfully advocated for tens of millions of dollars to expand the Mid-Island Bluebelt and passed legislation to improve Parks policies, such as the bill that provided more oversight on tree pruning and repairs and launched the online Tree Maintenance Hub," Matteo said.

The report called on Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council to increase funding for infrastructure upgrades and basic park maintenance.

It also recommended doing things like setting up a dedicated pool of capital funds for infrastructure problems and developing new revenue streams for parks maintenance.

The Parks Department said it has cut the ribbon and broke ground on 10 Island sites since the beginning of 2018. The agency also said there are 25 projects in active construction around the Island.

"Staten Island parks have seen tremendous growth under this administration. NYC Parks has cut the ribbon and broke ground on a combined 10 sites since the beginning of 2018, including cutting the ribbon on the $5.6 million remodel of The Big Park today in Mariners Harbor. Additionally, we currently have 25 projects in active construction on Staten Island," Parks spokeswoman Anessa Hodgson, said. "We will continue to invest in our parks and expand on our vision for access and equity throughout the City's park system."