The gross inequity in parks funding is a real issue, and one which materially harms poorer and outer-borough New Yorkers, even if one were to accept the argument that Central and Prospect Parks deserve more money because they bring in tourists. I suspect that this particular approach won't pass legal muster, but I do support efforts to try focus more attention on the smaller and more outlying neighborhood parks. I'd start with a PR blitz to try and get people to shift their donations to the smaller parks, as well as moving the Parks Dept. operating budget in that direction.
(Also, this is a great example of how and why private charity is a pisspoor substitute for public spending.)
It's a worthy cause, I agree. It's just that the proposed solution is wildly unconstitutional. Your idea sounds like a solid one to try to close that gap a bit.
Ray has made a legal point that has yet to be refuted. It
does seem facially totally illegal, and if so, the mayor is presumably just acting as a demagogue on the issue, since presumably his legal advisers have told him that you cannot just loot charitable trusts with a specified legal purpose, diverting funds to another purpose. If the purpose has run its course (not the case here), then one goes to court invoking the
cy pres doctrine. Put up Mr. Mayor, and file the lawsuit, or shut up, comes to mind as my first reaction to this all. Populists tend to be all hat and no cattle. Who knew?
