Adrian Benepe is the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.
Education:
B.A. in English Literature from Middlebury College
MA in Journalism from Columbia University. He was awarded a Pulitzer Fellowship.
Personal:
He lives with his wife and two sons on the Upper West Side of Manhattan where he grew up. He likes to run, walk, bicycle, and cross–country ski in Central and Riverside Parks and throughout the City's park system.
Background:
Benepe started his Parks & Recreation career in 1973 as a teenage seasonal helper in East River Park on Manhattan's Lower East Side, picking up litter and mopping locker rooms. After graduating from Middlebury College in Vermont, Benepe became a member of the first corps of Parks & Recreation's Urban Park Rangers in 1979. From 1979 to 1990, he served in a number of different capacities at Park & Recreation. Following his time as a Ranger stationed in Central Park, he took on a variety of positions ranging from Director of Natural Resources & Horticulture (overseeing scores of restoration projects in the City's wetlands and forests) to Director of Art & Antiquities (in charge of the City's conservation and interpretation of 1,300 statues and monuments and 20 historic house museums). During this latter assignment, he helped found the Historic House Trust, a not–for–profit organization created to preserve and promote the historic house museums located in New York City parks.
From 1990 to 1993 Benepe was the Director of the Annual Fund & Major Gifts for the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, where he expanded his knowledge of plants, trees and children's education. At the Garden, he co-founded the "Holiday Garden Railway" exhibition. From 1993 to 1995, he served as Vice President for Issues & Public Affairs for the Municipal Art Society. In that role, Benepe managed public relations and developed strategies for public advocacy efforts in city planning, historic preservation, and public art, and he curated the "Kid City" exhibition to teach children about the built environment. After six years in the non–profit sector, he returned to Parks & Recreation in January 1996 as the Manhattan Borough Commissioner, managing Manhattan's green infrastructure of more than 300 parks, playgrounds, and malls. During his tenure he helped found the Fort Tryon Park Trust, a public–private partnership for the historic park and its Heather Garden. He served in that position until promoted to Commissioner of Parks & Recreation, where he now oversees the operation of about 29,000 acres and nearly 4,000 properties including almost 1,000 playgrounds, 600 ballfields, 550 tennis courts, 66 swimming pools, 48 recreation centers, 14 miles of beach, five major stadia, and 2.6 million street and park trees.
