State park officials said Friday that 41 parks and 14 historic sites will be shut down and their gates locked beginning Monday.
This announcement comes after the Legislature voted to restore the $11.3 million parks funding that was cut from Gov. David Paterson’s proposed budget.
In late March, both the Senate and the Assembly unveiled budgets that restored the funding. But still no final agreement has been made and the state budget is more than five weeks late.
Basic maintenance work was already suspended at the properties, including lawn mowing and trail upkeep, and starting Monday restrooms will be locked, picnic tables will go in storage and people will be asked to leave.
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news....79.html
A list of the Parks can be seen at the end of this article:
http://readme.readmedia.com/Stateme....1166601
I have contacts within the State Parks, and I was told that even if they close a Park, they may not be able to deny access. They said that by law, any Park that has used Federal funds (including any improvements by the CCC) cannot deny access to US citizens.
I also heard that State Forests have signs stating "No Public Access". Apparently, this is not true. I heard that the public does not have access only to roads within the forests, since maintenance fees have been withheld. Reportedly, a State worker "mistakenly" sent the wrong signs to the forest manager.