During the 2005 New York City Mayoral election, New Yorkers for Parks launched campaign to raise awareness (in the parks and on-line) of public parks as an issue of great community importance in New York. More than 380 groups and hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers visited parks1.org over the summer.

Advomatic's Director of Strategic Messaging was Parks1's Communications Director and Advomatic built the website that was the organizational hub for the entire campaign. Communications - internal and external, as well as advocacy - for earned media and for elected officials, all ran through the site.

Through the website, 30,000 Parks1 Plea signatories were able to:

• Clearly convey the state of their neighborhood park to their Council Member;
• Urge city leaders to support the Citywide Legislative Agenda by funding, improving, promoting and protecting all parks;
• Unite -- dog walkers to gardeners to soccer and softball aficionados – to demonstrate the need for an adequate Parks budget.

Making neighborhood parks cleaner, safer and greener was a progressive issue that helped any Democrat who took advantage of the press hits.

The unified and disciplined campaign injected their well-framed common sense solutions into the next generation of NYC elected officials’ stump speeches complete with Parks1’s exact language.

Due to more than 30,000 New Yorkers who signed the 'Plea for Parks' to make NYC parks #1 in the Nation, and the more than 380 organizations that joined the campaign as official partners - more than 80 candidates out of a pool of 100 candidates for City offices agreed to NY4P policies and signed the Parks1 Campaign's 'Pledge for Parks.'

This new generation of office holders did not wait long before responding to the army of 'parkies.' The FY2006 budget passed by the Mayor and the City Council at the end of June was historic for parks in that it restored $9.4 million for seasonal workers such as playground associates and gardeners AND added $2 million in new funding for Park Enforcement Patrol officers. The first budget increase in a generation.

The Department of Parks and Recreation, District Council 37 (the union representing the new workers) and NY4P coalition members credited Parks1's advocacy efforts with this victory.