Mamdani Appoints New Parks Commissioner to Oversee NYC Green Spaces NYT | Top Stories Debra Kamin 18 January 2026 at 02:37 The mayor announced Tricia Shimamura as the city’s new parks commissioner amid broad calls for more park funding. © Benjamin Norman for The New York TimesTricia Shimamura, the Parks Department’s Manhattan borough commissioner since March 2024, will now be in charge of 30,000 acres of parkland across the city’s five boroughs.