After seven years with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn resident Tannise Palmer has been named the Parks manager for Districts 7 and 8. The 7th district includes the Norwood News’ coverage area and parks such as Williamsbridge Oval, St. James and Poe Park.

“I started as an intern and worked my way up,” Palmer said in an interview with the Norwood News. Palmer graduated with a degree in psychology from Northeastern University in Boston, before beginning her internship with the Parks Department.

After her internship, Palmer also gained experience as an assistant to the director of capital projects and as an outreach coordinator working with volunteer groups. Later on as a requirements contract coordinator, Palmer helped manage the Parks budget and made sure money was being distributed to work on safety issues.

Palmer started in her new role in early June, at the start of the parks’ busy season.

“My responsibility is to make sure everyone is doing their job correctly,” said Palmer. “The supervisor makes sure the crews are going out and cleaning the parks to make sure the parks are clean and safe for the public.”

Palmer works with two Level 1 park supervisors and one Level 2 park supervisor, as well as Associate Park Service Work (APSW) and City Park Worker (CPW) crews. The park supervisors take the crews out to clean and maintain park areas.

“I would say I’m pretty easy-going, I don’t micromanage my staff,” said Palmer. “I know the work will get done, and so far we’ve been on the same page.”

Palmer also steps out of the office to personally visit the sites.

“Throughout the week I go to a number of parks to make sure everything is ok, and that any issues get corrected,” said Palmer. “Right now our focus is on cleanliness, especially in the summer months when the parks are getting the most use.”

“So far my strategy is focusing on the parks that are highly used and have high visibility,” Palmer added. “And the more involved the community gets, the more vibrant the park becomes.”

This summer, APSW and CPW crews have been cleaning the Aqueduct Walk – a park consistently rated unacceptable in its overall condition – cutting overgrown grass and weeds.

Palmer also is working on establishing a partnership for the parks with a larger corporation, and having more cooperation between the parks and schools, including the schools around Harris Field.

Some parks present more of a challenge than others depending on usage and visitors’ behavior.

“[Parks] may be challenged because we have a lot of people going there, who don’t always follow park rules,” said Palmer. “It’s always a challenge, but we always do our best.”