Adrian Benepe, the New York City Parks Commissioner who oversaw a large expansion of the park system, has stepped down from his post after 10 years on the job.

Commissioner Benepe with a red-tailed hawk.In September, Benepe will begin working in a newly-created position at the Trust for Public Land, where he will be charged with replicating many of New York City's most successful initiatives in other urban areas nationwide.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday that Benepe's successor will be Veronica M. White, the founding Executive Director of New York City's Center for Economic Opportunity.

Since Benepe's appointment as commissioner in 2002, the park system added 730 acres of new parkland. Major new parks and facilities created or completed under Benepe’s leadership include: Brooklyn Bridge Park, sections of Fresh Kills Park on Staten Island, Manhattan’s Highline, the Yankee Stadium replacement parks in The Bronx, the West Harlem Piers Park, Bushwick Inlet Park in Brooklyn, Elmhurst Park in Queens, the Concrete Plant Park and Baretto Point Park and the floating pool in the Bronx, Icahn Track & Field Stadium and Ralndall’s Island Fields, the Ocean Breeze Track and Field Center under construction on Staten Island, Brooklyn’s Prospect Park Lakeside Center, and the Flushing Meadows Pool and Rink in Queens. In addition, 40 miles of Greenways in parks were created since 2002. 

In the newly created role of Senior Vice President for City Park Development, Benepe will oversee the Trust for Public Land’s “Parks for People” program, which, just like Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC, seeks to ensure that “no city resident should be more than a 10-minute walk from their local park, garden or safe green place to play.”

Benepe will be based at the Trust’s Lower Manhattan office and also direct their Center for City Park Excellence, which is based in Washington, D.C.