Elizabeth Smith, president and CEO of the Central Park Conservancy, pulled in $1,211,800 in base salary in 2024
, according to the organization’s latest tax filing.
Smith, who has served as president and CEO since 2018
, saw her compensation skyrocket.
Her 2024 salary was nearly 30% higher than her $933,592 pay in 2023
and more than double what she earned five years earlier.
Smith, a former assistant commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation under Mayor Michael Bloomberg who spent 25 years in finance
, is married to Rick Cotton, a former Port Authority Executive Director.
The eye-watering figures don’t stop with Smith.
Ten administrators at the nonprofit, which manages the 843-acre park under a city contract, earn salaries of $300,000 or more
.
Chief Financial Officer Stephen Spinelli’s salary package jumped 14% from $654,429 in 2023 to $746,635 in 2024
.
Roger Mosier, the chief of park operations, raked in $544,054, a 3% jump from his $528,552 the prior year
.
Seven other administrators earned more than $300,000 each.
The organization defended the packages in its IRS filing.
The Conservancy said it checks with industry consultants to “attract and retain the best talent in the industry”
.
A Conservancy spokesperson declined to comment on the pay levels.
The nonprofit’s “comprehensive compensation program” includes base pay, bonuses and multi-year long-term incentives, designed to “drive and incentivize present high-performance standards”
.
The salaries drew sharp criticism from elected officials.
“Those salaries and benefits are outrageous. Where do you draw the line?” said City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino, a member of the council’s Parks Committee
.
Arthur Schwartz, a lawyer who served 20 years as chair of Manhattan Community Board 2’s Parks Committee, said other parks and playgrounds in the city are in desperate need of funds. “Central Park has always been well-funded because wealthy people created a conservancy,” Schwartz said
.
Smith drew fire last year for her role in a fight over horse carriages in Central Park.
Smith wrote to Mayor Eric Adams and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams to voice concerns about the treatment of horses and safety of pedestrians, stating: “We do not take this position lightly, but with visitation to the park growing to record levels, we feel strongly that banning horse carriages has become a matter of public health and safety for Park visitors”
.
The Conservancy supports Ryder’s Law, which would prevent new carriage licenses and end operations starting June 1
.
The union hit back hard.
“Smith’s claim that slow-moving horse carriages pose a threat to public safety is absolutely ridiculous,” said John Samuelsen, TWU International President. He accused the group of “supporting a measure that would throw about 200 blue-collar workers in the carriage-horse tourism industry out of work, with no regard for how they will pay their rents, mortgages, send their kids to college, put food on the table, or meet other expenses”
.
“The Conservancy has failed miserably to manage the swarming hordes of unlicensed and illegally motorized pedicabs, e-bikes, and electric scooters that pose the real threat,” Samuelsen wrote
.
Samuelsen also had words about her pay.
“A detached, super-rich aristocrat attacking 170 largely immigrant carriage drivers and spreading lies about them,” John Chiarello, president of Transport Workers Union Local 100, said of Smith
.
In the viral moment that triggered the backlash, Smith’s August 2025 letter marked a rare break from the Conservancy’s typical political neutrality.
Smith cited two recent incidents where horses got away from handlers and ran free down roadways before being caught, saying: “These events underscore the unpredictable nature of horses in an increasingly crowded and dynamic urban environment, and the risk to public safety can no longer be responsibly overlooked”
.
Smith also pointed to damage from carriages on park roadways: “It is not fair that this relatively tiny subset of commercial operators is allowed to do such damage to the park at the expense of the millions of joggers, cyclists, walkers and other visitors to the park each year”
.
Ryder’s Law would prevent new carriage licenses from being issued and end operations June 1
.