Participatory Budgeting

The Participation Doesn't End at the Vote

Posted on March 11, 2013
Parks Department and budget delegates meet to discuss tree locations

Participatory Budgeting Update from Alix Fellman of the Parks & Recreation Committee

This time last year the people of our district came together for our first Participatory Budgeting vote, and selected seven projects to improve our community. One of the winning projects (the one I worked on) proposed to plant 100 trees on the most barren streets of our neighborhoods.

Over the past year the volunteer budget delegates from our district have been working with Parks Department staff and Councilmember Lander to get the trees off the drawing board and onto our streets. In the past month things have moved forward quickly, showing that the participation doesn't stop at the ballot box. We have been able to stay involved with implementing the project, making sure that the community’s vision is represented in the final product. Read more »

Park Slope School Celebrates Shiny New Bathrooms with Ribbon Cutting

DNAinfo
01/24/2013

PARK SLOPE — Kids at P.S. 124 are flush with excitement.

After years of dealing with grungy bathrooms, the school cut the ribbon Thursday on a set of shiny new commodes for its kindergartners.

The bathrooms got their long overdue makeover as part of City Councilman Brad Lander's participatory budgeting program, where local residents get to choose how government dollars are spent in their neighborhood. Read more »

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Class at PS 230, Who Tried Out PB

Kensington BK
12/21/2012

When you start thinking about making your community better while you’re in the 5th grade, you’re a terrific person in our book. Which is why we salute Class 5-215 at PS 230, who were so inspired by Councilman Brad Lander’s participatory budgeting project that they tried it out in their own classroom. The students: Read more »

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Behind the Scenes of Participatory Budgeting in District 39

Posted on November 13, 2012

By Rachel Fine of the Participatory Budgeting District Committee 

As a District Committee member, I have been focusing on getting the word out about participatory budgeting and engaging our district’s diverse communities in this process. Although the past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity getting ready for the neighborhood assemblies, our outreach efforts have targeted a number of communities. Read more »

Behind the Scenes of Participatory Budgeting

Posted on October 29, 2012

As a District Committee member, I have been focusing on getting the word out about participatory budgeting and engaging our district’s diverse communities in this process. Although the past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity getting ready for the neighborhood assemblies, our outreach efforts have targeted a number of communities. Read more »

Self-government's appeal

Brooklyn Daily Eagle
10/03/2012

So who knows our neighborhood needs better than we do? A rhetorical question, of course, but one that gets at the heart of a City Council initiative called Participatory Budgeting.

In 2011-2012, Brad Lander was one of four NYC Councilmembers leading their districts in a program first hatched in Brazil and launched in this country in Chicago. The success of the actions taken in NYC’s four forward-thinking districts led to the program’s doubling—eight councilmembers, representing over one million New Yorkers, have dedicated a total of at least $10 million in NYC discretionary capital funds for the 2012-2013 program. It is we, the constituents, who decide how the money is spent. Read more »

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Four Councilmembers Join Participatory Budgeting Program

City & State
10/01/2012

Brooklyn Councilman Brad Lander is hosting a neighborhood assembly tonight in which he will ask his constituents how they want to spend $1 million of city funds in their community. The assembly is part of a process called “Participatory Budgeting” (PB) in which neighborhood members design projects and vote directly on how to allocate capital dollars in their districts. Last year was the first time in history that PB was tried in the city and only the second time it was attempted in the U.S. “Participatory Budgeting was a huge success… with thousands of people working together to choose much-needed projects in their neighborhoods,” said Lander, who was one of four councilmembers to participate in PB in its inaugural year. Read more »

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Participatory Budgeting is Back

Posted on September 12, 2012

One year ago, we started an experiment: to give New Yorkers the power to decide how to spend $1 million of their tax dollars on projects in the neighborhood.

That experiment, Participatory Budgeting, was a huge success. Over 3,000 people participated, we received nearly a thousand ideas for projects in the community, and our small voting sites were overwhelmed with eager residents wanting to be part of what the New York Times called “revolutionary civics in action.” The seven projects with the most votes – projects for local schools, libraries, parks, and streets – received City funding and are moving forward.

Now we are starting again, with another $1 million and your great ideas. Read more »

A city budget we can be proud of

Posted on June 28, 2012

The City Council and Mayor Bloomberg reached an agreement this week on New York City’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget – one that invests in our kids and preserves funding for vital public services.

The City’s $68.7 billion budget is a statement of our priorities, and I am proud that those priorities reflect a deep belief in education (public schools continue to be the largest item by far), in core public services and infrastructure that make sure we have safe and vibrant communities, and in a strong safety net for those who need it (young, old, and in-between).

I’m also excited that, for the first time, the City’s budget includes items that you selected, through participatory budgeting. The seven items – totaling $1 million – that more than 2,200 of you voted for in March are being officially adopted as part of the City’s capital budget this week … and we’re launching a new webpage to keep you posted on their progress. Read more »

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