And the winners are … the 2016 PBNYC results

The PBNYC vote results are in! I’m pleased to announce that we had our highest turnout in five years of PBNYC voting -- both here in District 39 and across New York City. In our district, 3100 people voted this year, coming out to take part in expanding democracy and support our neighborhoods.

Residents from across our district turned out in big numbers to vote at schools and community spaces and at pop-up locations in parks and plazas. We held polling places at the mosques in Kensington, at the senior-centers, at a very rainy Little League parade, and at the First Saturday event at the Brooklyn Museum. We even had a mobile station making its way around our neighborhoods hooked up to the back of a bike! And with a whole second ballot of “programming” projects, we opened up an entirely new voting opportunity for the first time this year. 

After five very successful years of PBNYC in our district, it’s remarkable to see how this idea has taken off across the city. This year 28 districts participated (up from just four when we started) and tens of thousands of New Yorkers voted citywide. It was a great year for PBNYC.

Now, without further delay, the 2016 winning Participatory Budgeting projects are …

On the Capital Projects Ballot:

1. New “Lake Mess Monster,” an Aquatic Weed Harvester ($140,000) – 1692 votes
2. Year-Round, Freeze-Resistant Drinking Fountains ($175,000) – 1541 votes
3. Bus Clocks on B67/B69: Know When Bus Arrives! ($240,000) -- 1533 votes
4. Create Teen Space at Carroll Gardens Library ($350,000) – 1321 votes
5. West Brooklyn Community HS Portable Laptop Lab ($105,000) –1275 votes
6. Mobile Studios" for Artists and Orgs in Gowanus ($150,000) – 1122 votes
7. Curb Extension & Safer Crossing- Carroll Park ($150,000) –- 1115 votes
8. Retrofit 75 Auditorium Lights for Safety at PS 282 ($200,000) – 1024 votes

On the “Programming” Ballot:

1. Translation Equipment for Multi-Lingual Schools ($25,000) – 1891 votes
2. Music Equipment for Three Senior Centers ($5,000) – 1618 votes
3. Overnight Book Drops at Three Library Branches ($24,000) – 1388 votes

This vote is just the first step towards completing these projects. My office will be working with City agencies to ensure that community stakeholders stay involved as the projects are implemented. Don’t expect to see completed projects right away. Some projects from past years are already complete, but others still require at least a couple years of planning, community input, and construction. You should expect the same from this year’s winning projects. You can track the progress made on previous winners here.

Participatory Budgeting is a big undertaking, and I want to thank the many people who dedicated their time to making it such a big success. Our District Committee, made up of two dozen volunteers from around the district, helped organize the whole process, from the first meetings to staffing the voting weekend. About 100 community members put in thousands of hours as Budget Delegates and Facilitators, taking all of the great ideas given at the beginning of the process and developing them into the proposals put on the final ballot. And throughout vote week, dozens of volunteers helped us get out the vote, and staff our poll sites.

We’ve also had great community partners and Participatory Budgeting would not be successful without the support of community organizations across New York, including the New York City Council, Community Voices Heard, the Participatory Budgeting Project, and of course, my staff has done an amazing job of balancing this big, important project along with all of our other community and City Hall initiatives. Thanks to all of them, and to all of you who helped spread the word about Participatory Budgeting, gave an idea, and of course all of you who voted!

This year, again we received great support from the City Council’s central staff, who ran the ballot-counting operations, and helped coordinate PBNYC across the city. Under the leadership of our Speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito (one of our founding partners in PBNYC), we are continuing to build on the success of PBNYC to bring better, more transparent, more inclusive governing, all across New York City.

Thank you for being part of it.

-Brad

P.S. PBNYC is spreading its reach here in our district too – even among those not yet old enough to cast a ballot. This year at PS 107, students engaged in a process modeled after PBNYC where they researched needs and voted on how to spend a portion of PTA funds. (The students picked sports equipment for the playground, science materials requested by the science teacher, and a board game for every classroom!)