The City Council has set aside over $1 million for improvement projects on the Upper West Side, and it’ll be the residents who decide how to spend the money.
A pilot program in “participatory budgeting” allows city residents to vote on neighborhood projects they want to see implemented and make recommendations to their elected officials.
Four City Council members are partaking, including Melissa Mark-Viverito, who represents District 8, which includes Manhattan Valley.
“Ordinarily the decisions lie with council members … but this year there’s at least $1 million we’ve set aside for the community to directly decide which projects they want to see funded,” said Joseph Taranto, deputy chief of staff for Mark-Viverito.
Residents came together Thursday night to discuss funding for the different proposals, which range from a renovated school gym to new basketball courts in a local park.
At a youth hostel on Amsterdam Avenue at 104th Street, it was a scene reminiscent of a science fair as Upper West Siders perused through hand-made tri-fold boards describing the various projects.
“This is the first time in the city, and only the second time in the U.S.,” after Chicago, Taranto said.
Over 500 ideas were submitted in District 8, and over the last few months, dozens of volunteer delegates in nine committees narrowed down the list based on the projects’ eligibility and priorities.
Because the ideas are still being vetted by the city, the relevant city agency needs to agree to the project and its cost in order for it to move forward, Taranto said.
The city is looking to fund physical infrastructure projects like renovations and construction, Taranto said, and not management or salary expenses.
“We’re trying to find creative solutions, even for projects that don’t get” the votes, he said. “Beyond what’s going to win the next election, what this is about is what the community is looking for and how to respond to that.”
One local project proposed was the renovation of the gym at P.S. 163, on 97th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues, which is currently “so warm that indoor activities and instruction are compromised, ventilation is poor, and there are no windows open to the outside,” said Laurie Frey, secretary of Community Education Council District 3. Frey headed the volunteer education committee that narrowed down the proposals.
Carrie Reynolds, P.S. 163 PTA co-president, said that compared to other proposals, the gym “may not seem important, but a lot of kids use it.”
The P.S. 163 gym is also used by a kids’ soccer camp, other summer programs, and even a five-night-a-week adult volleyball league. But it gets so hot, even in the winter, that it’s not used as much as it could be.
A “couple thousand people will be benefited,” Reynolds said. “It’s a great resource for the community.”
Another project is a renovation of the basketball courts at the Booker T. Washington Playground on 107th and 108th streets between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues.
“I’m sure you’ve passed this park many times and seen that this park is somewhere you cannot play basketball,” Kioka Jackson, a member of the parks committee, said.
After it rains, Jackson said, the basketball court is full of puddles—some so big that Jackson called them “swimming pools with no lifeguards.”
Another proposal, from the youth committee, involved the renovation of a stage to provide a safe space to be used for theater and dance classes at the Children’s Aid Society Frederick Douglass Center on Columbus Avenue at 104th Street.
Josh Lerner, director of the Participatory Budgeting Project, one of the lead organizations that brought participatory budgeting to New York, is talking with other City Council members to get them involved with the project. Mark-Viverito is the only council member representing Manhattan to offer it.
“It takes getting used to, the idea that we tell her to spend money, that we get to decide how to spend it,” Lerner said.
Attendees and delegates were generally excited about the process. Trevor James, who lives on 96th Street, said he liked the “strong utilitarian aspect to it.”
“It’s hard to decide which project to give money to,” James said. He said the projects he was most interested in included a new ultrasound machine and a greenhouse project in a Bronx housing community. Mark-Viverito’s district stretches from the Upper West Side to East Harlem to the South Bronx.
“There’s not enough consciousness about good eating habits … and this will create that consciousness and broaden the community,” James said.
Lerner said he was pleased with the turnout on Thursday. “People were excited with their projects,” he said. “I’m confident the vote will be successful.”
Many said they hoped this would not be the last time the city practiced participatory budgeting.
“We’re going to make sure this happens again and again and again so we have more money to work with,” Jackson said. “This is exciting because we have the opportunity to make decisions in our community, and we don’t have that all the time.”
The Upper West Side portion of Mark-Viverito’s district will start voting on the proposals next month at the hostel and continue at her office. All residents of the district over 18 can vote, regardless of immigration or parole status.
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