New Yorkers Get A Real Say On $1 Million In Neighborhood Cash

Starting tomorrow, New Yorkers in participating City Council districts get to do something most people only argue about on group chats: decide how to spend $1 million on real-world neighborhood projects. For nine straight days of Vote Week, residents, not their elected officials, will choose which fixes and upgrades move forward, from park and school repairs to lighting and street safety improvements. Winning ideas become line items in the city budget and are carried out by city agencies.

Vote Week And The Basics

Vote Week runs from tomorrow through next Sunday, according to the City Council. In districts taking part in participatory budgeting, residents can cast ballots to fund improvements to schools, parks, libraries, streets and other public spaces. Projects that get the most votes are submitted for inclusion in the city budget.

How To Cast A Ballot

New Yorkers can vote online or at in-person neighborhood sites during Vote Week. The Participatory Budgeting Project publishes voting guides and a schedule of public events, and it directs people to the Council’s ballot portal so they can look up vote locations and see what is on their district ballot.

Who Can Vote And What They Decide

Eligibility is intentionally broad. Council materials describe the process as open to New Yorkers age 11 and up, including people who live, work, study or otherwise have a meaningful connection to a participating district. A recent City Council press release notes that residents are deciding how roughly $1 million in capital discretionary funds are spent in each participating district, with winning projects later implemented by city agencies.

What $1 Million Usually Pays For

Previous participatory budgeting cycles have steered money toward bathroom and gym renovations, new playground equipment, technology upgrades for schools, park restorations and safety lighting, the kinds of capital projects the program is built to support. Council documents show that individual project costs generally range from tens of thousands of dollars up to several hundred thousand, and the work is handled by city agencies once the budget is adopted.

How This Fits Into The Citywide Picture

District-level participatory budgeting runs alongside the Civic Engagement Commission’s citywide process, The People’s Money, which offers another chance for New Yorkers to weigh in on spending. The Civic Engagement Commission notes that voting for The People’s Money will take place in May and June under a separate pot of funding and a different set of rules.

If you live, work or study in a participating district, you can look up your district ballot and polling locations and make a plan to vote during Vote Week. Council pages and participatory budgeting partners list where to vote and how to cast a ballot either online or in person.