Update, April 18, 2021: Brad Lander has announced City Council District 39's Participatory Budgeting project winners:
Capital Projects
Capital Projects
** Bathroom Renovations at PS 131, An Overwhelmingly Low-Income, Immigrant Public School
** Downpayment to Create a World Class “Brooklyn Skate Garden”
** Prospect Park Children's Corner Improvements, Including Restoration of Carousel’s Historic Wurlitzer Organ
** Downpayment to Create a World Class “Brooklyn Skate Garden”
** Prospect Park Children's Corner Improvements, Including Restoration of Carousel’s Historic Wurlitzer Organ
Expense Projects
** Neighborhood Farm Stand and Immigrant Women’s Craft Market (in Kensington)
** Roadway Use Study of Prospect Park Drive, to Make it More Park-Friendly Now That it is Car-Free
** 100K Eco-Friendly Diapers for Families in Need
** More Trees for Kensington Streets
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Participatory Budgeting (PB) got canceled last year because of the pandemic, and it got canceled this year too. But four City Councilmembers worked together to find a way for their districts to participate in it anyway. District 39, which includes Kensington and Windsor Terrace and is represented by Brad Lander, is one of the four.
Everyone living in District 39 who is at least eleven years old or is in at least sixth grade is eligible to vote, regardless of any other status.
More than $1.5 million from Councilmember Lander's annual budget will be spent on community-based projects suggested and researched by District 39 residents. Decide which projects you want the money spent on and vote for them online. Several of the projects are based in Kensington or Windsor Terrace.
Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, April 14th.
One of the Capital Projects is for an existing outdoor recreational facility in Windsor Terrace.
Renovate Handball Courts at Greenwood Playground Renovate crumbling Greenwood Playground handball wall. The children/adults who play there deserve a usable, safe wall.
Three of the Expense Projects will be based in Kensington. They address several significant issues: hunger, nutrition, women's income, clean air, and housing rights.
Neighborhood Farm Stand + Women’s Crafts OutletPeople in Need will help address food insecurity by providing access to fresh farm stand produce in southern Kensington, which currently has no local options, as well as a place for local women to earn income and gain financial independence by selling their own crafts.More Trees for Kensington StreetsNYC Street Tree Consortium will plant approximately twelve (12) new street and community trees in Kensington, where there are fewer trees than in other areas of District 39. Street trees will be planted in existing beds. Community trees are planted in containers and live on public property like schools, libraries, building courtyards, and parks.Kensington Tenant RightsFifth Avenue Committee, which has advocated for tenant rights in South Brooklyn for the past 40 years will create and distribute a multi-lingual “Know Your Rights” brochure for tenants in six (6) languages represented in Kensington: Spanish, Bengali, Urdu, Hebrew, Russian, and Uzbek.
Project titles and short descriptions of them are posted at https://pbnyc39.com/ballot/. For additional information about a project, click on its title.
Vote at https://peoplesbudgetnyc.decision21.org/new-york-city-peoples-budget-2021 by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, April 14th. You can vote once.
From the City Council's website:
In 2011, four New York City Council Members – Brad Lander, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Eric Ulrich, and Jumaane D. Williams – launched a PB process to allow residents in their district to allocate part of their capital discretionary funds. In 2019, 33 Council Members participated in PBNYC.