BP Adams Allocates An Extra $100K In Participatory Budgeting Funds For Each Council District

Good news for participatory budgeting (PBNYC) fans: an extra $100,000 is coming our way for Fiscal Year 2017, thanks to a pledge by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

The money is actually one-tenth of Adams’ total pledge of $1 million for all 10 council districts whose councilmembers are participating in PBNYC this year. Fortunately for us, this is the first year that the 35th Council District and Councilmember Laurie Cumbo are participating!

The additional funds means two main things:

• that in total, the 35th CD has $1.1 million in money for projects throughout Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, and part of Crown Heights and Prospect Heights, and
• that Brooklyn Borough Hall will now be a universal voting site for all eligible PBNYC voters.

Voting at Borough Hall will be open from Monday, March 28 through Friday, April 1 from 9am-5pm.

Voting at other locations will be open longer — from Saturday, March 26 until Sunday, April 3. All residents 16 years of age or older with proof of residency in a participating council district in Brooklyn will be eligible to vote at this location.

Adams described his decision as an easy one that will “bolster the voices of Brooklynites and help amplify their power to shape their tax dollars are spent in our borough.”

Cumbo thanked Adams for his “leadership and continued commitment to civic engagement” through processes like PBNYC that are “a renewal of the belief that everyday people possess the authority to create real change in their own community.”

Other districts to benefit include those served by CMs Robert Cornegy, Jr., Mathieu Eugene, David Greenfield, Brad Lander, Stephen Levin, Carlos Menchaca, Antonio Reynoso, Mark Treyger, and Jumaane D. Williams.