School Tech And Senior Center Upgrades Win $1M In Participatory Budgeting Funds
Schools and seniors were the biggest priorities for neighborhood voters in Councilmember Laurie Cumbo’s inaugural round of participatory budgeting (PBNYC), with these projects winning a combined $1 million in funding for the coming year.
Specifically, the winning projects are as follows:
- Renovate Decrepit Bathrooms at PS 9 & PS 316 ($300,000) – 1,024 votes
- New Technology for High-Need Schools: PS 375 & 532 ($310,000) – 651 votes
- Learning Walls for P.S. 20 ($36,500) – 495 votes
- HVAC System for the Willoughby Senior Center ($500,000) – 375 votes
“I am so proud that in our first year of participatory budgeting, we had such overwhelming success,” exclaimed Cumbo in a statement. “Congratulations on a job well done! After investing your time and energy, it is now my turn to work with our city’s agencies to take action and move forward with the realization of these projects.”
All told, 1,660 votes were cast across the 35th District, which stretches from Fort Greene and Clinton Hill to Prospect Heights and Crown Heights. The winning projects are spread across these neighborhoods.
Hopefully these projects begin to get implemented soon; let us know if you see any updates happening in the schools and senior center, and we’ll let you know of anything we see and hear.
Congratulations to all the winners! And if your project didn’t gain funding, hopefully we’ll all find a way to make it a reality over the coming year or during next year’s PBNYC process.