Bed-Stuy Got Millions In NYC's 2022 Budget: Here's Where

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — The record-high $99 billion budget passed by the City Council last week includes millions of dollars flowing to the Bed-Stuy area.

Billed as a "recovery budget" by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Council Speaker Corey Johnson, the spending package for the 2022 fiscal year — which starts Oct. 1 of this year — was bolstered by billions of dollars in federal stimulus funds.

Besides major citywide items like a $15 million "baby bonds program" and $4 million for CUNY scholarships, the budget also includes smaller neighborhood funding allocated by Bed-Stuy's council members, Robert Cornegy, Laurie Cumbo and Alicka Amprey-Samuel

Patch reviewed the two public budget documents and picked out some notable neighborhood funds — here they are:

The Campaign Against Hunger has three separate line items in the budget, including $4.3 million specifically marked for a renovation and a combined $3.9 million in unspecified funding. The food pantry has been searching for a larger, permanent space since opening a temporary warehouse during the coronavirus crisis.

Most recently, they opened a distribution center in East New York to serve as a transitional space while they continued the search. Cornegy's office and the TCAH did not respond to a request for more details about how the latest funds will be used.

Another local organization, The Bed-Stuy Restoration Corporation, will get money from two council members, including $1 million from Cornegy for their programming needs, including "workplace readiness, financial literacy, and homeownership/foreclosure prevention workshops." Samuel earmarked $160,000 for the organization specifically for their Center for Healthy Neighborhoods.

$200,000 in Cornegy's budget was earmarked for the Brooklyn Alliance, an initiative run by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce that helps prevent small businesses from being displaced through assisting them with economic development and job growth.

Several Bed-Stuy schools will get funding, including $500,000 for I.S. 492, $150,000 for P.S. 40 and $200,000 for P.S. 309.

Just over $500,000 will go toward a STEM Center at the Lafayette Gardens Houses.

$250,000 will be allocated to the Saratoga Library branch.

Another $200,000 is earmarked for the Society for the Preservation of Weeksville and Bed-Stuy History.

Finally, all three council members have several dozens of small grants for organizations in their districts, including programming at various New York City Housing Authority developments and a Save Our Streets anti-gun violence initiative. A full list of those funding recipients can be found here.