Yo, Brooklyn: Friday Is the Deadline to Submit 'Participatory Budgeting' Ideas Online

BROOKLYN, NY — Do you have an idea for a project that will improve your community? Do you live in a New York City Council district that offers participatory budgeting? (Double-check here.)

If so, get on the ball: You only have until Friday, Sept. 30, to submit a "participatory budgeting" proposal online.

Participatory budgeting is a way for residents to select "capital projects" in their community that they think should receive city funding. (The city defines capital projects as "building, installing, or repairing something for public benefit, such as renovating a public basketball court or purchasing new computers for a library.")

Unfortunately, not every City Council district offers participatory budgeting. Want to find out which district you live in? Use this online tool. All of the districts that participate are also highlighted on this map.

(FYI: Most of western Brooklyn uses participatory budgeting — including Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Crown Heights, Lefferts Gardens, Bed-Stuy, BoCoCa, Red Hook, Gowanus, Park Slope, Sunset Park, Kensington, Windsor Terrace, Ditmas Park and Flatbush.)

The easiest way to submit an idea for your community is to do so online.

A spokesman for Councilman Brad Lander — whose district includes BoCoCa, Park Slope, Gowanus, Windsor Terrace, and Kensington — told Patch that while residents can technically submit an idea to the office after Sept. 30, Landers' staffers and volunteers will already have begun dedicating themselves to the proposals they've already received, and therefore won't have a lot of time to consider new ones.

Still need some inspiration? Here's a full list of last year's winning projects.