Harlem Got Millions In NYC's 2022 Budget: Here's Where

HARLEM, NY — The record-high $99 billion budget passed by the City Council in late June includes millions of dollars flowing to Harlem.

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 Harlem's three Council members: Diana Ayala, Bill Perkins and Mark Levine.

Patch reviewed the 2022 capital budget document and picked out some notable neighborhood funds in each part of Harlem:

Central Harlem (Perkins)

Parks:

• William McCray Playground: $300,000
• A. Philip Randolph Square (116th Street): $200,000
• Pelham Fritz Recreation Center: $500,000

Housing and healthcare:

• Lincoln Senior Center: $150,000
• Angelou Court Association: $100,000
• Henry J. Carter Specialty Hospital: $150,000
• Sydenham Clinic: $250,000

Schools:

• P.S. 129 (cooling system): $115,000
• Touro College: $100,000

Other organizations:

• Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement: $100,000
• Harry Belafonte Library: $320,000
• Countee Cullen Library: $250,000
• Jazzmobile: $65,000
• National Black Theatre Workshop: $3,000,000
• Harlem Stage: $300,000
• Apollo Theater Foundation: $3,000,000

West Harlem (Levine)

Parks:

• Security cameras in Morningside Park: $500,000
• Alexander Hamilton Playground retaining wall: $440,000

Housing and healthcare:

• Ali Forney Center (for the nonprofit to buy a Hamilton Heights townhouse and convert it to a home for transgender teenagers): $2,650,000

Other organizations:

• NYPL Hamilton Grange Branch library: $201,000
• Harlem Stage: $200,000

Schools:

• P.S. 36 Margaret Douglass tech upgrades: $150,000
• Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts tile replacement: $75,000
• P.S. 125 Manhattan tech upgrades: $150,000
• P.S. 153 tech upgrades: $75,000
• Hamilton Heights School bathroom upgrades: $100,000
• P.S. 161 Pedro Albizu Campos tech upgrades: $100,000
• Hamilton Grange Middle School cooling system, tech upgrades: $175,000
• New Design Middle School: $75,000
• P.S. 210 tech upgrades: $100,000
• Mott Hall School: $75,000
• Teachers College Community School tech upgrades: $100,000

East Harlem (Ayala)

Parks:

• Randall's Island Park sunken garden connector: $225,000
• Thomas Jefferson Recreational Center: $300,000
• P.S. 155 unspecified park upgrades: $800,000

Housing & healthcare:

• Franklin Plaza: $1,500,000
• NYC Health & Hospitals/Metropolitan: $1,918,000

Other organizations:

• Museum of the City of New York: $203,000
• Union Settlement: $700,000
• NYPL 110th Street Branch library: $201,000
• Heckscher Building: $1,000,000

Schools:

• Central Park East High School: $50,000
• NYC Autism Charter School: $200,000
• P.S. 72: $300,000
• P.S. 83: $172,000
• P.S. 96: $550,000
• Mosaic Preparatory Academy: $100,000
• Heritage School: $50,000
• P.S. 112: $278,000
• Talented And Gifted school: $150,000
• P.S. 38: $75,000
• P.S. 146 Anna M. Short: $220,000
• P.S. 171 Patrick Henry: $100,000
• Young Women's Leadership School: $75,000

The separate expense budget also includes many smaller allocations to neighborhood groups like The Brotherhood Sister Sol, Street Corner Resources and Figure Skating in Harlem.

Only Levine actually voted for the budget, while Perkins and Ayala were both not present. The budget has faced criticism from some progressives for its $200 million allocation to the NYPD.

To search through the full list of projects sponsored by Harlem's council members, search Levine's, Perkins's or Ayala's names in the expense budget or capital budget documents.