Help Harlem Council Members Spend $1M On Neighborhood

HARLEM, NY — Want the chance to help spend at least $1 million to fund public improvements in your neighborhood? You're in luck, because it's time to vote in this year's New York City Council participatory budgeting cycle.

Voting opens on March 30 and end April 7 for New York City's eighth participatory budgeting cycle, city officials said. Harlem is a huge neighborhood that spans four different city council districts, so voters will have a number of different projects to chose from depending on where they lived.

City council member Diana Ayala represents the eighth district in East Harlem and the Bronx, Bill Perkins represents the ninth district in mainly Central Harlem, Mark Levine represents the seventh district in West Harlem and Ben Kallos represents a small portion of East Harlem by the Upper East Side.

Projects selected as finalists for participatory budgeting address community needs such as housing and school improvements, park upgrades, public safety and senior services. Most projects don't carry a funding value of $1 million, so multiple projects can win funding. If certain projects prove popular, city council members may chose to allocate even more funds.

There are 12 finalists in Council District 5 (Kallos), nine in Council District 7 (Levine), 15 in Council District 8 (Ayala) and 11 in Council District 9 this year. Residents can vote online or in person at a number of different polling places in the districts.

Here's a list of projects on the ballot for district 9:

• Broadband upgrades for Harlem schools: $150,000
• PS/IS 180 hydroponics lab upgrades: $170,000
• Tech grants for Harlem schools: $400,000
• Polo Grounds beautification: $400,000
• Security cameras for Rangel houses: $600,000
• Drew Hamilton Houses exterior lighting: $600,000
• Harriet Tubman memorial beautification project: $175,000
• Marcus Garvey Park wrought iron fencing: $180,000
• Sugar Hill Park renewal: $300,000
• Ollie Edinborough Playground renovation: $450,000
• Bus time countdown clocks: $200,000

Here are the projects on the ballot for district 8:

• PS 43 development of a sensory gym: $200,000
• PS 73 playground equipment replacement: $250,000
• Tech upgrades for South Bronx schools: $175,000
• Water fountain upgrades for South Bronx schools: $105,000
• PS 73 lighting equipment: $150,000
• Hydroponic lab equipment for TAG young scholars: $170,000
• Hydroponic lab equipment for Manhattan Center: $170,000
• Tech upgrades for East Harlem Schools: $175,000
• Water fountains for East Harlem schools: $140,000
• PS 96 playground equipment: $250,000
• PS 73 bathroom renovations: $100,000
• NYCHA Taft Houses external compactor: $350,000
• NYCHA Johnson Houses external compactor: $350,000
• South Bronx countdown clocks: $200,000
• East Harlem countdown clocks: $200,000

Here are the projects on the ballot for district 7:

• Air conditioning at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Elementary School: $200,000
• Sound system upgrades at MS 54: $100,000
• AC and water fountains at PS 165: $240,000
• Computer upgrades at Community Health Academy of the Heights: $200,000
• Grant Houses security camera upgrades: $500,000
• Douglass Houses lighting upgrades: $500,000
• Seating at Jacob Schiff Playground: $675,000
• 142nd Street Dog Run renovation: $315,000
• Bus countdown clocks: $200,000

And here are the projects on the ballot for district 5:

• PS 527 security cameras: $300,000
• JREC auditorium renovation: $750,000
• Laptops for 10 district public schools: $350,000
• New trees and guards for sidewalks: $225,000
• Roosevelt Island lighthouse restoration for public access: $800,000
• Funds for district parks: $250,000
• Lexington Houses NYCHA playground renovation: $800,000
• East 79th Street curb extensions: $300,000
• NYPD public safety cameras: $170,457
• NYPD security cameras in parks: $397,733
• NYPD security cameras for transportation: $170,457
• NYPD mobile command post: $400,000